Staff Rate Diversity Climate Fair to Good by Diana Pounds Staff rated the climate for diversity at Iowa State slightly more positively than faculty in a 1993 survey. Both groups, surveyed separately, ranked the Iowa State climate as somewhere between fair and good on a scale in which "fair" was 2 and "good" was 3. ISU staff gave the climate a 2.7 rating, while faculty rated the climate at 2.4. The staff survey report is the second report to be released this summer in connection with campus climate surveys conducted in November 1993. A report on the faculty survey was released last month (see Inside Iowa State, May 26). Still to come is a report on the survey of students. The Steering Committee on Diversity coordinated the surveys to gauge the university climate for diversity and provide a baseline from which to measure future changes in that climate. The staff survey solicited opinions from three employee groups -- professional and scientific (P&S), merit (organized employees) and supervisory/confidential (non-organized merit employees). Approximately 47 percent of ISU staff are merit, 46 percent are P&S and 6 percent are supervisory/confidential. PROMOTE DIVERSITY Eighty-three percent of all staff surveyed agreed that diversity is good for ISU and should be actively promoted. Only 39 percent of staff said that Iowa State had achieved a positive climate for diversity. By employee groups, approximately half of merit and supervisory/confidential staff, but only 35 percent of P&S staff, said Iowa State had achieved a positive climate. More non-minority staff (almost 44 percent) than ethnic minority staff (39 percent) agreed that Iowa State had achieved a positive climate. Included in the ethnic minority category were African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans. The data for individual ethnic minority groups are statistically unreliable because of small numbers. Generally, Asian Americans' responses were closer to those of non- minority staff than the responses of the other ethnic minority groups. African Americans' responses tended to be more divergent from the other three ethnic minority groups. When asked to rank a number of activities that might improve the climate for under-represented groups on campus, staff gave highest ratings to encouraging faculty and staff to work on problems of discrimination; including issues of diversity in faculty, staff and student orientation programs; awarding student financial aid without regard to race, ethnicity or gender; and bringing more visiting scholars from under- represented groups to campus. The complete report of the staff survey of the campus climate is available in various administrative offices and on reserve in the Parks Library. SURVEY METHODOLOGY Surveys were sent to a sample of approximately 200 non- minority staff and to all minority staff. The overall response rate was 63 percent. Results were weighted to account for differences in sampling and response rates. Weighting classes were defined by gender and ethnicity. The 186 ethnic minority staff included 73 African Americans, 72 Asian Americans, 25 Hispanic-Americans and 16 Native Americans. --Approximately 58 percent of staff said there was strong desire in their departments to develop a climate that supports diversity. Nearly 66 percent of P&S staff and slightly more than half of merit and supervisory/confidential staff agreed with this statement. --Nearly 52 percent of all staff felt the scarcity of minorities was an obstacle to increasing diversity in their departments. A slightly smaller percentage of ethnic minorities (49 percent) held this view. --Forty-one percent of male staff and 24 percent of female staff said scarcity of women was an obstacle to increasing diversity in their departments. --More than 13 percent of female staff and 2 percent of male staff indicated they had been sexually harassed while at Iowa State. The survey did not define sexual harassment nor ask staff to specify the nature of the harassment. According to the university definition, sexual harassment may include unwelcome sexual advances and sexually oriented joking, verbal abuse or pictures that create a hostile environment. --Forty-nine percent of all staff, but only 25 percent of ethnic minority staff, said they believed affirmative action leads to hiring lower quality faculty and staff. Among employee groups, 66 percent of supervisory/confidential, 49 percent of merit and 46 percent of P&S staff agreed with this statement. --Forty-nine percent of all staff, but only 18 percent of ethnic minority staff, agreed that Iowa State has placed too much emphasis on diversity at the expense of enhancing its prestige as a top research university. --One-third of all staff and 12 percent of ethnic minority staff said that emphasizing diversity leads to campus disunity. Among employee groups, 51 percent of supervisory/confidential staff, 34 percent of merit staff and 30 percent of P&S staff agreed. --Twenty-nine percent of staff surveyed indicated they had experienced discrimination at Iowa State. Forty-five percent of ethnic minorities and more than 30 percent of females cited discrimination. --Among employee groups, 46 percent of supervisory/confidential, 29 percent of P&S staff and 26 percent of merit staff cited discrimination. With the exception of ethnic minorities, staff in all groups most often cited gender discrimination. More than 37 percent of ethnic minority staff said they had experienced ethnic discrimination. --Sixty-six percent of staff indicated they were very or fairly satisfied with their situations at Iowa State, and 19 percent indicated they were dissatisfied. Half of ethnic minority staff said they were satisfied, while nearly a third said they were dissatisfied. Among employee groups, 79 percent of supervisory/confidential staff indicated satisfaction, compared to 67 percent of P&S staff, and 63 percent of merit staff. _____ contact: Diana Pounds, Internal Communications, (515) 294- 4845 updated: 6-16-95