Religion and Belief in Higher Education: The Experiences of Staff and Students
British Religion in Numbers have published some interesting statistics relating to religion and belief in higher education.
It must be noted that there is a strong caveat around the typicality of the sampling, consequently, figures and percentages should not be extrapolated.
STAFF
47% identified themselves as Christians, 37% as of no religion, 5% as spiritual, 3% as Muslims, and 9% as of other faiths or beliefs
43% said that religion was in the foreground of their life, 23% in the background, and 32% that it did not feature in their life
One-half had no recollection of how, if at all, their institutions monitored staff religion or belief
20% indicated that they would be uncomfortable about disclosing their religion to their university, rising to 34% of pagans, 33% of spiritual, and 28% of no religion
11% (22% of Muslims and Buddhists) were members of a religion or belief society in their institution
94% felt that they had not been discriminated against or harassed because of their actual or perceived religion or belief since 2003, the 6% with negative experiences (including 18% of Muslims and 10% of Jews) attributing them in roughly equal measures to immediate colleagues, other staff, and students
79% felt comfortable expressing their religion or belief identity in the workplace
73% had never been approached by anyone with the intention of bringing them over to their religious point of view
53% agreed and only 8% disagreed that their institution valued the religion or belief identities of its employees, the rest being neutral
STUDENTS
44% described themselves as Christians, 31% as of no religion, 9% as Muslims, 5% as spiritual, and 11% as of other faiths or beliefs
49% said that religion was in the foreground of their life, 27% in the background, and 23% that it did not feature in their life
Two-fifths had no recollection of how, if at all, their institutions monitored student religion or belief
16% indicated that they would be uncomfortable about disclosing their religion to their university, with twice this number for Buddhists and those calling themselves spiritual
22% considered that their course content was presented in a way which was sensitive to their religion or belief, 10% disagreed (15% among Muslims and 13% for Christians), 20% were neutral, and 48% held that their religion was irrelevant to the course
23% stated that the teaching on their course was conducted in a way which was sensitive to their religion or belief, 11% disagreed (16% of Muslims and 15% of Christians), 20% were neutral, and 47% argued that their religion was irrelevant to the course
44% considered that campus facilities for people of their religion were adequate, 15% inadequate, with the remainder unsure
27% were members of a religion or belief society in their institution, rising to 63% of Jews, 48% of Muslims and 44% of Sikhs
94% felt that they had not been discriminated against or harassed because of their actual or perceived religion or belief, but Jews (27%), Sikhs (17%) and Muslims (14%) reported much higher levels of discrimination
86% agreed and just 11% disagreed that harassment on the grounds of religion was dealt with as a serious disciplinary offence by their institution
68% felt their university was understanding or tolerant towards students with a specific religion, a mere 3% describing it as ignorant or intolerant (the rest being neutral or stating no opinion)
90% felt comfortable expressing their religion or belief to friends, 72% to fellow students, and 69% to personal academic tutors
54% had never been approached by anyone with the intention of bringing them over to their religious point of view, with one-fifth having been approached and feeling uncomfortable or harassed as a result
Tags: Education, Religion Society
July 18th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
I’m always fascinated by the inconsistencies in survey responses. Among staff, 37% have no religion but only 32% say that religion doesn’t feature in their lives. There’s a similar disparity for students.
I suppose this could be atheists married to religious folk, but I’d be surprised if that could account for around 15% of atheist respondents. Birds of a feather, and all that. Maybe my prejudice is showing, though.