WASHINGTON POLL SHOWS PUBLIC'S EXPECTATIONS FOR INCREASED DIVERSITY AND SUPPORT FOR DIVERSITY EDUCATION

The first-ever statewide poll on diversity in higher education was conducted March 6 to March 13, 1997 in Washington state by Elway Research, Inc. of Seattle. The telephone poll of 600 registered voters was conducted for the Ford Foundation's Campus Diversity Initiative in collaboration with North Seattle Community College, Seattle Central Community College, Seattle University, Shoreline Community College, South Seattle Community College, and the University of Washington. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent. Elway Research supplemented the primary sample with 100 additional interviews with African Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanics.

Executive Summary

The fact that America's population is growing more diverse comes as no surprise to most Washington voters. More than half of the 600 persons interviewed for this survey said they live in diverse neighborhoods, "with many different kinds of people." Further, 9 in 10 thought that, in 20 years, they would be living in neighborhoods that were more diverse or the same as now.

Likewise, respondents generally agreed upon the meaning of growing diversity for the country and for the people who will live and work in a more diverse society. For example, 9 in 10 survey respondents agreed that:

• In the next generation "people will need to get along with people who are not like them."
• America's growing diversity makes it more important than ever for all of us to understand people who are different than ourselves.
• The global economy makes it more important than ever for all of us to understand people who are different than ourselves.

Despite this personal awareness and expectation for increased diversity, two in three respondents (64%) thought that "America is growing apart" rather than "growing together" (24%). This is a source of concern:

• Nearly 8 in 10 (77%) thought that America was doing a "poor" or "only fair" job of preparing to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. Further,
• 8 in 10 said that "these days people spend too much time talking about their differences rather than what they have in common."

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Higher Education has Role to Play in Addressing Diversity Issues

There was general consensus, however, that colleges and universities have a role to play in addressing these issues, and that diversity programs on college campuses help to bring society together (65%) rather than drive it further apart (21%).

Moreover, there was consensus level support for each one of several specific diversity education programs or proposals included in this survey.

Just as Washington voters were not surprised at the growing diversity of America, most were aware of diversity education programs on college campuses. Diversity Education was defined for respondents as "formal course work and campus activities aimed at teaching the differences among people in terms of culture and background. This includes issues of race, ethnic background, social class or gender." Asked to suggest what might be some positive and some negative outcomes of diversity education on college campuses:

• 74% volunteered at least one positive outcome;
• 48% volunteered at least one negative outcome; and
• 58% named at least one positive and one negative outcome.

That nearly 6 in 10 could think in outcomes on both sides suggests that most Washington voters have given this issue considerable thought. Further, this most thoughtful majority was strongly supportive of both the goals of diversity education and of specific campus programs.

• Only 7% of respondents named only negative outcomes of diversity education. These respondents who could think of only negative outcomes from diversity education tended to reject the whole notion of diversity and the need to adapt to a changing society.

These findings indicate that the more people know about diversity education, the more supportive they are. In fact, most Washington voters interviewed for this survey had a generally positive view of campus diversity programs. Contrary to headline news about diversity-related disruptions on campus, three quarters of these respondents thought that:

• Diversity on campus has a positive effect on the "general atmosphere on campus" (73%)
• Diverse student bodies have positive effects on the education of students (77%); and
• Courses and campus activities that emphasize diversity and diverse perspectives have a positive effect on the education of students (72%).

Respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with a number of statements, culled from the public record in the debate over campus diversity.

Respondents tended to agree with the positive statements about diversity education and tended to disagree with the negative statements.

For example, respondents generally agreed that:

• Our society is multi-cultural. The more we know about each other, the better we will get along. (87% agreed)
• Just as college faculty should keep updating the information they use to teach their students, they should also incorporate new information about the diversity of America into their courses. (82%)
• The changing characteristics of America's population make diversity education necessary. (79%)
• It is just as important for colleges to prepare people to succeed in a diverse world as it is to prepare people with technical or academic skills.(78%)
• Learning mutual respect and understanding has to start well before college. (78%)
• Diversity education creates respect for differences and helps ease tensions between people. (77%)
• There is a lot of important information about various cultures in the United States that has been overlooked by college faculty in the past. (70%)
• Diversity education always seems to have a liberal political agenda. (58%)
• The more we focus on things like oppressions and our separate cultures and histories, the more division and conflict we create. (52%)

Majorities or pluralities disagreed that:

• Diversity education is nothing more than political correctness, which hinders true education. (53% disagreed)
• The problem with diversity is that it's used as an excuse to admit graduate students who wouldn't otherwise make it. (54%)
• College courses like women's, African American or Chicano studies take valuable resources away from the education and training that young people need to make it in today's economy. (55%)

Some arguments made by opponents of diversity education have resonance. For example, survey respondents were most closely divided by the following arguments:

• There is little purpose to recruiting a diverse student body because students separate themselves into groups by race on campus anyway. (47% agreed; 47% disagreed)
• Diversity education emphasizes our differences and breeds conflict. The more we focus on things like oppression and our separate cultures and histories, the more division and conflict we create. (52% agreed; 42% disagreed)
• Diversity education teaches multi-cultural elements of history and literature just to make some students feel included. (48% agreed; 47% disagreed)
• Adding material about women and minorities to the college curriculum makes it less rigorous. (40% agreed; 48% disagreed)

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Strong Support for Specific Diversity Education Programs

Given these results, it would have been expected that there would be disagreement about specific diversity programs. In fact, there was strong support for such programs. Survey respondents were asked whether they supported or opposed 11 "specific programs and proposals for diversity education on college campuses." For each program, supporters outnumbered opponents by margins of better than 2:1. For example, the highest rated programs were:

• Offering courses designed to help students develop a balanced understanding and appreciation for their own and other cultures (85% support); and
• Offering courses in business schools on managing a diverse workforce (85% support).

Of the 11 programs tested, the one with the lowest level of support still had the support of 7 in 10 respondents. That was:

• Requiring students to take a course that presents the point of view of societies other than those of Western Europe and North America (68% support).

It is significant that statements in the abstract about diversity and diversity education produced varying degrees of support and opposition; however when specific diversity education programs are suggested, they were met with near universal approval. This suggests that once people get beyond the rhetoric surrounding the issue, most support the programs and proposals actually being implemented on college campuses. It is clear that the public is interested in and receptive to information about the diversity education that is occurring on college and university campuses. Campus programs that help students meet the challenges likely to emerge during the next century are likely to be met with public support.

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High Expectations for Higher Education

Consistent with findings of other survey research, this study found that Washingtonians have high expectations for their higher education institutions. More than 8 in 10 of these respondents said that each of six educational goals was "important," and at least half said that each one was "very important."

As expected, teaching basic skills and career training were the top rated goals for higher education, with 77% and 67% respectively, saying they were "very important." Right behind those goals, nearly 6 in 10 said that it was "very important" for higher education institutions to:

• Prepare people to function in a more diverse society; and
• Prepare people to function in a more diverse work force.

These expectations that higher education will prepare people for a diverse future extended to:

• 64% agreement with the statement that "College is not doing its job if its graduates cannot get along in a diverse population."

In response to related questions:

• 79% agreed that "the changing characteristics of America's population make diversity education necessary."
• 78% agreed that "it is just as important for colleges to prepare people to success in a diverse world as it is to prepare people with technical or academic skills."

How should this preparation be accomplished? At least 6 in 10 respondents thought that, for each of five skills that a college student might be expected to acquire, they would be more likely to acquire it "if the course instruction included attention to diversity and diverse perspectives." These included:

• Communication skills (82% said "more likely" if diversity was included);
• Teamwork skills (79%);
• Flexibility (71%);
• Problem solving skills (63%); and
• Civic participation skills (62%)

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Broad, Consistent Support for Diversity Education

The consistency of support for diversity education initiatives expressed by these Washington voters is striking. Rarely were there significant differences in the response from members of different ethnic groups, political persuasion or geographic areas of the state. Many times, differences that did emerge were differences in scale, more than direction. That is, members of one group or another might feel more strongly about a certain issue than respondents in other groups, but they did not fundamentally disagree. For example:

• 83% of Hispanic respondents said that diversity programs had a positive effect on the general campus atmosphere; compared to
• 79% of African Americans;
• 73% whites; and
• 68% of Asian American respondents.

The underpinning for this support of diversity education appears to come from a desire to improve relations between groups in society. Already noted was the finding that most respondents thought that American society was growing apart. Substantial majorities also agreed that:

• "Our society is multi-cultural. The more we know about each other, the better we will get along" (87%); and
• "Diversity education creates respect for differences and helps ease tensions between people" (77%).

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Voters Focused on Education Outcomes

A prominent argument used to criticize campus diversity efforts is that such programs lower academic standards. These respondents did not agree. By a 3:1 margin (43% to 16%) more respondents said that diversity programs raise rather than lower academic standards. Some 29% said the programs had no effect on academic standards one way or the other, while 12% had no opinion.

There is some ambiguity about academic standards apparent in these findings. Although 72% thought that academic standards were either raised or unaffected by diversity programs:

• 40% agreed that "adding material about women and minorities to the college curriculum makes it less rigorous;"
• 48% disagreed with that statement.

Combining the results of these two items reveals that:

• 21% held a consistently pro-diversity position: They thought that diversity education raises academic standards, and did not think that diversity material makes college courses less rigorous;
• 7% thought that diversity material makes college courses less rigorous and thought that diversity education lowers academic standards;
• 19% agreed with both positions: That diversity education raises academic standards and that diversity material makes college courses less rigorous;
• 7% disagreed with both positions: They thought that diversity education lowered academic standards in general, but did not think that diversity material made courses less rigorous; and the remaining
• 46% respondents either thought that diversity programs had no effect on academic standards, or had no opinion on the questions.

Thus, for a large plurality, the strong support for diversity programs persisted independent of the views about academic standards. The issue of academic standards may be somewhat clouded by language. Neither those who thought academic standards are raised nor those who thought they are lowered by diversity education appeared to be talking about academic standards in the same way that academics would define them. For example:

• Respondents who felt that diversity education raised academic standards were more likely than others to point to increased understanding of other cultures as a positive outcome of diversity perspectives.
• A plurality of respondents who thought that inclusions of diversity perspectives lowered academic standards thought that these perspectives promote separatism and focused on differences.

Consistent with their utilitarian view of higher education, voters in this survey appear to be clearly focused on outcomes of higher education. Moreover, they seem to be focused on the same desirable outcome with regard to diversity: helping people from different backgrounds get along better. At a time when two-thirds of these respondents thought that society was "growing apart," two-thirds also agreed that diversity education addresses this problem by helping "to bring society together."