Perceptions Of Campus Climate Research Articles

Adjustment and campus friendliness for international students studying in the United States

International students are an increasingly important population in the United States, growing in both size and contributions. While research has outlined challenges encountered by international students and the importance of campus climate, little research has defined and empirically assessed the friendliness of college and university campuses toward international students from the students’ perspectives, which was the aim of the current study. Universities with large international student populations were invited to distribute a survey that included the International Friendly Campus Scale (IFCS; Wang, et al., 2014) and two open-ended questions about students’ positive and negative experiences. The sample included 938 international students from eight universities in the United States, of which 622 and 566 students answered the first and second open-ended questions, respectively. Through thematic analyses of the open-ended questions, this study identified factors that international students find most helpful for their cross-cultural adjustment in addition to aspects of their campuses that could be improved. Results suggest that helpful factors for international student adjustment include social support, events, campus resources, access to shared and diverse cultures, an inclusive environment, language fluency and opportunities for learning, and individual characteristics. Areas of improvement include increased events and socialization, better communication, a more welcoming attitude toward diversity, improved administrative support, more financial support, and decreased discrimination. Additionally, correlation and group comparisons were used to assess international students’ perception of campus climate and compare patterns between different demographic groups. Practical suggestions based on these results are also discussed.

Complicating Latiné experiences: Afro-Latiné students’ perceptions of campus climate and sense of belonging.

Complicating Latiné experiences: Afro-Latiné students’ perceptions of campus climate and sense of belonging.

Examining Institutional-Level Factors and Campus Climate on Sexual Misconduct Reporting to Title IX Coordinators and in Annual Security Reports

ABSTRACT The present study examines the relationship between institutional-level factors and perceptions of campus climate and rates of sexual misconduct reporting to Title IX coordinators and in Annual Security reports. Data is drawn from public 4-year institutions of higher education (IHEs), community colleges, and independent IHEs in Maryland (n = 42) from 2018 to 2020. Regarding institutional level factors, higher residentiality, higher percentages of graduate students and students supported by Pell grants, and higher rates of alcohol and drug use violations were associated with higher rates of sexual misconduct reporting. On campus climate measures, only higher percentages of students reporting they know whom to contact to report sexual misconduct was associated with increased reporting. Implications for sexual misconduct prevention training and the integration of alcohol and drug use prevention into sexual misconduct prevention education are discussed. Directions for future research are also outlined.

Creation of Inclusive Spaces: Impact of Minority Stress and LGBTQ College Climate on Quality of Life of Queer Students

In India, 17% of individuals identify as non-heterosexual according to the LGBT+ Pride Global Survey Report. Discrimination and stigma against the LGBTQ community remain pervasive even after Section 377 was decriminalised. Being a minority and dealing with heterosexism and other types of social and cultural oppression adds up as minority stress, making them more vulnerable to poor mental health outcomes and social marginalisation. Majority of young people' time is spent in academic settings. The college setting is critical to the mental health of LGBTQ students. During these pivotal developmental phases, inclusion can reduce minority stress and enhance wellbeing. Against this backdrop, the research sought to answer the pressing question: How can we create inclusive spaces for LGBTQ university students? The present research aims to explore the impact of minority stress and perception of campus climate on quality of life of Indian queer students. The methodology involved a cross sectional quantitative research. Questionnaires were filled by LGBTQ college students aged between 18-28 years. (N=200). For statistical analysis correlation and multiple linear regression was conducted. Findings revealed that minority stress and college climate were negatively associated with quality of life. Furthermore, minority stress and perception of LGBTQ campus climate significantly predicted quality of life. The research underscores the importance of diversity and inclusion to counter systemic oppression. The study's implication includes the requirement for queer inclusive interventions to be implemented in Indian educational institutions. It demands that other social institutions address the psychological stressors that members of sexual and gender minorities face

Environmental and individual predictors of resilience for queer-spectrum college students

In the United States, anti-queer mobilization (e.g. demonstrations, propaganda, political attacks) has increased in recent years. Although campus climate data from the past decades for queer-spectrum individuals show promising trends, these students still navigate numerous academic, social, and health challenges in the college. Given students’ efforts to traverse these issues, this exploratory study of 8,988 queer-spectrum students examines both individual and collegiate environmental predictors of resilience. Results highlight the importance of queer-spectrum students’ experiences of the environment, particularly a sense of belonging and active engagement in both conversations across difference and behaviors that promote social change. Thus, to cultivate queer resilience, educators must attend to queer-spectrum students’ perceptions of campus climate as well as activism and cross-cultural dialogue.

Factors associated with chemistry faculty members’ cooperative adoption of evidence-based instructional practices: results from a national survey

Despite institutional reform efforts to increase use of evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs) in undergraduate chemistry and STEM courses, didactic lecture remains the predominant mode of instruction. Research to inform these initiatives routinely focuses on drivers and barriers to EBIP adoption, with recent work investigating factors associated with faculty members’ cooperative adoption of EBIPs from five STEM disciplines including chemistry. To understand the role of these specific factors within undergraduate chemistry education across a broad set of institutions, we conducted a national survey of chemistry faculty members (n = 1105) from the United States in Spring 2023. The survey targeted constructs that may underlie the cooperative adoption of EBIPs, including faculty members’ perception of (1) using EBIPs as mutually beneficial, (2) having their success and failure intertwined, and (3) institutional climate around teaching. The survey also included items targeting teaching-specific social interactions, another potential aspect of cooperative adoption. Results from multilevel modeling suggest that EBIP adoption is associated with chemistry faculty members’ perception of using EBIPs as mutually beneficial, aligning with prior findings on STEM faculty members’ cooperative adoption of these practices. However, there is no evidence of an association between EBIP adoption and chemistry faculty members’ perception of campus climate around teaching, where prior findings indicate an inverse association among STEM faculty members. Results further indicate that EBIP adoption is associated with the number of people with whom one specifically discusses pedagogy, instruction, and assessment. Collectively, our results demonstrate that differences exist between STEM disciplines and point toward the chemistry education research community's responsibility to further explore EBIP adoption from a disciplinary lens. Our investigation also provides insight into factors associated with the cooperative adoption of EBIPs among chemistry faculty members on a national level; we identify several implications for how chemistry faculty member change agents (e.g., course coordinators, department leaders) may effectively promote EBIP adoption across the undergraduate chemistry curriculum.

Microaggressions, perceptions of campus climate, mental health, and alcohol use among first-year college students of color.

Depressive and anxiety symptoms are increasingly common, and problematic alcohol use remains prevalent in college. To expand on prior research on mostly white samples, we surveyed first-year students of color from our predominately white university (Southeastern US) to identify risk factors for mental health symptoms and potentially co-occurring problematic alcohol use. Results showed significant associations between microaggressions and poor campus climate (hypothetical predictors) with depressive, anxiety, somatic symptoms (hypothetical outcomes) that were indirectly linked through perceived stress, poor sleep, and academic burnout (hypothetical mediators). Poor campus climate, academic burnout, and using alcohol to cope were the most relevant to alcohol use disorder symptoms. Results support efforts to address and reduce racial microaggressions and promote a positive campus climate for all.

Does Financial Stress Influence Students’ Campus Climate Perceptions and Sense of Belonging?

Studies of financial stress, college debt, campus climate, and sense of belonging have each been conducted to better understand student retention and persistence, but few studies have explored the relationship between these variables and student outcomes. Researchers have found that financial need has a negative effect on student's psychological experiences, while other studies have explored the impact of general stress in college on psychological constructs, such as campus climate. However, little evidence exists of a relationship between financial stress, student's climate and belonging perceptions, and retention. This study investigates financial-related stressors that may impact two psychological dispositions, feelings of belonging to the institution and how they perceive the campus climate. Findings demonstrate a negative relationship between financial stress and campus climate perceptions among Students of Color, possibly explaining lower retention rates among these students.

LGBTQ Students' Campus Climate Perceptions Across Academic Disciplines

LGBTQ Students' Campus Climate Perceptions Across Academic Disciplines

The Relationship Between Campus Climate Perceptions, Anxiety, and Academic Competence for College Women

This study is guided by theory and research that point to the importance of campus climate as a critical factor in college student achievement and belonging. Minoritized groups, however, are often found to have negative experiences on college campuses due to their marginalized racial and gender positions. For college women specifically, there is research that points to college climates that engender feelings of alienation and distancing, especially at the intersection of being of color and a woman. This study examines the association between campus climate—belonging and campus racial climate—and self-perceived academic competence in a racially diverse sample of college women (N = 172). We also test the mediating role of anxiety to explain why campus might influence academic competence. Campus belonging significantly predicted academic competence, and anxiety was a partial mediator. These findings demonstrate the implications of hostile environments for college women, and they point to ways college student affairs professionals can intervene to lend support to college women's mental health and positive self-concepts.

An examination of Title IX training and knowledge at a public university

ABSTRACT Title IX prohibits sex-discrimination in colleges in the United States. While colleges must provide training on Title IX, little is known about its effectiveness. This study examined the campus climate and effectiveness of Title IX training among 2,393 college students at a medium-size public university in the south-central region of the U.S. Results indicated 68% of students reported they understood Title IX, yet only 14% correctly understood Title IX prohibited sex-discrimination and 16% correctly understood reporting procedures. Regression analyses found few significant effects for demographics, academic characteristics, satisfaction with the campus, and beliefs about university support on training participation, training knowledge, and help seeking for sexual assault survivors. Positive perceptions of campus climate increased participation in training, efficacy of training, and confidence in helping sexual assault survivors. However, participation in training was negatively impacted by perceptions of faculty support. Age, asexual identity, and Asian identity affected training participation and efficacy.

Campus Integration and Campus Climate at a Predominantly White Institution in the South

Decades after Brown v. Board of Education, the tide has reversed back to school resegregation. Given the racial tensions, reports of racial microaggressions, and a resurgence of hate crimes on campus, the current study investigated the college students’ perception of campus climate and racial integration. In a predominantly White institution (PWI) in the Southern United States, we examined students’ ethnic identity, perceived interracial climate, significant others’ disapproval of interracial integration, and attitude and behavior toward interracial integration. Students of color (SOC) reported significantly higher ratio of interracial friends and a significantly more positive attitude toward interracial dating. SOC and White students indicated similar views on interdependence and supportive norms on campus, but not on equality and association. A significant interaction effect suggests that SOC are more likely to be impacted by racial school climate than White students. Additionally, White students perceived significantly higher disapproval by their significant others, thus impacting White students’ attitudes toward interracial integration more than SOC. The different patterns of behaviors and perspectives reported by the SOC and White students on campus climate and interracial integration in this current study illustrate the challenges that students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds face on campus. The importance of and the ideas for promoting an equal and fair school climate is discussed.

Sexual Violence Victimization and Perceptions of Campus Climate among Gender and Sexual Minoritized Men

ABSTRACT Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine sexual violence (SV) experiences, reporting and perceptions of campus response among gender and sexual minoritized (GSM) men and their cis/heterosexual counterparts. Methods Data come from 904 men, including 113 (12.5%) GSM men, who participated in a campus climate study implemented in 2018. Results Findings show a greater proportion of GSM men, relative to their counterparts, experience victimization both prior to and after attending university, as well as differences in characteristics of those who perpetrated against them and contexts of victimization. Discussion GSM men are vulnerable to SV, and social work must be attuned to the needs of different campus populations. Conclusion Using campus climate studies to assess SV-related outcomes is an important area where institutions of higher education, as well as those researchers and practitioners who utilize the data, can commit to understanding this public health issue among traditionally unrepresented students.

Being Evangelical is Complicated: How Students’ Identities and Experiences Moderate Their Perceptions of Campus Climate

BackgroundEvangelical Christian college students navigate campus buoyed by Christian privilege but may encounter silencing or othering tied to their religious beliefs, a feeling of incompatibility with their campus climate, and conflations of their religious and political beliefs that are inaccurate and discouraging. Unsupportive campus climates can discourage evangelical students from having productive exchanges across difference and deepening their own worldview commitments, which is concerning due to their general lack of interfaith participation that challenges stereotypes and unnuanced assumptions.PurposeThis study explores how evangelical Christians perceive their campus climates and whether those perceptions are different based on other social identity intersections with gender, race, sexuality, and political affiliation. In addition to individual characteristics, how the campus environment and various curricular and co-curricular experiences moderate evangelical students’ perceptions of the worldview climate is examined.MethodsA sample of 1235 evangelical college students was examined via means, standard deviations, and ranges for six campus climate measures, one-way ANOVAs to examine whether those measures differed by different identity dimensions, and then multilevel modeling to better understand the role of campus experiences in evangelicals’ perceptions of their campus climate.ResultsEvangelical students’ campus climate perceptions were generally positive; more provocative encounters were reported by women than men and evangelical Asian students indicated more divisiveness, more insensitivity, and less space for support than their peers. Political affiliation also revealed several significant differences in perceived campus climate. Interfaith engagement through pre-college activities, formal and informal activities, and friendships were connected to perceptions of campus climate, with those reporting more engagement being more likely to have productive encounters across difference and to report insensitivity or divisiveness. Religious affiliation was the most significant institutional characteristic.Conclusions and ImplicationsThis study illuminates how collegiate experiences and campus environments exacerbate or attenuate evangelical Christian students’ perceptions of the campus climate, and the results indicate that effective teaching practices where true interfaith experiences happen and that create inclusive space for evangelical students in the classroom are key to fostering development, especially in light of the social status ambiguity evangelical college students may be experiencing during their college years.

Campus Climate and Sense of Belonging across Gender in ROTC

Using data from the 2012 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (n = 74,938), this study examines the relationships among gender, ROTC participation, students’ sense of belonging, and perceptions of campus climate. Findings reveal that gender describes little variance in sense of belonging when perceptions of climate are taken into consideration; at the same time, cadets broadly, regardless of gender, report greater instances of discrimination on campus than the general student populations. Implications are addressed.

Exploring LGBT+ campus climate in the UK and Philippines: How prejudice and belonging shape inclusion in higher education

AbstractAlthough recent global developments suggest progress toward LGBT+ equality, institutional structures perpetuating differential treatment based on sexual orientation and gender identity persist. The present research employed a mixed‐method campus climate study of LGBT+ and cis‐heterosexual students sampled from Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines and the UK. Phase 1 reports a large‐scale survey assessing relationships among students’ social attitudes toward LGBT+, campus climate perceptions and experiences of harassment, well‐being, academic persistence, and social identity belonging within the university (LGBT+ = 877; cis‐heterosexual = 2107). Phase 2 reports focus groups and interviews with 35 LGBT+ students, further exploring their campus climate experiences. Triangulated results highlight the role of social identity belonging in creating positive LGBT+ campus climates. Fostering belonging, through visible institutional support for intersectional LGBT+ student organisations and endorsement of LGBT+ inclusive policies and programmes, is recommended for creating safe and inclusive spaces for LGBT+ students.

Sexuality Discourses and LGBQ Students’ Interpretations of Campus Climate in the Contemporary US

ABSTRACT Recent US studies showed that perceptions of campus climate vary considerably across individual LGBQ students, with some students reporting friendly climates and others reporting persistent hostility. Although researchers have identified several factors that contribute to the perceptual variations, they have paid limited attention to the role of sexuality discourses. The present study sought to fill this gap in the literature by analyzing in-depth interviews. The analysis showed that LGBQ students drew on two major discourses to guide their interpretations of campus climate. A majority of students drew on post-closet discourse to celebrate their visibility on campus, LGBQ-friendly courses, and straight classmates’ positive reactions. A smaller number of students drew on queer discourse to question the meaning of LGBQ students’ visibility and criticize heterosexist biases in classrooms. Overall, these results highlighted the importance of the competing discourses, which set LGBQ students’ expectations and guided their interpretations of campus experiences.

Listening to Transgender and Gender Diverse Students on Christian College Campuses

This study was an initial investigation of important areas of interest within the literature on transgender and gender diverse students, namely psychological health, well-being and campus climate for transgender and gender diverse students in young adulthood. What is unique is that data were obtained from Christian transgender and gender diverse students attending Christian college and universities. A sample of 31 undergraduate transgender students at nine Christian institutions in which staff were affiliated with the Association for Christians in Student Development completed an online survey. Participants reported high levels of religiosity, diversity in their attitudes about gender identity, negative perceptions of campus climate, lower levels of social support for gender identity than in general, moderate to high levels of psychological distress, and low to moderate levels of psychological well-being.

Legal Vulnerability and Campus Environment: Assessing Factors that Affect the Academic Engagement of Undocumented College Students

ABSTRACT Prior research has established that undocumented students experience structural marginalization which compromises their access, retention, and success in higher education. Building on this work, this study turns attention to their academic engagement, an important intermediary outcome. Using survey data collected from 1,277 undocumented undergraduate students attending California 4-year public universities, we examine the extent to which legal vulnerability, campus climate, and resource use are associated with positive and negative academic engagement. Findings reveal the sustained role of campus environment, as positive perceptions of campus climate are associated with positive engagement and negative perceptions with negative engagement. Use of various campus resources tends to be associated with increased positive engagement and decreased negative engagement. Only financial legal vulnerabilities are associated with negative engagement and are not associated with positive engagement. We contend that the campus environment plays an important role in fostering undocumented students’ academic engagement.

The Benefits of Living on Campus for Low-Income, First-Generation Students’ Belonging, Perceptions of Campus Climate, and Resilience

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of living on campus for first-year, first-generation students from low-income backgrounds. Using propensity score matching techniques with Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership survey data (n = 642) drawn from four-year colleges and universities, we found that first-year, first-generation students from low-income backgrounds who lived on campus had a significantly higher sense of belonging, a more welcoming perception of campus climate, and higher resilience compared to a group of matched peers who did not live on campus.