Methodology

Survey

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1. All questions are multiple choice questions and do not allow custom inputs, except for “Other” in the demographic identification questions, which allows participants to specify further.

2. Surveys are kept at around a 5 minute estimated length. This year, we have 19 questions and 8 demographic identification questions. Individual schools may add up to 2 additional questions to their surveys.

3. Survey questions are reviewed each year. For the most part, we aim to keep questions similar from year to year in order to follow long term development across the same questions.

4. All questions other than demographic identification questions are not required to submit the survey. All demographic identification questions have “Prefer not to say” as an option.

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Data Collection

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Participating schools have the option to select between two survey collection methods. While we recommend method 1 to increase survey accuracy and participation rates, we understand that many schools may prefer method 2. We acknowledge that both methods serve as a step in the right direction towards collecting more climate data in technology education.

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Method 1:

1. The survey is made available to the full list of emails of all students studying computer science related fields at the university.

2. Each email is sent an individualized survey link so that no one can access the survey unless invited via the email list in (1). This maintains an exact survey population.

3. All survey responses are fully anonymized. No responses contain any personally identifiable information (name, address, email address, IP address, profile images, birthdates, social media handles, etc.), and the participants are made aware of this.

4. The participants are made aware of the goal of the survey, that their participation is voluntary, and that they may withdraw at any time before completing the survey. Once they submit their completed survey, there will be no way to withdraw their response because the survey contains no identifying information. They were also given contact information for any questions they may have.

5. Surveys are open for around 3 weeks, depending on the campus.

6. We send reminder email(s) once a week and on the last day the survey is open to those who have not filled out the survey. Our survey engine has this feature while keeping responses anonymous.

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Method 2:

1. The survey is accessible via general link and shared via student groups and or department listservs.

2. All survey responses are fully anonymized. No responses contain any personally identifiable information (name, address, email address, IP address, profile images, birthdates, social media handles, etc.), and the participants are made aware of this.

3. The participants are made aware of the goal of the survey, that their participation is voluntary, and that they may withdraw at any time before completing the survey. Once they submit their completed survey, there will be no way to withdraw their response because the survey contains no identifying information. They were also given contact information for any questions they may have.

4. Surveys are open for around 3 weeks, depending on the campus.

5. We send reminder email(s) once a week and on the last day the survey is open to those who have not filled out the survey. Our survey engine has this feature while keeping responses anonymous.

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Data Analysis

1. We merge all responses from all school surveys for an aggregate analysis.

2. We use an automated script to calculate percentages from the number of responses/total responses for each identification: Gender, Race and Ethnicity, LGBQ+, International Student, First Generation Student, Low Income Student, Disability.

3. The automated script also calculates significance based on our survey population.

4. Aggregate data is ported into the below interactive visualization that displays data for each question.