Invisible Voices: Assessing Campus Climate Through the Lens of Lived Experiences

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Four
  In Roundtable Session: Campus Climate Research Into Curriculum Studies: Curricular Examinations of a Decade of Qualitative and Quantitative Research (Table 4)

Abstract

Invisible Voices: Assessing Campus Climate Through the Lens of Lived Experiences

For over three decades, higher education has affirmed that a primary duty of the academy is to create a campus climate grounded in the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (Boyer, 1990; U.S. Department of Education, 2016). Studying campus climate, however, is challenging. For example, there is limited consensus in the research literature about the definition of campus climate (Ryder & Mitchell, 2013). Second, college campuses are complex social systems. As such, members of different social groups experience the campus climate differently based on their group membership and/or group status on campus (Booker, 2016; Dugan et al., 2012; Eunyoung & Hargrove, 2013; García, 2016; Mayhew et. al., 2016; Oseguera et al., 2017).

For over two decades, Rankin Climate (RC) has assisted institutions with creating, implementing campus climate assessments. In that time, using a mixed-method approach, RC has facilitated climate assessments for more than 200 campuses. RC partners with campus community members to ensure their lived experiences are reflected in the research and to specifically provide marginalized communities the opportunity to share their voices.

In this session, I will provide a review of the importance of conducting campus climate assessments. I will employ the notion of lived experience (Pinar, 2011) to examine the methods RC employs to ensure that marginalized community members’ perspectives are brought to light. I will also offer how the voices and experiences of those community members shape the survey questions and focus group protocols.

References

Boyer, E. (1990). Campus life: In search of community. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Dugan, J. P., Kusel, M. L., & Simounet, D. M. (2012). Transgender college students: An exploratory study of perceptions, engagement, and educational outcomes. Journal of College Student Development, 53(5), 719–736. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2012.0067
Eunyoung, K., & Hargrove, D. T. (2013). Deficient or resilient: A critical review of Black male academic success and persistence in higher education. Journal of Negro Education, 82(3), 300–311. https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.82.3.0300
Garcia, G. A. (2016). Exploring student affairs professionals’ experiences with the campus racial climate at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 9(1), 20–33. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039199
Mayhew, M., Rockenbach, A. N., Seifert, T. A., Bowman, N. A., & Wolniak, G. C. (2016). How college affects students: 21st century evidence that higher education works (Vol. 3). Jossey-Bass.
Oseguera, L., Merson, D., Harrison, C. K., & Rankin, S. (2017). Beyond the black/white binary: A multi-institutional study of campus climate and the academic success of college athletes of different racial backgrounds. Sociology of Sport Journal, 1–43.
Pinar, W. F. (2011). The Character of curriculum studies: Bildung, currere, and the recurring question of the subject. Palgrave MacMillan.
Ryder, A. J. & Mitchell, J. J. (2013). Measuring campus climate for personal and social responsibility. New Directions for Higher Education, 2013(164), 31-48.
United States Department of Justice: Office of Violence Against Women. (2018). Protecting
student from sexual assault: Campus climate surveys.
https://www.justice.gov/archives/ovw/protecting-students-sexual-assault#campusclimate

Author

• Susan Rankin, Pennsylvania State University
  Presenting Author