3C Survey FAQ

Who can complete the survey?

There are two separate surveys available to adults ages 18+: 1) Postsecondary students and 2) faculty, staff, and industry.

Can I distribute the survey if I'm not in a computing discipline?

YES! While the survey was originally designed for computing, there are no items that are discipline-specific. Please consider this The Cultural Competence in Computing (and STEM) Survey!

How long does it take to complete the survey?

The survey takes approximately 3-5 minutes to complete.

How can I complete the survey?

Any faculty, departments, or organizations that are interested in assessing groups of students, faculty, and/or staff should complete the form link provided on the 3C Survey page to begin distribution.

Is the survey anonymous?

Regardless of whether you are a student, faculty member, or staff/industry professional, the survey does not collect any personal information. Student surveys collect race/ethnicity, gender, disability status, and institution type (HBCU, HSI, TCU, and PWI) demographics. However, individual participant responses are never shared with the university or organization. Faculty/professional surveys include no demographic data.

What information can we expect to receive after our group (e.g., class, department, organization) completes the survey?

Each group completing the survey will receive a detailed analysis of overall group score and scoring across various groups, including any demographic information(pending it does not result in easily identifiable information for any participants; if so, these will be aggregated to eliminate identification ). Additional information includes average scoring across all participating organizations (unidentified).

When will information be provided to me?

Analysis will happen following the end of each semester. You will receive information in the subsequent semester (or summer, for spring distributions).

What if I want to know how individual participants responded?

Providing individual participant responses presents the risk of easily identifiable information being shared. Since this could potentially be used against participants (and to ensure no risk of participant harm or retribution), no individual responses are provided to organizations. The collection of data provided is sufficient for any organization to still glean meaningful information from the aggregate data provided.

How is scoring determined?

The survey scores participants in the range of 0.0-1.0, where 0.0 is the lowest score and 1.0 is the highest. Within this range, scores map to the various stages of cultural competence.

What does the scoring mean?

While the scoring of 0.0-1.0 gives a quantitative score, it still doesn't provide enough context for an individual or organization's stage of cultural competence. As a result, scores are mapped to the six stages of cultural competence (destructiveness, incapacity, blindness, precompetence, competence, proficiency). Any score reported will provide information on the stage and how to interpret this information. We note that this quantitative score does not "tell the full story." Thus, it's important that organizations consider opportunities to collect additional qualitative feedback.

How are the six stages of cultural competence determined?

The six stages were originally created by Cross et al. These stages have been applied to the computing space in a similar fashion by the work of Dr. Nicki Washington (see the SIGSCE 2020 paper for more info).

How do I know the scoring is accurate?

While this is a continual work in progress, the survey went through multiple rounds of validation and reliability testing. This work has also been peer reviewed and published.

Is there a cost for participating in survey?

No.

When should we complete the survey?

This may be determined by specific needs/goals. You are welcome to distribute the survey at any time. However, this works best as a pre-/post-survey, which can provide measure the impact of interventions as part of a longitudinal study. Depending on how the results will be used, university participants are advised to collect data towards the beginning and end of any semester/quarter. This is because, depending on any activities planned or how the data will be used.

Our university/organization is interested in the survey. Is it sufficient to complete the survey one time?

This will depend on how you plan to use the data. It is not recommended that any group complete the survey once. This is analogous to a one-time collection of data for a group whose progress/improvement you want to measure. The goal of the survey is for universities/organizations to use the results as a baseline for longitudinal studies that help to determine the success/impact of activities. In addition, students will eventually graduate, and it is inappropriate to assume that future student responses will mirror current ones. For more suggestions on how this data can supplement any research or broadening participation initiatives, please contact Dr. Nicki Washington.