A new Student Voice flash survey on campus speech issues from Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab finds that students most blame other students (versus other groups) for escalating tensions over campus speech. Politicians aren’t off the hook, though, coming in at a close second. At the same time, just one in 10 students is very concerned about the climate for campus speech at their institution; another three in 10 are somewhat concerned. A bigger share of students say they’re concerned to some degree about the climate for speech across higher education, however.
Respondents who voted for Harris/Walz and those who voted for Trump/Vance in last month’s presidential election are similarly likely to agree—or disagree—that all students on their campus enjoy the same level or sense of free expression, regardless of their politics, challenging critiques that campus speech climates are chillier for students with certain views.
A slight majority of students (54 percent) also seem to support institutional neutrality.
Mylien Duong, senior director of research and innovation at the Constructive Dialogue Institute, a nonprofit that helps institutions adopt evidence-based practices for promoting meaningful engagement across lines of difference, says the data suggest that students “sense that extreme voices are dominating public political discourse, both on and off campus.” Researchers who study polarization have long argued this is the case.
Highlighting several other findings from the survey—that nearly all students (94 percent) indicate their institution should adopt at least one program to promote civil dialogue, and that creating speech forums is one relatively popular solution from a list of options—Duong says, “In my experience, many students disengage civically because they see politics as ugly, dehumanizing and stress-inducing.”
She adds that engaging “the large number of individuals with nuanced views who are open to dialogue and compromise” can be effective in “shifting the tenor of conversations and in increasing civic engagement on the whole.”
Calling the new survey findings “hopeful” over all, Duong says they bolster those from another survey by the Knight Foundation and Ipsos released in July. That poll found that college students are increasingly concerned about these issues but generally reject limitations on or disruptions of speech—theirs or others,’ outside of hateful or threatening remarks.
Students “recognize the problem of destructive discourse on their campuses, and they want campus programs promoting constructive dialogue,” Duong underscores.
Read on for an overview of the new Student Voice flash survey of 1,034 two- and four-year college students, in five graphics.
A majority of students are not at all (15 percent) or not really concerned (45 percent) about the climate for civil dialogue and free expression at their institution. The rest are somewhat (30 percent) or very concerned (10 percent). Among students at private nonprofit institutions only, half indicate some level of concern. Four-year students are also more likely to indicate concern about the speech climate on their campus than are two-year students, at 44 percent versus 31 percent, respectively. Students over all are more alarmed about the speech climate across higher education.
By region, students in New England are most likely to be very concerned, both about the situation on their campus (20 percent) and across higher education (25 percent). Additionally, the more involved students say they are in campus activism for social and/or political issues, the more likely they are to indicate concern. For example, among students who indicate the highest level of activism (n=45), more than half say they’re somewhat or very concerned about the speech climate at their institution.
The largest share of students, 40 percent, say other students are most at fault for escalating tensions around campus speech, with the question offering 10 possible responses and up to two selections. The more involved students say they are in campus activism, the more likely they are to blame administrators and governing boards. Still, a third of students who indicate they’re somewhat or very involved in activism blame other students.
This contrasts sharply with and an Inside Higher Ed/Hanover Research fall survey of faculty members about the election and academic freedom, which asked a similar question. Just 15 percent of faculty members in that poll said students were most at fault for escalating tensions over campus speech. The largest share of professors, 66 percent, blamed politicians, followed by administrators and governing boards (37 percent each).
Students who voted Republican and Democratic in the recent presidential election are similarly likely to agree, strongly and somewhat, that all students—regardless of their political views—enjoy the same level of free expression on their campus. They’re also equally likely to disagree, strongly and somewhat, that this is the case.
Over all, 43 percent of students agree that all students enjoy the same level of free expression, 20 percent are unsure and 37 percent disagree. By region, students in New England are most likely to strongly disagree (20 percent).
As for what institutions can do to promote civil dialogue, students are most likely to support the creation of designated spaces/forums on campus for students to share their opinions, with three options allowed from this long list. The second-most popular choice is establishing voluntary campus initiatives to have difficult dialogues/constructive conversations, followed by mandatory faculty training on facilitating difficult dialogues/constructive conversations in the classroom. Just 6 percent of students feel that their institution shouldn’t adopt any solutions.
In the faculty survey, which asked a similar question, the most popular option (50 percent) was offering optional faculty training on facilitating difficult dialogues/constructive conversations in the classroom. That was followed closely by establishing voluntary campus initiatives to have difficult dialogues/constructive conversations (49 percent). Unlike for students, mandatory faculty training was relatively unpopular, with just 18 percent of faculty members choosing it.
More than half of students say colleges and universities should not make statements about political events, such as the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, with implications for ongoing discussions across higher education about institutional neutrality.
Students in New England are most likely to say that institutions should make such statements, by region, at 35 percent. Students at public institutions surveyed are more likely than their private nonprofit peers to say colleges should not make these kinds of statements (56 percent versus 47 percent, respectively).
By race, white students (17 percent) are less likely to say that colleges should make such statements than are Black students (28 percent), Hispanic students (27 percent) and Asian American and Pacific Islander students (34 percent).
What are you doing to gauge students’ views on campus speech issues at your institution? Tell us.