The faculty are somewhat less certain about whether UD grants preferences in student admissions, but most believe that it does. The vast majority would ban them. Even a majority of liberal faculty would vote for a ban.

One in four UD faculty believes that race and sex preferences have lowered both faculty and student quality at UD. Only a fraction as many believes that preferences have improved quality.

UD faculty opposition to race and gender preferences is somewhat higher than that recorded two years ago among faculty nationwide. UD faculty are much more likely than the earlier national sample was, however, to report that preferences have degraded faculty and student quality.

The Delaware chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has advocated preferences in faculty employment. In an April 15, 1998 letter to UD faculty, the Delaware Association of Scholars (DAS) pointed to the legal risks incurred by such advocacy. Individual faculty have also expressed concern to DAS that the University does, in fact, grant preferences that are not likely to withstand legal challenge. The AAUP has not polled its members to determine whether they approve preferences and wish their union to encourage their use at UD.

For these reasons, DAS sought to assess whether UD faculty believe that the University grants preferences in faculty employment and student admissions and whether they approve such policies and practices.

Procedures

On December 6, 1998, DAS mailed a survey on race and gender preferences to all fulltime faculty at the University of Delaware. It included 11 questions administered to 800 faculty nationwide in the Roper/NAS survey. DAS added one question on domestic partner benefits which is not analyzed here. Copies of the questionnaire and cover letter are available on the DAS website.

Address labels for all the approximately 790 fulltime UD faculty were provided by the UD Graphic Communications Center, which carried out the actual mailing. The questionnaire was reproduced in a manner making obvious any duplication by recipients.

One hundred and fifty seven faculty returned the survey, for a return rate of about 20%. Two questionnaires were excluded from the analyses, one for lack of data and the other because it was returned too late. Low response rates, which are common for such mail surveys, always require concern about the validity of the results. Several facts in this case support the credibility of the data from this survey.

First, as revealed below, the pattern of UD results is quite similar to the NAS/Roper results, where (national) representativeness was assured. Second, respondents' unsolicited comments suggest that the survey evoked responses from faculty with the full range of attitudes about race and sex preferences at UD. The general opposition to preferences at UD cannot be due to any disproportionate response from conservative faculty. There are almost twice as many liberals as conservatives in the UD sample, a ratio which mirrors that of faculty nationwide.

Questions left blank were combined with "don't know" responses. All results are column or row percentages. The 95% confidence interval is about 16%.

Overall results

• Most UD faculty oppose preferences in faculty employment and student admissions.

  Seven out of ten UD faculty responding to the DAS survey believe that the University of Delaware should not grant preferences in faculty employment or in student admissions on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity. This level of opposition exceeds by over 10 percentage points that registered two years ago in the NAS study of faculty nationwide.

  #1) Do you feel that the University of Delaware should or should not grant preference to one candidate over another in faculty employment decisions on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity?
  #2) Do you feel that the University of Delaware should or should not grant preference to one candidate over another for admission on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity?
  	Faculty Employment		Student Admissions
  	UD	NAS/Roper	UD	NAS/Roper
  Should Should Not Don't Know   (N)	26% 71  3 (155)	29% 60  11  (800)	28% 69  2 (155)	32% 56  11  (800)

• Most UD faculty report that UD does, in fact, use preferences in both faculty employment and student admissions.

  Over 80% believe that the University grants preferences by race and gender in faculty employment, with most reporting that the preferences stem from informal rather than formal policy and procedures. Sixty percent report preferences in student admissions, with another 30% not knowing whether or not there are any such preferences. Only 10% report that preferences are not granted in employment or admissions. That is, about 90% of faculty members claiming familiarity with the university's employment and admissions practices report that preferences are used. A somewhat greater percentage of UD faculty than faculty nationwide believes that their university grants race and sex preferences.

  #3) Putting aside your own opinion, which of the following statements best describes UD's policy for faculty employment decisions: formal, informal, or no use of gender or race?
  #5) Putting aside your own opinion, which of the following statements best describes UD's policy for student admissions: formal, informal, or no use of gender or race?
  	Faculty Employment		Student Admissions
  	UD	NAS/Roper	UD	NAS/Roper
  Formal Informal No Use Don't Know (N)	25% 56  10  10  (155)	32% 38  16  14  (800)	30% 30  10  31  (155)	19% 26  30  25  (800)

• Like faculty nationwide, UD faculty tend to believe that their institution's race and sex preferences have lowered rather than raised the quality of faculty and students.

  Of the 81% and 60% of faculty, respectively, who believe that UD uses preferences in faculty employment and student admissions, about half (42% and 27%) report either that the preferences have had no impact on quality or else they don't know whether they have. Among those who report impact, however, more believe that they have degraded rather improved faculty quality (25% vs. 14%) and student quality (25% vs. 8%).

  UD faculty are about as unlikely as were the national faculty two years ago to report that their institution's preferences improve the quality of faculty (14% vs. 13%) and students (8% vs. 6%). They are much more likely, however, to report negative effects. Fully one-quarter of UD faculty believe that UD preferences have lowered quality. The figures for faculty nationwide are many times smaller (4% and 8%).

  #4) In your opinion, has the academic quality of the faculty at UD improved or declined as a result of giving preference in employment decisions on the basis of race, sex or ethnicity, or hasn't this made any difference?
  #6) In your opinion, has the academic quality of the students at your institution improved or declined as a result in giving preference in admission on the basis of race, sex, ethnicity, or hasn't this made any difference?
  	Faculty Employment		Student Admissions
  	UD	NAS/Roper	UD	NAS/Roper
  Preferences Granted Quality Improved Quality Declined No Impact Don't Know	81%    14    25    22    20	70%   13     4   43   10	60%    8  25  18    9	45%   6   8 25   6
  No Preferences Granted	10	16	10	30
  Don't Know	10	14	31	25
  (N)	(155)	(800)	(155)	(800)

• Most UD faculty would approve a policy banning race and sex preferences in employment and admissions.

  Seven in ten UD faculty would vote to approve a policy prohibiting discrimination either against or in favor of certain races, sexes, or ethnicities, whether in faculty employment or student admissions. This level of opposition to granting preferences somewhat exceeds that recorded in the national survey two years ago.

  #7) Please consider the following policy: the University of Delaware shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to candidates in faculty employment decisions on the basis of race, sex or ethnicity. If you had to vote to adopt or reject this as a policy at your institution, how would you vote?
  #8) Please consider the following policy: the University of Delaware shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to applicants for admission to the University on the basis of race, sex or ethnicity. If you had to vote to adopt or reject this as a policy at your institution, how would you vote?
  	Faculty Employment		Student Admissions
  	UD	NAS/Roper	UD	NAS/Roper
  Approve Ban Reject Ban Don't Know   (N)	72% 22  6 (155)	64% 27  9 (800)	68% 27  5 (155)	61% 29  10  (800)

Results by political orientation

• Nearly one-third of UD faculty describe themselves as liberal and one sixth as conservative, which is the same ratio found in the NAS/Roper study. The opposite is true for the general public, where conservatives outnumber liberals two to one.

  	UD	NAS/Roper	General Public (1996 Gallup)
  Liberal Moderate Conservative Don't Know/Other   (N)	30% 46 16   8 (155)	37% 43 17   4 (800)	17% 42 35   5

• Most faculty of all political orientations oppose preferences, although liberals are substantially less negative.

  Non-liberals strongly oppose the granting of preferences in both faculty employment and student admissions. Among both moderates and conservatives at UD, four out of five believe that the University should not grant such preferences. Liberals are more evenly split, but still tend to disfavor rather than favor them.

  #1) Do you feel that the University of Delaware should or should not grant preference to one candidate over another in faculty employment decisions on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity?
  	UD					NAS/Roper
  	Liberal	Moderate	Conser- vative	Don't Know	Total	Total
  Should Grant Should Not Don't Know      (N)	42% 51  6 (45)	18% 81  1 (72)	20% 80  0 (25)	23% 69  8 (13)	26% 71  3 (155)	29% 60  11  (800)

  #2) Do you feel that the University of Delaware should or should not grant preference to one candidate over another for admission on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity?
  	UD					NAS/Roper
  	Liberal	Moderate	Conser- vative	Don't Know	Total	Total
  Should Grant Should Not Don't Know      (N)	47% 49  4 (45)	21% 78  1 (72)	20% 80  0 (25)	23% 69  8 (13)	28% 69  3 (155)	32% 56  11  (800)

• The different political orientations are all similar in believing that UD grants preferences.

  Over three-quarters of all orientations believe that UD grants preferences in faculty employment on the basis of race, sex, and ethnicity. Liberals are somewhat less likely to report formal policies. All orientations are less certain about whether UD grants preferences in student admissions, but a majority of all orientations believes that it does.

  #3) Putting aside your own opinion, which of the following statements best describes UD's policy for faculty employment decisions: formal, informal, or no use of gender or race?
  	UD					NAS/Roper
  	Liberal	Moderate	Conser- vative	Don't Know	Total	Total
  Formal Informal No Use Don't Know      (N)	20% 56  13  11  (45)	26% 56  8 10  (72)	28% 52  12  8 (25)	31% 61  0 8 (13)	25% 56  10  10  (155)	32% 38  16  14  (800)

  #5) Putting aside your own opinion, which of the following statements best describes UD's policy for student admissions: formal, informal, or no use of gender or race?
  	UD					NAS/Roper
  	Liberal	Moderate	Conser- vative	Don't Know	Total	Total
  Formal Informal No Use Don't Know      (N)	20% 36  7 38  (45)	31% 31  11  28  (72)	40% 20  8 32  (25)	39% 23  15  23  (13)	30% 30  10  31  (155)	19% 26  30  25  (800)

• There is substantial agreement among moderates and conservatives that any impact of preferences on institutional quality is more often negative than positive, whereas liberals are either less negative (student admissions) or more positive (faculty employment) about those consequences.

  #4) In your opinion, has the academic quality of the faculty at UD improved or declined as a result of giving preference in employment decisions on the basis of race, sex or ethnicity, or hasn't this made any difference?
  	UD					NAS/Roper
  	Liberal	Moderate	Conser- vative	Don't Know	Total	Total
  Preferences Granted Quality Improved Quality Declined No Impact Don't Know	76% 22 11 24 18	82% 11 32 22 17	80%   8 32 16 24	92% 15 15 23 38	81% 14 25 22 20	70% 13   4 43 10
  No Preferences Granted	13	8	12	0	10	16
  Don't Know	11	10	8	8	10	14
  (N)	(45)	(72)	(25)	(13)	(155)	(800)

  #6) In your opinion, has the academic quality of the students at your institution improved or declined as a result in giving preference in admission on the basis of race, sex, ethnicity, or hasn't this made any difference?
  	UD					NAS/Roper
  	Liberal	Moderate	Conser- vative	Don't Know	Total	Total
  Preferences Granted Quality Improved Quality Declined No Impact Don't Know	56% 11 16 20   9	62%   5 26 17 13	60%   8 44   8   0	62% 15 15 23   8	60%   8 25 18   9	45%   6   8 25   6
  No Preferences Granted	7	11	8	15	10	30
  Don't Know	38	28	32	23	31	25
  (N)	(45)	(72)	(25)	(13)	(155)	(800)

• All political orientations would approve rather than reject such a ban, although by much wider margins among moderates and conservatives than liberals.

  #7) Please consider the following policy: the University of Delaware shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to candidates in faculty employment decisions on the basis of race, sex or ethnicity. If you had to vote to adopt or reject this as a policy at your institution, how would you vote?
  	UD					NAS/Roper
  	Liberal	Moderate	Conser- vative	Don't Know	Total	Total
  Approve Ban Reject Ban Don't Know      (N)	51% 33  16  (45)	81% 15  4 (72)	84% 16  0 (25)	69% 31  0 (13)	72% 22  7 (155)	64% 27  9 (800)

  #8) Please consider the following policy: the University of Delaware shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to applicants for admission to the University on the basis of race, sex or ethnicity. If you had to vote to adopt or reject this as a policy at your institution, how would you vote?
  	UD					NAS/Roper
  	Liberal	Moderate	Conser- vative	Don't Know	Total	Total
  Approve Ban Reject Ban Don't Know      (N)	51% 38  11  (45)	75% 21  4 (72)	80% 20  0 (25)	69% 31  0 (13)	68% 27  5 (155)	61% 29  10  (800)

Results by college at UD

• With one exception (College of Human Resources, Education, and Public Policy [CHEP]), faculty in all colleges oppose granting preferences in faculty employment and student admissions.

• With one exception (CHEP), all colleges would by a very wide margin approve a ban on preferences in faculty employment. With two exceptions (CHEP and Engineering), they would also overwhelmingly approve a ban on preferences in student admissions. Where colleges wouldn't overwhelmingly ban preferences, they are about evenly split.

  	Faculty Employment		Student Admissions
  	Should Not Grant	Approve Ban	Should Not Grant	Approve Ban
  	Q1	Q7	Q2	Q8	(N)
  Arts & Science Agric. & Nat. Res. Business & Economics Engineering Health & Nursing Hum.Res.,Ed.,& Pub.Pol. Marine Studies Grand Total	70% 83% 78% 85% 88% 44% 80% 71%	71 83 78 85 88 44 80 72	70 83 78 69 88 38 80 70	70 83 72 54 88 50 80 69	(82)   (12)   (18)   (13)    ( 8)   (16)    ( 5) (155)

• Faculty in all but one college agree that UD grants preferences in faculty employment, although usually on an informal rather than formal basis.

• There is less certainty in all colleges about whether UD grants preferences in student admissions, and there is more division about whether formal or informal are the means of granting them.

  	Faculty Employment Q3		Student Admissions Q5
  	Formal	Informal	Formal	Informal	(N)
  Arts & Science Agric. & Nat. Res. Business & Economics Engineering Health & Nursing Hum.Res.,Ed.,& Pub.Pol. Marine Studies Grand Total	18%   8% 56% 23% 13% 38% 60% 25%	60 58 39 54 63 63 20 56	26 33 56 31   0 31 40 30	30 25 22 38 25 38 20 30	(82)   (12)   (18)   (13)    ( 8)   (16)    ( 5) (155)

Results for Arts and Sciences

• Liberals in Arts and Sciences are less negative toward preferences than are moderates, but most believe that the University should not grant preferences in either faculty employment or student admissions.

  #1) Do you feel that the University of Delaware should or should not grant preference to one candidate over another in faculty employment decisions on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity?
  #2) Do you feel that the University of Delaware should or should not grant preference to one candidate over another for admission on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity?
  	Faculty Employment		Student Admissions
  	Liberal	Moderate	Liberal	Moderate
  Should Grant Should Not Don't Know (N)	38% 56   6 (32)	13% 84   3 (31)	44% 53   3 (32)	13% 84   3 (31)

• Over half of liberals in Arts and Sciences would vote to prohibit race and sex preferences in both faculty employment and student admissions at UD. So would over 80% of moderates.

  #7) Please consider the following policy: the University of Delaware shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to candidates in faculty employment decisions on the basis of race, sex or ethnicity. If you had to vote to adopt or reject this as a policy at your institution, how would you vote?
  #8) Please consider the following policy: the University of Delaware shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to applicants for admission to the University on the basis of race, sex or ethnicity. If you had to vote to adopt or reject this as a policy at your institution, how would you vote?
  	Faculty Employment		Student Admissions
  	Liberal	Moderate	Liberal	Moderate
  Approve Ban Reject Ban Don't Know (N)	56% 28 16 (32)	84% 13   3 (31)	56% 31 13 (32)	81% 13   6 (31)

A clear majority of groups in all colleges reports that UD actually does grant preferences, usually as the result of informal rather than formal policies and procedures. Nonetheless, over a quarter believe that the preferences are supported by formal institutional policy. There is a pervasive perception among individual faculty, then, that UD is carrying out policies that its faculty disapprove. The AAUP's encouragement of such policies clearly contravenes the wishes of its members.

The opposition to preferences goes much deeper than mere partisanship because even liberals tend to oppose them. Moreover, the opposition to preferences is accompained by substantial faculty concern that the preferences are damaging the institution.

The high consistency of faculty perceptions across different colleges and political orientations suggests that preferences may, in fact, be routinely granted at UD. It also suggests that they may be damaging the institution. Both possibilities warrant serious investigation.

Further Information

(302) 831-1650
das-req@udel.edu
c/o DAS, Box 10, 105 Trabant Student Center, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716

© URL=http://www.udel.edu/DAS/survey98f/survey.html
Published February 24, 1999