Higher Education Ph.D. Dissertations

Campus Climate and Non-Faculty Employees with Disabilities: A Quantitative Analysis of Perceptions

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

Higher Education Administration

First Advisor

Kenneth Borland (Committee Chair)

Second Advisor

Jessica Kiss (Other)

Third Advisor

Julia Matuga (Committee Member)

Fourth Advisor

Ellen Broido (Committee Member)

Abstract

The employment levels of people with disabilities in higher education significantly lag the percentage of individuals with disabilities in the broader population. Due to a lack of study of campus climate for employees with disabilities, insufficient data are available for campus leaders to understand their perceptions of the campus climate, limiting the ability of leaders to formulate and implement informed plans to improve campus climate. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine differences in the perceptions of the campus climate of non-faculty university employees with and without disabilities and to investigate how their perceptions vary when considering gender and racial identities in interaction with their disability status. The goal was to provide a foundation for developing informed policies to improve the campus climate for employees with disabilities, thereby enhancing their recruitment and retention. Perceptions of campus climate were measured by three subscales constructed for this study using Stone and Colella’s (1996) model that conceptualizes the workplace factors that determine the treatment of people with disability. Secondary survey data collected at four higher education institutions in the 2019-2020 academic year (n = 5,971) were used in the ANOVA tests. Across all three measures, employees with disabilities had a less favorable perception of climate than non-disabled employees, but for all groups perceptions were somewhat positive. Gender and racial identity interacted with disability status in relation to one climate measure. For the worker treatment subscale, women without disabilities had a less favorable perception of climate than men without disabilities, with the opposite being found for employees with iv disabilities. Unexpectedly, White employees without disabilities had a less favorable perception of climate than people of color without disabilities. Again, the opposite was the case for employees with disabilities. Based on the results, recommendations were made for campus leadership. The first recommendation was to center diversity policy for people with disabilities, with administrators publicly supporting the success of such policies to demonstrate commitment to them. The second recommendation was to conduct regular local evaluations of climate to allow plans to be tailored to address specific issues at their institution and improve the climate. Lastly, efforts should be made to transform the organization’s culture by incorporating the positive climate changes into the institution’s norms and values so that they will endure.

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