2020-21 Student Survey

In Fall 2020 and Winter 2021, the Peel Social Lab surveyed students enrolled in our Introduction to Sociology course (SOC100H5) for insight on the sociodemographic characteristics and academic experiences of UTM students, and modules on the perceptions of the treatment of people with disabilities (on and off campus), moral perception and behavior, and self-reflective cognition.

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• Download Excel (.xlsx) data file 
• Download Stata (.dta) data file 
• Data Highlights
• Figures

Data Highlights

• Demographics of respondents and their caregivers
  • 25% of the respondents were working for pay at the time of survey collection
  • 44% were not born in Canada, and among them, their average first level of Canadian schooling was 7^th grade
  • Students were most likely to identify as women (70%) and South Asian (26%)
  • Only 8% of respondents live alone, and 83% live with family only
  • Only 38% of respondents live in Mississauga. This is a notable difference from previous cohorts, which may be due to the shift to remote schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Respondents were most likely to report having “no religion” (25%), followed by Catholicism (22%), and Islam (19%)
  • When asked about their caregivers, 63-74% of the first two caregivers respondents identified were foreign-born, and 20-26% of them had at least a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent)
• Health and wellbeing
  • 79% of respondents rated their health as at least “good”, but much less rated their mental health as at least “good” (50%). This is also notably lower than in previous cohorts.
  • Around a third reported often feeling “helpless” dealing with life problems (33%) or “pushed around in life” (37%)
• Academic Background and Career Plans
  • Respondents were most likely to report interest in working in the fields of law (25%), medicine (25%), and science/technology (22%)
  • 18% reported wanting to start their own business
• Disability
  • 32% of respondents believe that people with disabilities are discriminated against in school, and 45% are unsure
  • 91% believe that people with disabilities are “sometimes” or “often” discriminated against when looking for a job
  • 83% disagree or somewhat disagree that accommodations made through AccessAbility on campus are “a burden to faculty and unfair to other students”
• Morality
  • When asked about what considerations are relevant to them when deciding “whether something is right or wrong”, the highest-rated consideration was “Whether or not someone was denied his or her rights”
  • When asked about the extent to which several value-related statements are relatable to them, the average highest-rated statements were “When the government makes laws, the number one principle should be ensuring that everyone is treated fairly” and “It is better to do good than to do bad”. The average lowest-rated statement was “Men and women each have different roles to play in society.”

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Figures

Figure 1. Percentage of men and women who hope to get jobs in various industries after completing their education.

Figure 1 is a clustered column chart. It presents responses to the question “What kind of job do you hope to get after you complete your education?”, as noted in the title of the horizontal axis. Respondents could select multiple answers. The horizonal axis presents twelve answers: 1) Banking; 2) Business; 3) Education; 4) Government; 5) Law; 6) Law enforcement; 7) Medicine; 8) Non-profit; 9) Science and technology; 10) Service; 11) other; 12) Don’t know. The vertical axis shows percentages from 0% to 100%. The legend shows that the results are divided into two categories, each with a differently coloured column: 1) men (blue columns); 2) women (orange). The columns represent the percentage of respondents in each category who responded “Yes” to any of those answers. Therefore, the twelve sets of columns represent twelve different variables, and totaling the different answers may not add up to 100%. The table below the chart presents the same information. 

Figure 2. Self-rated health of students from different racial or ethnic groups.

Figure 2 is a 100% stacked column chart. This means that, visually, there is one column for each category (in this case, racial/ethnic groups), and the column internally is divided into six colours (corresponding to the percentage that selected each answer in the self-rated health scale), totalling 100% of the answers for each racial group. This chart presents responses to the question “In general, would you say your health is…” The horizonal axis presents seven racial/ethnic categories: 1) White; 2) East Asian; 3) South Asian; 4) Southeast Asian; 5) Black; 6) Middle Eastern or North African; 7) Mixed race or other. The vertical axis shows percentages from 0% to 100%. The legend shows that the results for each racial/ethnic group are divided into six possible answers, each with a different colour: 1) missing (green); 2) excellent (pink); 3) very good (yellow); 4) good (grey); 5) fair (blue); 6) poor (purple). Each column represents 100% of the respondents from that racial/ethnic group, and each colour within a column represents the percentage of those respondents who selected one of the six answers. The table below the chart presents the same information. When comparing the chart to the data table, the answers in the data table may not add up to 100%, due to rounding.

Figure 3. Self-rated mental health of students from different racial or ethnic groups.

Figure 3 is a 100% stacked column chart. This means that, visually, there is one column for each category (in this case, racial/ethnic groups), and the column internally is divided into six colours (corresponding to the percentage that selected each answer in the self-rated mental health scale), totalling 100% of the answers for each racial/ethnic group. This chart presents responses to the question “In general, would you say your mental health is…” The horizonal axis presents seven racial or ethnic categories: 1) White; 2) East Asian; 3) South Asian; 4) Southeast Asian; 5) Black; 6) Middle Eastern or North African; 7) Mixed race or other. The vertical axis shows percentages from 0% to 100%. The legend shows that the results for each racial/ethnic group are divided into six possible answers, each with a different colour: 1) missing (green); 2) excellent (pink); 3) very good (yellow); 4) good (grey); 5) fair (blue); 6) poor (purple). Each column represents 100% of the respondents from that racial/ethnic group, and each colour within a column represents the percentage of those respondents who selected one of the six answers. The table below the chart presents the same information. When comparing the chart to the data table, the answers in the data table may not add up to 100%, due to rounding.

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