Methodology and Motivatoins

Our group wanted to see what Lehigh University’s diversity has changed over the years, since Lehigh was originally an all male and predominantly white university. There has been a clear incline in female students, and students of different backgrounds since then, but over the past 11 years, from the Fall of 2013 to the Fall of 2023, there is still a huge margin between white students and POC students, as well as male and female students. This data was taken from Lehigh’s Office of Institutional Data. 

In looking at how Lehigh’s diversity makeup has changed over time, we decided to look into if the diversity (or lack of it) has affected student life on campus. To do so, we sent out a survey to students in all grades and asked them about whether or not they liked their school life, social life, and major. The survey only carneref 43 full responses though, so that is a reason as to why it may be skewed. 

Another way we looked into student life on campus was by interviewing the Administrative Director for the Office of Diversity, Inclusion & Equity Christine Lake, and the ODI&E, Christine Lake and the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Science and Professor of Sociology and Global Studies Kelly Austin. To see what they thought about student life on campus, and what they implemented to make sure that students enjoyed their time at Lehigh and wanted to stay.