Towards inclusive excellence: a survey of diversity on campus

ABSTRACT

This paper presents findings from a campus climate survey conducted at an Australian university. Unprecedented compositional diversity now exists in higher education, with students enrolled from different religious, socio-economic, geographic, and cultural backgrounds. Despite this diversity, little research has been conducted into the ways that different student groups experience university, including marginalised and ‘hidden’ groups such as LGBTIQA+ students. The survey aimed to uncover the impact of diversity on student experiences, including the extent to which students associated with others from different backgrounds, the extent to which their own views and beliefs were challenged, and the extent to which they felt safe on campus. Findings suggest a need for more targeted research, particularly into the experiences of marginalised groups, and for reform of both institutional policy and curriculum. Further, we found that students are frequently thinking about identity, diversity, and bias, and their own voices need to be elevated within institutional strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• Campus climate
• diversity
• inclusive excellence
• student experience

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of Dr Ellen Stolzenberg and Dr Kevin Eagan in providing advice and access to the Diverse Learning Environments survey instrument.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew Harvey

Andrew Harvey is the Director of Pathways in Place Programme at Griffith University. For over two decades, Andrew has advocated for social justice, working with vulnerable communities, not for profit organisations, and extensive collaboration and community engagement. This includes Executive Director of Student Equity, Professor of Higher Education, and Director of the Centre for Higher Education Equity and Diversity Research (CHEEDR) at La Trobe University. Andrew has published extensively on the experiences of new migrants, people from out-of-home care backgrounds, Indigenous students, and other underserved groups.

Michael Luckman

Michael Luckman is a Senior Manager, Data Insights (Academic) at La Trobe University. He has extensive experience working on higher education data analysis projects. He has led internal evaluations of La Trobe University’s School Partnerships Program, College of Science Health and Engineering out- reach programmes, and analysis of La Trobe’s equity and teaching and learning performance measures. Michael’s recent research publications have focussed on re-recruitment of students who have stopped out of higher education; equity within student globalisation activities; care leavers in higher education; predictors of student attrition; and patterns of regional student relocation.

Catherine Yuan Gao

Catherine Yuan Gao is Assistant Professor in the Centre for Higher Education Research at Southern University of Science and Technology. Her research interests include globalisation and internationalisation of higher education, Intercultural education, and STEM education. Catherine has held various educational research, teaching, and consulting positions over the past nine years, including Research Fellow in CIRES of Victoria University, Senior Research Officer in the Centre for Higher Education Equity and Diversity Research (CHEEDR) at La Trobe University. Yuan obtained her PhD from the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne, MEd with distinction from University of Bristol, and honours Bachelor of Arts (double degree) from Peking University, China.