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The 2000 HEDS Senior Survey: A Summary of Findings Prepared by Susan H. Frost and Daniel Teodorescu November 2000 |
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Of the 1,123 degree recipients in 1999-2000, 964 completed the survey for a response rate of 86 percent. Following are selected findings from the report:
Introduction This report summarizes the findings of the HEDS senior survey administered this spring to the Emory College Class of 2000. Of the 1,123 degree recipients, 964 completed the survey for a response rate of 86 percent. The design of the questionnaire, the scanning of the completed surveys, and the analysis of data supporting this report were performed by the Office of Institutional Planning & Research (IPR). As with last's year data, caution should be exercised when interpreting the data on students career plans. The reason for this is that students completed the questionnaire very early in the year, when employment plans were relatively undefined. General profile of survey respondents The population of respondents reflects well the composition of Class of 2000 and comprises 14 percent minorities and 59 percent female students (Table 1). More than three quarters of the respondents started as first-time freshmen at Emory College; less than one third lived in dormitories or other college housing during the senior year (see Table 2 and Table 3). Thirty-eight percent of the responding seniors have changed majors during their studies at Emory (Table 4). Two-thirds of these students changed their majors only one time, 17 percent twice, and 11 percent three times (Table 5). One quarter of the responding students come from families with a total income of $200,000 or more (Table 6); fifty-four percent of the respondents have fathers who earned a graduate or advanced professional degree (Table 7). Gains in knowledge and skills The majority of respondents consider that their undergraduate experience at Emory has 'greatly' enhanced their capacity to function independently (53 percent), self-understanding (51 percent), in-depth knowledge of the field (50 percent), ability to think analytically and logically (47 percent), and their capacity to acquire new skills and knowledge on their own (48 percent). Skills that are believed to be somehow unaffected by the undergraduate experience are in the area of foreign languages (see Table 8). Mirroring results from last year's senior survey, only 17 percent of the respondents believe that their education has greatly enhanced their ability to read or speak a foreign language. It is also important to note that only 23 percent report a considerable enhancement in their ability to use quantitative tools. Faculty support Table 9 indicates a relatively high level of satisfaction with faculty availability. Eighty seven percent of students report having received faculty advice and guidance regarding their educational program. As with last year's data, almost all respondents (97 percent) felt that faculty provided them with intellectual challenge and stimulation throughout their years at Emory. When compared to Class of 1999, we see an improvement in the proportion of the respondents of Class of 2000 who had an opportunity to work with faculty on a research project --from 58 percent to 70 percent. Unchanged from last year's findings, however, is the fact that while most students report strong faculty support and engagement at the academic level, they seem to experience a relatively weaker emotional support from their teachers: 33 percent of respondents (same as last year) reported having not received emotional support or encouragement from faculty. Satisfaction with the college experience As Table 10 shows, 94 percent of seniors report being satisfied or very satisfied with their undergraduate education at Emory, which represents a slight increase from 89 percent last year. This number is also higher than the corresponding proportion (85 percent) for the HEDS peer group. Seventy nine percent of the respondents believe they will remember their college years as essentially happy ones or as some of the most enjoyable times of their life (Table 11). Only five percent expect to remember these years as a period of dissatisfaction and unhappiness. However, when asked if they would choose to attend Emory again if they had the chance to relive their college experience, only 26 percent said 'definitely would' and 34 percent 'probably would' (Table 12). As Table 13 reveals, services and aspects of the university life that a large proportion of students are 'very satisfied' with include library resources (66 percent), instruction in the humanities and arts (49 percent), classroom facilities (49 percent), instruction in the social sciences (45 percent), opportunities for independent study or research (46 percent), and opportunities to study abroad (43 percent). Students were most dissatisfied with food services, student health services, financial aid services, student voice in college policies, student government, personal counseling, services for disabled students, and the overall campus social life. When asked to rate their assessment of the freshman seminar, a majority of students find it to be ineffective in learning about major and course availability (48 percent) or degree requirements (48 percent). Also, more than one third note that the freshman seminar was not helpful in learning about the campus in general (see Table 14). One concern that last year's comments of Oxford transfers revealed was a perceived lack of assistance to ease this group's transition to Emory College. This year's questionnaire specifically asked this subset of students to rate such assistance. The data show that most dissatisfaction seems to relate directly to the Emory College students (36 percent), and the university administration (35 percent). Further, 30 percent of these students believe that faculty in the College were not helpful in facilitating their transition (see Table 15). Multicultural orientation Thirty-six percent of Emory College seniors have studied abroad during their undergraduate career, with the majority of students studying in an European country (Table 16). Approximately 60 percent of respondents have taken at least one course during college with emphasis on the cultures of the Arab world, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, or Latin America and the Caribbean (Table 17). One third of the responding students have taken courses with emphasis on African American life, institutions, and culture. And 44 percent of seniors have had at least one course with emphasis on the study of women, women's issues, or feminism. The diversity of Emory's student body continues to shape the student behavior toward increasing openness. Ninety-three percent of students report having studied and socialized at least occasionally with persons from a different racial or ethnic group. And two-thirds of them attended events sponsored by cultural organizations representing a different racial/ethnic group (Table 18). Participation in the university life The activity that involved by far most seniors is volunteering; more than three-quarters of respondents participated in some type of volunteer services (Table 19). Sixty-three percent participated in intramural and recreational athletics; 45 percent had an off-campus internship; 41 percent were members of a social fraternity or sorority; and 45 percent had an off-campus internship. Compared to last year's data, we note an increase in student participation in religious groups (from 32 percent to 41 percent), volunteer services (from 75 percent to 77 percent), academic clubs (from 22 percent to 29 percent), performing arts (from 25 percent to 29 percent), and racial/cultural awareness programs or workshops (from 32 percent to 43 percent). Finally, 18 percent of the respondents have participated in a honors program during the senior year (Table 20). Intellectual community This year we added a new section to the questionnaire aimed at learning about seniors' perceptions of the intellectual community at Emory. Professor Walter Reed from the English department and Bob Froh from Duke University were instrumental in helping IPR draft the questions for this section. Dimensions of the intellectual community that we measured include tolerance for controversial ideas, communication with faculty, intellectual friendships, frequency and quality of guest lectures, etc. The picture that emerges is mixed (see Table 21). On the one hand, students believe that academics are viewed merely as future professional school requirements (78 percent). On the other hand, they agree in large proportions that conversations with faculty and colleagues outside classes are intellectually stimulating (88 percent). Only half of the respondents agree that the atmosphere on campus encourages discussion of controversial ideas or that cooperation and camaraderie define the atmosphere among students. Also, one in every two students consider that events organized by the Student Programming Council are not culturally enriching. While the above opinions reflect student opinions of the general atmosphere, the following findings refer to respondents' participation in the intellectual life of the university. As Table 22 shows, ninety-seven percent have attended at least occasionally lectures or seminars featuring faculty, students, or guest speakers. And 80 percent had serious conversations with faculty outside the classroom. More than 90 percent of the respondents had serious conversations with other students whose religious beliefs, political opinions, or personal values were different. Approximately half of the respondents have either been invited to a faculty member's house, had lunch with a faculty member, or worked with a faculty member on activities other than coursework. As Table 23 indicates, students appear to be satisfied with the reputation of lectures, seminars, and symposia (88 percent); intellectual dynamism of faculty in the major (87 percent); intellectual friendships formed at Emory (82 percent); and what they have learned from their colleagues (82 percent). There are several negative assessments of the quality of intellectual community. For example, considerable proportions of students were dissatisfied with the study atmosphere in the residential halls (47 percent), opportunities to interact with faculty and students in the graduate and professional schools (50 percent), places on campus where students and faculty can meet for informal discussion (43 percent), frequency with which new insights and controversial ideas are discussed in the student media (38 percent), and students' level of interest in social and intellectual problems (36 percent). Approximately 30 percent were not satisfied with the communication of information about university-wide events and activities. When asked to rate the balance between social and intellectual activities, only 47 percent ranked it as 'good' or 'very good' (see Table 24). A large proportion of students (43 percent) suggest de-emphasizing the Greek life (Table 25). Further, approximately three-quarters would like to emphasize the fine arts events and two thirds suggest emphasizing intercollegiate athletics, guest lectures and seminars, and other social activities. In addition to the multiple choice questions addressed earlier, we asked students to name one organized event or informal activity that made them feel they were members of an intellectual community. The most often cited events include discussion/study groups held outside the class, the Carter Town Hall, and lectures in one's major or subject. When asked to identify one formal or informal activity, which, if strengthened, is likely to enrich Emory's intellectual community, the most frequently suggested events were the Unity Week and the Carter Town Hall. Students also strongly recommended more informal discussion with faculty and more guest lectures. Time allocation/Effort Seniors report spending a weekly average of 18 hours preparing for classes, 7 hours working for pay on campus, 8 hours working for pay off campus, 10 hours participating in co-curricular activities, and 16 hours relaxing and socializing (Table 26). Notably, 80 percent of the respondents spent 10 hours or more weekly preparing for classes; 40 percent studied 20 hours or more per week; and 10 percent allocated 30 hours or more to studying. As Table 27 shows, approximately 30 percent of the students report having read more than 20 assigned textbooks or books during their last academic year. However, undirected reading remains at low levels. Twenty one percent of the respondents have not read a book on their own during the last academic year and 45 percent read fewer than 5 books. Similarly, when extensive writing is considered, almost half of the students have not written a paper or report of 20 pages or more and 40 percent have written fewer than five such papers. Educational loans Fifty-two percent of the respondents reported having taken loans to support their education, which represents a considerable increase since last year's findings when only 43 percent of the seniors took loans. One should note that the loans reported in the survey include loans made by family (Table 28). Of those who borrowed money, 37 percent have more than $25,000 in loans. Sixty-four percent of the students who took loans expressed concerns about their ability to repay them (Table 29). Approximately one quarter of those who took loans intend to pay personally at least $25,000 of the total loan amount (Table 30). Career plans When asked about their principal activity next fall, 46 percent of the surveyed seniors chose 'employment'; 40 percent reported they would continue their education at a graduate or professional school (see Table 31). Since students completed the survey early in the year, their employment plans where relatively undefined at that time. Of the 964 respondents, 375 (39 percent) will work toward an advanced degree in Fall 2000. As Table 32 shows, the most popular degree programs that students will attend this fall were medical (30 percent) and law degrees (29 percent). As with last year's findings, only a relatively low proportion of seniors (8 percent) enrolled in Ph.D. programs. Table 33 compares career goals of respondents when they entered college with long-term career goals and the first jobs they anticipate to start after graduation. As with last year's data, it is interesting to note the shifts taking place during the college years. For instance, between freshman and senior years, the proportion of those planning a career in medicine drops from 31 percent to 19 percent. On the other hand, by the senior year, the percentage of students who want to purse fields such as business, law, and university or college teaching, increases.
Appendix - Tables 1 through 33 . |