Policy orientation diversity & student self-sorting in higher - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Policy orientation diversity & student self-sorting in higher education

Mark Neff Zander Albertson & H/T Bethany Cutts

Exposure to intellectual diversity matters

• Policy disagreements stem not just from knowledge asymmetries
• Members of the public with the greatest climate literacy are the most

polarized in terms of policy preferences (Kahan 2012)

• Academic disciplines themselves embody ideological norms
• Economists tend to see markets as the way society should allocate goods;

Engineers tend to view problems as amenable to technical solutions (Sarewitz 2004, Neff and Carroll 2016)

• A well-educated student, we assert, must be prepared to navigate a

world characterized by divergent cultural orientations and policy framings.

Cultural Cognition

Daniel Kahan

HI HC EI ES

Exposure to intellectual diversity matters

• RQ: To what extent are university-level students exposed to peers

with divergent cultural and policy orientations?

• Analytical method
• Survey (Pilot 2017-18; full survey 2018-19)
• Sampling to allow comparison between colleges on Western Washington

University’s campus

• Eventual expansion
• Multiple campuses
• Longitudinal across students’ careers

Axes of interest

• Cultural cognition (Dan Kahan)
• Markets/capitalism
• Proper role of government
• Technology
• Myths of nature
• Pilot phase:
• North Carolina State University (n=97)
• Western Washington University (n=30)

North Carolina State University

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences College of Education College of Engineering College of Humanities and Social Sciences College of Natural Resources Poole College of Management College of Sciences College of Textiles

• 2 .5
• 2 .0
• 1 .5
• 1 .0
• 0 .5

0 .0 0 .5 1 .0

• 1 .0
• 0 .5

0 .0 0 .5 1 .0

HI HC EI ES

Western Washington University

College of Business and Economics College of Fine and Performing Arts College of Humanities and Social Sciences College of Science and Engineering Huxley College of the Environment

• 3.0
• 2.5
• 2.0
• 1.5
• 1.0
• 0.5

0.0

• 0.8
• 0.6
• 0.4
• 0.2

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

EI ES

College of Business and Economics College of Fine and Performing Arts College of Humanities and Social Sciences College of Science and Engineering Huxley College of the Environment College of Agriculture and Life Sciences College of Education College of Engineering College of Humanities and Social Sciences College of Natural Resources Poole College of Management College of Sciences College of Textiles

• 3
• 2
• 1

1 2 3

• 3
• 2
• 1

1 2 3

North Carolina State University Western Washington University

HI HC EI ES

Cultural Cognition

Daniel Kahan

HI HC EI ES

Markets: The cause of, or the solution to socio-environmental problems

Cause Solution

• 1 .2
• 1 .0
• 0 .8
• 0 .6
• 0 .4
• 0 .2

0 .0 0 .2 0 .4

NCSU Colle ge of Sciences NCSU Colle ge of A gricult ur e and Life Sc ie nces NCSU Colle ge of Hum anitie s an d Social Sciences NCSU Colle ge of Te x t iles NCSU Colle ge of Nat ural R esour c e s NCSU Poo le College of Managem ent NCSU Colle ge of En gineer ing WWU Huxley C ollege of th e Enviro nme nt WWU C ollege o f Fine an d Per for min g Ar ts WWU C ollege o f Human ities and So cial Sc ie nces WWU C ollege o f Bu sine ss and Ec

• nom ics

Technology: The cause of, or the solution to socio-environmental problems

0 .0 0 .5 1 .0 1 .5 2 .0 2 .5 WWU Huxle y Co lle ge o f the E nv i ronm e nt WWU Co lle ge o f F in e and P e rform in g Arts WWU Co lle ge o f Hum anitie s and S ocia l S cie n c e s WWU Co lle ge o f Busine s s and E c o nom i c s WWU Co lle ge o f S cie n c e a nd E ngine e ring NCS U Colle g e

• f T

e x ti le s NCS U Pool e Co lle ge o f Ma n a g e m e n t NCS U Colle g e

• f Huma ni

t i e s a n d S o c ial Sc i e nce s NCS U Colle g e

• f Na tu

r al Re s o urc e s NCS U Colle g e

• f E

duca tion NCS U Colle g e

• f E

ng in e e rin g NCS U Colle g e

• f Sc ie

nce s NCS U Colle g e

• f Agric u

lture and Life S cie n c e s

Solution

Ecotypes Technology Axis

https://jimproctor.us/e cotypes/ecotypes- axis/technology/

Next steps

• Revise instrument
• Continued focus groups
• Full WWU implementation in the fall
• Answer your insightful questions

mark.neff@wwu.edu