Equity, community, and accountability: Leveraging a department-level climate survey as a tool for action

Organizational climate is a key determinant of diverse aspects of success
in work settings, including in academia. Power dynamics in higher
education can result in inequitable experiences of workplace climate,
potentially harming the well-being and productivity of employees.
Quantifying experiences of climate across employment categories can help
identify changes necessary to create a more equitable workplace for all.
We developed and administered a climate survey within our academic
workplace—the Department of Zoology and Physiology at the University of
Wyoming—to evaluate experiences of climate across three employment
categories: faculty, graduate students, and staff. Our survey included a
combination of closed-response (e.g., Likert-scale) and open-ended
questions. Most department members (82%) completed the survey, which was
administered in fall 2021. Faculty generally reported more positive
experiences than staff. Graduate students often fell between these two
groups, though in some survey sections (e.g., mental health and
well-being) students reported the most negative experiences of
departmental climate. Three common themes emerged from the analysis of
open-ended responses: equity, community, and accountability. We discuss
how these themes correspond to concrete action items for improving our
departmental climate, some of which have been implemented already, while
others constitute future initiatives and/or require a collective push
towards systemic change in academia. Finally, service work of this type
often falls outside of job descriptions, requiring individuals to either
work more or trade-off productivity in other areas that are formally
evaluated. With the goal of minimizing this burden for others, we detail
our process and provide the materials and framework necessary to
streamline this process for other departments aiming to evaluate workplace
climate as a key first step in building a positive work environment for
all employees.