Title of Project
PRIVILEGED PERSPECTIVES OR DIVERSE DISCOURSE? DISPARITIES IN STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF AND PARTICIPATION IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT AT UCSC
Division
Social Sciences
Course or Program
Environmental Studies
Description / Abstract
Nestled among the redwood trees overlooking the Pacific Ocean, UC Santa Cruz is renowned for its natural beauty and environmentally aware and active student body. This thesis moves beyond generalizations and stereotypes to examine the variability in student participation in environmental efforts on campus as well as differing perceptions and understandings of environmental issues. Are there consistent patterns in these behaviors and views by race and class? In other words, is the environmental movement at UCSC limited to issues and perspectives of privileged white people? In addition to examining patterns of engagement in student-led and university sponsored environmental organizations on campus, I characterize undergraduates' opinions about the quality of academic training in the Department of Environmental Studies at UCSC. Informed by over 20 semi-structured interviews conducted in Spring 2013 and 443 surveys of a diverse sample of undergraduate students across campus, this thesis demonstrates that there are in fact statistically significant correlations between race, class and student participation in and understandings about the environmental movement at UCSC. These correlations suggest that race and class exert a substantial influence over whether or not students choose to participate in environmental issues, and if so, in what ways. This research serves to generate critical discourse about diversity and inclusivity in the context of UCSC’s environmental movement, provide a basis for understanding issues of diversity on campus, and to offer the university a point of reference for future efforts to foster inclusivity.
