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Frequently Asked Questions about the Survey

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What is the 2021 IDEAL Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Survey?

During the week of May 10, 2021, Stanford will conduct a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) survey as part of the IDEAL initiative. The survey will focus on how race and ethnicity shape the experiences of community members at Stanford. The survey asks questions about your race/ethnicity and other identities, experiences of inclusion in your workplace or academic program, and questions about potential experiences with harassing or discriminatory behavior.

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Why should I take this survey?

A survey of this scale, reaching the broad spectrum of the campus community, is unprecedented at Stanford. As part of the IDEAL initiative, the survey focuses on the individual experiences of community members at Stanford. Our intention with this survey is to broaden the opportunity for all of our community members to voice their own experiences at Stanford. The survey will help us to include your voices and experiences in how we address our problems and where we put our resources—on both university-wide and local levels. Your responses will inform the actions we take to reach our goal of a truly inclusive university.

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How will I know about the findings from this survey? How transparent will Stanford be with the data?

We understand how critical transparency will be in sharing the results from a survey like this. In fall 2021, we will publicly share a report on the survey findings with the Stanford community. All Stanford community members will have the opportunity to view the report on survey findings, as well as extensive tables and charts summarizing survey data.

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How will I get the survey? How do I access the survey? Where is my survey link?

All current faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, students in professional programs, postdoctoral scholars, staff, and academic staff who are eligible to take the survey will receive an email with an individualized survey link during the week of May 10thThis link is unique to you and cannot be shared/forwarded to others. You may also receive several reminders containing your individualized link until you complete the survey or the survey closes.  If you did not receive a link to the survey and you think you should have, please email: ideal_deisurvey@stanford.edu. Clicking the survey link in your invitation email will take you to the first page of the survey, which should look like this:

IDEAL Survey landing page

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What are the incentives to take the survey? How will I receive my incentive?

Everyone who completes the survey will receive a $10 gift card.  To access your incentive, you will need to click the submit button at the end of the survey. You do not have to answer every question in the survey to receive the incentive, but you will need to complete the survey to receive your incentive.

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What is the timeline for this survey? When can I see the results of this study?

The survey will launch during the week of May 10th and remain open for three weeks. The survey data will be analyzed over the summer, and a report on the findings will be released publicly in the fall of 2021.

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Who will be invited to take in the survey?

All current faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, students in professional programs, postdoctoral scholars, staff, and academic staff will be eligible to take the survey. This includes students currently on leave as well as SLAC and Stanford bargaining unit employees.

Hospital employees and workers employed by contracting firms and not directly employed by the University will not be eligible to receive the survey link. Students under the age of 18 are also not eligible to take the survey. If you are not eligible to take the survey and would like to contribute your perspective and experiences, you can use this link to access an anonymous feedback form.  Responses from this form will go to the same team analyzing the survey data.

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Am I required to participate?

You do NOT have to participate in this survey. If you do choose to participate, you may skip any question you are not comfortable answering and may exit the survey at any time. You will need to click the submit button at the end of the survey to receive your incentive.

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How was the survey designed?

The IDEAL Research System charged the Assessment and Evaluation Team in IR&DS with designing the survey.  To provide oversight of the design process, the Provost appointed a survey advisory committee composed of individuals with research and/or substantive experience in DEI and survey fields. Committee members representing students and postdocs were chosen by the ASSU Nominations Commission and the SURPAS postdoc association. We also collected extensive feedback from the community through a feedback form sent to the entire campus community as well as many meetings with stakeholders across the University. This feedback directly informed the content of the survey.

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How do you keep my answers confidential? Who will have access to the data? Will my supervisor or advisor see my responses?

Your responses to this survey are strictly confidential and will not be shared with anyone in any way that might identify you. Data collected from the survey will be anonymized and the team in IR&DS analyzing the survey data will not have access to identifying information about you.

  • Your supervisor or advisor will not have access to your responses in any way.
  • Your email and any other identifying information will be disassociated from your responses.
  • In order to protect an individual’s privacy, we will not be reporting data on very small groups of respondents.

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What kinds of questions are in the survey?

This survey will include questions about demographics and identity, sense of belonging, interpersonal experiences, experiences with harassing and discriminatory behavior at Stanford, as well as the impact that these experiences have on members of our community.

Please be aware, this survey asks questions about harassing behaviors.  You are not required to answer every question on this survey. You can skip any question, and you can stop taking the survey at any point.  The survey is open for three weeks. If you stop and leave the survey, your answers will be saved, and you can return at any point before the survey closes to complete it.

Should you need them, you can use the link below (and at the bottom of every page of the survey) to access confidential and non-confidential resources related to the topics covered in this survey.

Support Resources

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I’m not sure this survey applies to me, so why should I take part?

There are questions in the survey for everyone. It is important we hear from you, even if you believe these issues do not directly affect you or if you do not identify as a member of a minority group.  The intention of the survey is to collect information about everyone’s feelings of inclusion and belonging at Stanford.

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How long will the survey take if I participate?

This survey should take most individuals approximately 10-20 minutes to complete.  However, it may take some individuals longer if they wish to provide more information or have experienced more of the types of interactions this survey is designed to measure.

If you are not able to complete the survey in one sitting, you can save your progress and return later by clicking the link sent in the invitation email. The survey will be available to Stanford students, postdocs, staff and faculty to take for three weeks beginning the week of May 10th. Individuals can take as much time as they need to complete the survey as long as it is submitted before the end of the survey period.

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What will happen if I don’t participate?

There will be no consequences to you personally if you choose not to complete the survey. Information on who completed the survey (and who did not) will not be shared with anyone.

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Why are you asking me about my race and ethnicity, my gender identity and other personal information?

The survey asks these questions in order to provide a description of the sample of students, postdocs, staff, and faculty who complete the survey, and so that the study researchers can describe how perceptions of campus climate and experiences differ by self-reported identities.

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Do I have to answer all the questions? If I skip a question, can I go back to it later?

You may skip any question you are not comfortable answering and may exit the survey at any time. You can save your progress and return later by clicking the link sent in the invitation email. However, once you click “submit”, you will no longer be able to change your answers. If you do not submit your survey before the survey close date, you will not be able to come back to complete the survey or collect an incentive.

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If I close the browser, will my answers be saved? Can I go back to the survey later to complete it?

Answers will be saved by clicking the navigation buttons on the bottom of each screen (previous and next). When you click one of these buttons, the answers on the current screen will be saved and you can close the browser and come back to the survey later to complete it. However, if you close the browser without clicking one of those buttons on the current screen, your answer on the current screen will not be saved.

If you are not able to complete the survey in one sitting, you can save your progress and return later by clicking the link sent in the invitation email.

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I still have questions.

If you have any additional questions or feedback regarding the survey, please email: ideal_deisurvey@stanford.edu

If you want to provide anonymous feedback, you can use the following link: Anonymous Feedback Form

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