UT and UW Research Participants

UT and UW Student Demographics

The UT survey respondents included almost twice as many women as men (62% female, 38% male), but our respondents were mostly Caucasian—88%, with 8% African-American. In addition, most spoke English as their only language, with just one student each listing Spanish and Arabic. Class was a bit more varied, with 10% of students identifying as upper class, the majority as upper middle or middle, and 10% identifying as lower middle or lower class. The majority of students (69%) reported a college degree, with 17% some college and 12% high school diploma. As far as educational background, most students attended public school (79%), but there was a range in terms of class rank, with 33% in the top 10%, 38% in the top 25%, and 27% in the 25-50% range. There’s also a pretty good range in terms of majors, although business tops the list, followed by nursing and—since these are first-year students—“undecided.”

The UW survey respondents were equally distributed in terms of gender. 65% identified themselves as Caucasian, 19% Asian, and 2% each American Indian/Alaska Native, Indian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Northern European. 72% percent reported being fluent in one language, 25% in two languages, with 77% claiming English as their first language. In terms of economic class, 44% of students reported family/guardian income over $100,000 (of that, 17% over $150,000), 24% between $60,000 and $100,000, 11% between $40,000 and $60,000, and 12% under $40,000. In terms of parent/guardian education background, 46% reported coming from households with advanced/professional degrees and 31% from households with Bachelor’s degrees. As for the students’ own educational backgrounds, 78% attended public schools and 20% attended private schools. 57% of the students reported graduating in the top ten percent of their class, 19% in the top twenty-five percent, and 19% in the top twenty-five to fifty percent. As far as intended major, 31% intended to study in the natural sciences or engineering, 11% in business, 11% in the humanities, 11% intended to go into medical or dental school, 8% in the social sciences, 6% in architecture and urban planning, and 2% each in aquatic and fishery science, arts, and information science. Fourteen percent were undecided.