Twenty-three percent at UCSD experienced "exclusionary" conduct, survey says

The results are in and UCSD has received a generally passing grade in the University of California's recently released "Campus Climate Assessment Project" survey, though there are some downsides.

"The purpose of the survey was to gather a wide variety of data related to institutional climate, inclusion, and work-life issues so that the University is better informed about the living and working environments for students, faculty, staff, post-doctoral scholars, and trainees at the ten UC campuses," says an introduction to the study, conducted by the consulting firm of Rankin & Associates.

According to the survey, "77% of all respondents were 'comfortable' or 'very comfortable' with the climate at UC San Diego, while 8% were 'uncomfortable' or 'very uncomfortable.'"

"68% of Undergraduate Students, 74% of Graduate/Professional Students, and 85% of Faculty and Post-Doc respondents were 'comfortable' or 'very comfortable' with the climate in their classes, while 9% of Undergraduates, 6% of Graduate/Professional Students, and 4% of Faculty/Post- Docs were 'uncomfortable' or 'very uncomfortable.'

On the other hand, "23% of respondents believed that they had personally experienced exclusionary, intimidating, offensive and/or hostile conduct; 8% of respondents indicated that the conduct interfered with their ability to work or learn."

"A higher percentage of Genderqueer than Men, Women, and Transgender respondents experienced such conduct, as did a higher percentage of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) respondents than heterosexual respondents."

The report defines a "genderqueer" as "a person whose gender identity is neither man nor woman, is between or beyond genders, or is some combination of genders. This identity is usually related to or in reaction to the social construction of gender, gender stereotypes and the gender binary system.

“Some genderqueer people identify under the transgender umbrella while others do not. Self-identification as genderqueer does not preclude identification as male or female, nor do all those who might fit the definition self-identify as genderqueer.

“Here, those who chose to self-identify as genderqueer have been reported separately in order to reveal the presence of a relatively new campus identity that might otherwise have been overlooked."

Two percent of those answering the survey "believed they had experienced unwanted sexual contact while at UC San Diego within the last five years," though there were some variations there as well.

"Higher percentages of Undergraduate Students (4%) experienced unwanted sexual contact in the past five years as compared to Graduate/Professional Students (1%), Staff (2%), Faculty (1%), or Post-Docs/Trainees (1%).

"In terms of gender identity, a higher percentage of genderqueer respondents (14%) than women respondents (3%) and men respondents (1%) experienced this conduct.

Participation in the poll wasn't the highest.

"UC San Diego community members completed 11,915 surveys for an overall response rate of 24%.

"Response rates by constituent group varied: 19% for Undergraduate Students, 24% for Graduate/Professional Students, 30% for Post-Docs, 11% for Trainees, 21% for Union Staff, 23% for Faculty, and 44% for Non-Union staff."

UC commissioned the system-wide study following a series of widely publicized campus controversies, including a "Compton Cookout" held by UCSD fraternity students to mock Black History Month in 2010.

According to the university, the survey set taxpayers back $602,200.