Climate Survey

Graduate Student Diversity and Inclusion Climate Survey

In the months leading up to APSA 2018, we conducted a climate survey of current and recent graduate students in political science departments. In this survey, we asked respondents about the actions that their departments are taking in terms of improving diversity and inclusion, what activities they would like to see, and their own experiences with exclusionary or hostile behavior. This survey is approved under the MIT COUHES protocol 1807472014.

Please find below initial results from our survey. You can explore different questions by clicking on the top green drop-down bar, and filter by subgroups based on respondent self-description, institution type, subfield, and career experience, using the filter function at the bottom-left of each chart. These charts are created using Crunch.io, a survey data analysis platform.

If you would like to complete the survey, you can do so here. As of August 31, 2018, the survey has received 426 respondents. We will periodically update this website with new results.

If you are interested in using our survey as a template to conduct your own climate survey, you can view a copy of our survey in PDF format here.

Demographic distribution of respondents

Explore the demographic distribution of respondents here.

Exclusion and discrimination

Respondents answered questions about their experiences with exclusionary and discriminatory behavior over the last year.

About a third of respondents experienced exclusionary behavior in the departments sometimes, often, or very often in the last year. And 80% of women reported discrimination based on gender identity.

Inclusivity

See how respondents feel about their departments’ efforts toward inclusivity.

55% of respondents agree that their department is NOT currently doing enough to make the graduate program feel inclusive.

Departmental Climate

Respondents rated their departments’ climate based on levels of respect.

76% of respondents think their department is respectful or very respectful.

Departmental Activities

Explore departmental activities that are currently offered and those respondents would like to see.

56% of respondents would like their departments to hold regular meetings on diversity and inclusion open to all graduate students and faculty; just 20% report that their departments are currently doing this.

The Full Survey

You can explore responses to all survey questions with filters here.