Climate Studies

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Climate Studies
Commission on Professionals in Science and
Technology

• Lisa M. Frehill, Ph.D.
• Executive Director

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Climate

• Bernice Sandler Chilly Climate for women
  (1980s)
• Climate surveys became popular among Commissions
  on the Status of Women
• Applied to various populations on campuses
• Students
• Faculty
• Staff

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Administration

• Usually an ungodly long survey
• Sometimes focus groups, interviews or town hall
  meetings
• Low response rates, open to critique
• Results often published in an official report.
• Sometimes used to make changes.
• Even if now changes process the organization
  had actually made an attempt to find out about
  climate issues.

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Questions

• Original surveys
• Feeling of discrimination
• Opinions about treatment of women, minorities,
  etc.
• Newer surveys
• We KNOW what makes a climate less chilly, so we
  ask about the presence efficacy of these
  elements.

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USING DATA

• Critical something happens as a result of the
  data collection.
• Large-scale ? informs policy or procedures
  changes of the institution.
• Small-scale ? permits a department or program to
  improve climate.
• WHO does the survey
• Expertise and motivation
• Ease of administration
• Ease of analysis
• Outsider / insider

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USING the data, contd.

• Large-scale climate surveys produce LOTS of data.
• Limitations time and media.
• Time w/any given audience 30 min. max.
• Media Report length 2-3 pages max.
• Implications
• short sweet.
• Analysis informed by social science research?
  data reduction.
• Keep in mind the big picture of the program.

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Packet

• Exit Survey
• Grad students in NMSUs AMP Bridge to the
  Doctorate Program
• Short interviews in addition to survey.
• Climate Survey for Graduate Students
• New Mexico AGEP (UNM, NMSU and NM-Tech).
• Faculty and graduate students in STEM.
• Compared faculty-students
• Dont Know what did people not know about?
• University of Washington Science and Engineering
  Graduate Student Experience
• Web-based.
• Ultimate goal develop an instrument that could
  be used at multiple institutions
• Other examples online www.advance-portal.net

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Examples

• Results Presentations

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Example 1. University of Wisconsin, Jenn
Sheridans presentation of results
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Explanation motivation for the analysis

• Faculty who do non-mainstream research
  experience the same isolation and lack of fit
  that women (and minority) faculty experience.
• Demonstrates to chairs
• Isolation - not just due to gender and
  race/ethnicity.
• Working on ways to include ALL department members
  benefits all members.

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Utah State UniversityDepartment Chairs Retreat
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Ronda Callisters explanation of the previous
graph.


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Findings from NMSU Climate Survey Evidence of
Mentoring Impact Participants versus
Non-Participants
Non-participant male 126 Non-Participant
female 66 Participant male 23 Participant
female 42
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Sometimes a survey aint about the survey, . . .

• sometimes its about the process.

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Department diagnostic instrument
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Action Research

• Data collected, analyzed and presented by
  participants.
• Not pure research.
• Instrument may not be perfect.
• Community/team building.
• Or . . . Personal diagnostic tool.
• Self or internal Benchmarking gaps analysis.

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Commission on Professionals in Science and
Technology
1200 New York Avenue Suite 113 Washington, DC
20005 Phone [phone] Fax [phone]

• Lisa M. Frehill, Ph.D. Nathan Bell
• Executive Director Associate Director
• Nicole Di Fabio
• Research Assistant