According to new survey results, college students are not doing enough to consider and take seriously the diverse perspectives offered by their classmates. From InsideHigherEd, here are some of the main findings of the survey:
- Relatively few respondents feel it is safe to hold unpopular opinions on campus. Twice as many students as campus professionals strongly agree it is safe.
- Participation in community service, interacting with faculty outside of class, and spending more than six hours per week studying are associated with students’ beliefs that college promotes awareness of different perspectives.
- Students’ and campus professionals’ perceptions regarding engaging difference vary by type of institution and demographic. Students attending secular institutions were more likely than those at religiously affiliated institutions to strongly agree that taking others’ perspectives seriously is or should be a major focus of their campuses. While more community college students said it was safe to hold unpopular positions on campus, and that their campuses have high expectations for students to take other perspectives seriously, fewer said taking other perspectives seriously should be a focus of the campus. Women and students of color were more likely to strongly agree that they valued different perspectives, developed during college, and attended an institution that encouraged taking other perspectives seriously.
It’s easy to see how this parallels the acceptance/tolerance of conservative ideas at Cornell.
