Campus Climate and Organizational/Compositional Diversity Among Queer and Trans Students at Religiously Affiliated Institutions

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Understandings of Minoritized Students' Perceptions of Campus Climate

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore queer and trans students’ perceptions of campus climate by institutional affiliation (religiously affiliated or independent). We used Hurtado and colleagues’ (2012) Multicontextual Model for Diverse Learning Environments as a theoretical framework. Our data come from The National LGBTQ Alumni Survey (Author, 2016), and we included 1,571 queer and trans respondents. Results from our structural model examination revealed that the organizational and compositional diversity for QT students at religiously affiliated institutions was statistically lower than for QT students at independent institutions. Compositional diversity (as measured by LGBTQ faculty/staff and students known) positively related to campus climate perceptions, and attending a religiously affiliated institution directly related to more negative climate perceptions.

Authors

• Jason C. Garvey, University of Vermont

• Musbah Shaheen, University of Vermont

• C. V. Dolan, The University of Vermont

• Prithak Chowdhury