A campus climate survey developed by the President’s Gender Working Group showed that women and transgender persons experienced a “considerably higher rate” of harassment, intimidation and/or discrimination. The results were reviewed at a recent forum.

Overall, about 18 percent of employee and 25 percent of student respondents reported directly experiencing harmful treatment of gender groups at NMU. The perspective differed noticeably when isolating women and transgendered persons, with 49 percent of employees and 47 percent of students indicating they had experienced harassment, intimidation and/or discrimination.

“Areas in which the greatest level of unfair treatment was reported by employees were in sports and recreation, by faculty government and by university administration,” said Abigail Wyche, head of social work and member of the working group, in sharing the survey’s executive summary. “Sports and recreation were also areas identified by students where they perceived a high level of unfair treatment. Students also reported perceptions of unfavorable academic treatment, with 37 percent perceiving negative gender stereotyping occurring in the classroom.”

About 60 percent of employees rated NMU’s campus climate “good” as it relates to gender, but Wyche said 73 percent perceived unfavorable treatment related to salary distribution. She added that a faculty salary analysis completed last year by Institutional Research concluded that when considering all factors—tenure status, length of service, etc.—gender alone did not sufficiently explain pay variations. The President’s Gender Working Group has requested a similar analysis of staff salaries and promotions from Human Resources.

Employees (47 percent) and students (13 percent) reported they have dependent children living with them. A majority of employees indicated equal treatment of genders in parental leave, flexibility in hours and support for caretaking duties. Most reported their manager or supervisor was supportive of parental leave. Some commented that while leave is available, it is not always easily accessible or accommodating. Respondents also indicated improvement is needed in both the facilities available and general support for breastfeeding and diaper changing on campus.

A majority of employee and student respondents were familiar with one or more of NMU’s policies or procedures that relate to the unfair treatment of gender. Twenty-eight percent used at least one of the policies or procedures, with the Student Code of Conduct applied most frequently.

Sixty-seven percent of the 252 employee respondents identified as female or transgender; 33 percent identified as male.  The percentages were similar for the 201 student respondents from two random samples of 1,000 students. Sixty-seven percent identified as female, transgender or other.

“We expected some sampling bias because those most interested in the topic are likely to be female or transgender,” Wyche said.

The goal of the employee and student surveys was to assess NMU's campus climate with respect to gender so that the working group can share results with the president and recommend related measures/programming that might address issues identified as in need of improvement. To see the survey statistics and comments, click here and enter your NMU login to view.