Climate Studies: Faculty and Staff
University of Wisconsin-River Falls Faculty &
Staff Climate Survey, Spring 1998
During the Spring 1998 semester,
over 280 UWRF faculty and staff members completed
a survey assessing aspects of the University's
organizational climate related to diversity issues
for women, people of color, and gays, lesbians,
and bi-sexuals. The survey assessed the University's
overall climate, levels of institutional civility
and support for actions designed to increase the
awareness of gender, racial, ethnic, and sexual
orientation-based issues and concerns. The survey
gathered information on respondents': demographics;
quality of working life; perception of the likelihood
of discriminatory events; perceptions of faculty,
staff, and student interactions across campus;
actual experiences with discrimination; qualities
of the UWRF climate and culture; evaluation of
campus activities linked to diversity awareness.
Quality of Work Life Items
All Faculty & Staff Respondents
- Generally high levels of satisfaction with
quality of work life
- Substantial satisfaction with the nature of
work
- Less satisfaction with job security and process
by which jobs are evaluated
Male vs. Female Respondents
- Women: Less satisfaction than men with job
security and opportunities for taking part in
decisions affecting the respondent's department
Tenure-Track Faculty or Academic Staff Respondents
- Academic staff: Greater levels of satisfaction
with overall work atmosphere, salary increases,
level of understanding shown by supervisors,
and level of trust across work place
- Tenure-track: Significantly higher levels of
satisfaction with job security
Tenure-Track Faculty + All Academic Staff
vs. Classified + LTE Employees
- Tenure-track + academic staff:
Greater levels of satisfaction with overall
work atmosphere, opportunities for professional
development and growth, satisfaction with opportunities
for access to decision making and with the
extent to which supervisors share information
with subordinates.
Likelihood of Unhealthy Climate Items
All Faculty & Staff Respondents
- Higher rated likelihood of the chances that
students used racial or sexual orientation
slurs
- All indicate a somewhat greater likelihood
that a woman faculty or staff member left the
University as a result of an "uncomfortable" working
climate
Male vs. Female Respondents
- Significantly more women: Indicated the likelihood
of a male faculty or staff member making demeaning
remarks about a woman by referring to her body
parts
- Women: Significantly higher likelihood of
chance that women probationary faculty are
held to a higher standard then men, as well
as the chance that a woman left the University
as the result of a work atmosphere that made
her uncomfortable.
Tenure-Track Faculty or Academic Staff Respondents
- No significant differences between respondents
Tenure-Track Faculty + All Academic Staff
vs. Classified + LTE Employees
- No significant differences between respondents
Climate Indicator Items
All Faculty & Staff Respondents
- Lower ratings for questions: "Are academic
staff and classified employees treated with
the same respect as tenure-track faculty?" and "In
meetings are both men and women less attentive
to women and their ideas?"
- Significant disagreement with the questions; "Is
the success of women due to luck or Affirmative
Action?" and "Does a diverse workforce splinter
the University?"
Male vs. Female Respondents
- Women: Less likely to agree with statements
including the notions: Affirmative Action leads
to hiring less qualified job seekers; both
academic staff and classified employees are
treated the same as tenure-track faculty; and
fellow faculty and staff treat individuals
with equal respect
- Significantly fewer women agree with statement "The
success of women is due to luck or Affirmative
Action."
Tenure-Track Faculty or Academic Staff Respondents
- Tenure-track: Significantly greater agreement
with statements: "Academic staff are treated
the same as tenure-track faculty;" "Classified
employees are treated the same as faculty and
academic staff;" and "My fellow faculty and
staff treat me with the same respect as they
do others."
- First two statements show substantially low
levels of agreement regardless of job classification.
Tenure-Track Faculty + All Academic Staff
vs. Classified + LTE Employees
- Tenure-track + academic staff: Significantly
lower levels of agreement than classified and
LTE staff with statements: "Do you believe
Affirmative Action leads to hiring less qualified
individuals?" "Do you believe diversity tends
to splinter and divide the University's workforce?" "Does
the University place too much emphasis on race?" and "Are
the ideas of males more highly valued than
those of females?"
- Classified + LTE employees: Significantly
lower assessments for items: "Are classified
staff treated the same as other faculty and
staff?" and "My fellow faculty and staff treat
me with the same respect as my colleagues."
Experience with Discrimination Items
All Faculty & Staff Respondents
- Actions rated as experienced most frequently:
Being made uncomfortable by racist or sexist
comments, or comments referring to gays and
lesbians in derogatory terms
Male vs. Female Respondents
- Women: Substantially greater frequency of
occurrence than men for experiences with receiving
an unfair work evaluation, not being considered
for tasks due to gender, receiving inadequate
support, being discriminated against in salary
and promotion matters as a result of gender,
and being made uncomfortable by comments about
gays, lesbians and bi-sexuals
Tenure-Track Faculty or Academic Staff Respondents
- No significant differences between respondents
Tenure-Track Faculty + All Academic Staff
vs. Classified + LTE Employees
- No significant differences between respondents
Character of Overall Climate Items
All Faculty & Staff Respondents
- Respondents rated all seven aspects of the
University's overall climate in reasonably
favorable terms
Male vs. Female Respondents
- Significantly more men see the University
environment as non-sexist and non-homophobic
- Women: More likely to characterize environment
as somewhat more sexist and homophobic
Tenure-Track Faculty or Academic Staff Respondents
- No significant differences between respondents
Tenure-Track Faculty + All Academic Staff
vs. Classified + LTE Employees
- No significant differences between respondents
Actions Related to Diversity Items
All Faculty & Staff Respondents
- Relatively strong and favorable support (actions
could strengthen the University)
Male vs. Female Respondents
- Significantly more women suggest actions,
including promoting more events related to
ethnic and racial diversity, sexual orientation,
and gender differences, would strengthen the
climate for diversity and gender
- Women faculty and staff: More likely to favor
increasing the University's General Education
diversity requirement
Tenure-Track Faculty or Academic Staff Respondents
- Support for actions related to campus diversity
does not vary across tenure-track and academic
staff with the exception of support for increasing
the University diversity requirement
Tenure-Track Faculty + All Academic Staff
vs. Classified + LTE Employees
- Lower support by classified + LTE employees
for increasing the number of faculty and staff
of color
- Higher support by classified + LTEs for increasing
the diversity requirement
