A new survey conducted by the department of Institutional Planning and Research at Cornell University assesses attitudes of Cornell students on issues relating to diversity and inclusion. The report found that “the climate for diversity at Cornell varies significantly for students from different backgrounds or social identities. In general, students who identify with historically less-represented groups are more actively involved in diversity-related behaviors and have more negative perceptions of the climate for diversity, particularly within the broader campus context, than their peers from traditionally dominant groups.”
Some of the finding from the survey are:
- Some 31 percent of Black undergraduate students said they made an effort to educate themselves on diversity issues on campus. Only 14 percent of White undergraduate students said they had made a similar effort.
- About 44 percent of U.S. minority students in master’s degree program said they “had to work harder to be perceived as legitimate scholars.”
- More than half of U.S. minority students in Ph.D. programs said that were engaged in efforts to improve understanding of bias and stereotypes on campus. Only 17 percent of White students were so engaged.
- Only 37 percent of minority students in Ph.D. programs thought the university community sought to counter subtle biases. Some 60 percent of White Ph.D. students thought the university community was actively involved in effort to counter subtle bias.
To download the complete report, click here.
