BU releases results of its first Belonging and Culture Survey

Boston University’s first university-wide survey revealed that while 75% of students, faculty and staff feel comfortable on campus overall, historically marginalized groups expressed a lower sense of belonging, according to the survey results.

Female staff, Black staff, staff identifying as on the “trans-spectrum” and staff identifying as on the “queer-spectrum” reported feeling a lower sense of belonging at BU. Black and female undergraduate students are also on this list, among other groups, according to the BU Belonging and Culture survey.

Victoria Sahani, associate provost for Community and Inclusion and professor of law, Linette Decarie, assistant vice president for Analytical Services and Institutional Research, and Megan Segoshi, director at BU Diversity and Inclusion, served as co-chairs of the survey.

The co-chairs wrote in an email that they were pleased with the high rates of comfort but also displeased with the amount of groups that felt a lesser sense of belonging.

“Seeing that respondents who identified as part of one or more underrepresented groups felt less comfortable with BU’s classroom, workplace, or overall climate really reinforces the importance of the work being done by services and organizations at BU that support these community members,” the co-chairs wrote.

Former President Robert Brown and former Provost Jean Morrison announced the survey in September 2022 to the BU community.

“The forthcoming campus-wide survey will allow us to assess the sense of belonging and culture at the University for students, staff, and faculty and to identify successes and opportunities for improvement,” Brown and Morrison wrote about the survey at the time. “Survey data will better enable us to develop programs and policies that will increase a sense of belonging for all at BU.”

The survey launched on Feb. 21 to the BU community and closed on April 7.

BU’s Belonging and Culture Survey Working Group partnered with Rankin Climate to generate and analyze the survey. Rankin Climate released the results through two presentations on Oct. 18, and key findings are now available to the BU community.

In terms of workplace environment, 93% of tenured and tenure-track faculty reported feeling BU values research, and 73% reported feeling BU values teaching. Moreover, 79% of students responded they “felt valued by faculty in the classroom” and 72% of students responded they had faculty they viewed as role models, according to the survey.

The co-chairs appreciated that the BU community participated in the survey, with 24% of students, faculty and staff participating in the survey.

“This was a long survey and it’s a known issue that participating in surveys in general is declining because there are so many demands on peoples’ time and attention,” the co-chairs wrote. “Given that, we were pleased and excited to see the response rates that we received which makes this data so valuable.”

Emily Carmichael, a freshman in the College of Communication, said she found those results upsetting given that there are many campus resources to help students find their place.

“It’s kind of disappointing,” Carmichael said. “But, I think what’s great about BU is that there’s so many clubs that are based in trying to make a community.”

Carmichael said she felt her professors made an effort to make their classrooms a safe space for students.

“A lot of my professors on the first day really stressed inclusion and making sure you’re treating everyone fairly,” Carmichael said. “I think a lot of them have established that they really do care for you.”

Krittika Chowdhury, a freshman in Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said she is satisfied with the survey’s results and feels secure on campus, saying it is “comfortable” with a “nice community.”

The co-chairs wrote they will not just be looking at what programs at BU are currently working.

“We also will be thinking about what student needs are not being met and how the University can respond effectively,” the co-chairs wrote.“The release of these results is just the beginning of what will be an ongoing project for improvement and reflection for the community.”

The BU community will thoroughly analyze the data found in the survey, the co-chairs wrote.

“Our deans and leaders of administrative units will analyze and examine this data and information and use it to determine where best to engage in actions and initiatives to improve the student experience, as well as the experiences of staff and faculty,” they wrote.