# Frequently Asked Questions ### How will the University use the results of the Pulse Survey? expand\_more Planning is underway to consider follow-up efforts informed by the Pulse Survey findings, as well as ongoing work on future climate surveys. ### What is the Pulse Survey and why is it important? expand\_more Harvard’s 2024 Pulse Survey on Inclusion and Belonging is an effort to understand and improve inclusion and belonging for all of Harvard’s degree-seeking students, staff, faculty, and academic personnel. The Pulse Survey represents the first opportunity to survey the full University since the original pilot Pulse Survey in 2019. The 2024 Pulse Survey takes a few minutes to complete and is comprised of a succinct set of questions related to your experience of inclusion and belonging at Harvard. A comprehensive demographic questionnaire assures that the experience of the full breadth of lived identities within our community will be heard. Your response is essential for understanding and improving our practices and climate to best support our community. ### Why does Harvard conduct the Pulse Survey? expand\_more The Pulse Survey is a way to integrate the use of data into the University’s continuing pursuit of full inclusion for all community members. Your responses to the 2024 survey will help inform programs, practices, and policies, as well as help measure progress on goals and aspirations for enhancing University culture around inclusion and belonging. The survey provides a unique opportunity for our entire community to be heard, and complements additional data collection efforts in schools, departments, and other parts of the community. The 2019 Pulse Survey was launched as one of the recommendations from the [Presidential Task Force for Inclusion and Belonging](https://inclusionandbelongingtaskforce.harvard.edu/) as a direct result of what they heard from conversations with groups and individuals throughout the Harvard community. ### How will this Pulse Survey make a difference? expand\_more Planning is underway to consider efforts informed by the 2024 Pulse findings, as well as ongoing work planning for future climate surveys. In response to findings of the 2019 Pulse Survey, the University made a number of investments in improving the culture of inclusion at Harvard, including new staff and offices, enhanced program offerings, and spaces for community connections. ### How do you ensure confidentiality of the Pulse Survey? expand\_more To ensure confidentiality: - The dataset of responses will not contain identifying information, like your name (nor where relevant, your job/academic title, etc). - Only University-level, aggregate data from groups that have 30 or more respondents will be reported publicly. - The survey is administered using Qualtrics in accordance with Harvard’s [agreement](https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=kb_article&sys_id=6e33bdb9dbc8af00a4557837b9961959). ### Who will see my response? expand\_more Survey data will only be published at the level of the full University, and only for groups with 30 or more respondents. ### What other surveys are there and how is Pulse different? expand\_more The Pulse Survey is unique in that it exists to shed light on the experience of all Harvard students, staff, faculty and academic personnel, in all schools and units. It is an opportunity to explore the current state of our community and a tool to measure progress over time. The Pulse Survey is designed to complement other inclusion and belonging data collection efforts that frequently take place throughout Harvard’s schools and units. Many of these efforts incorporate more granular questions and inquiries on topics particular to their populations. Each survey is important to the University and we hope that you participate in any survey that pertains to you. ### How often are inclusion and belonging surveys conducted? expand\_more The University intends to offer this survey in future years, and complementary data-collection efforts (including comprehensive climate surveys) will continue to be conducted regularly across Harvard’s schools and populations. The 2024 Pulse Survey provides an opportunity to measure progress on some questions that we will ask for a second time, as well as to hear from the community on additional topics. ### Who is surveyed? expand\_more The survey was open to approximately 50,000 members of the University community—faculty and academic personnel, staff, and degree-seeking students. This is the sole University-wide inclusion and belonging survey conducted on this scale. ### Who wrote the Pulse Survey questions? expand\_more Several questions were originally developed by members of Harvard’s 2018 Presidential Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging. Others were developed by a committee including Harvard faculty members with input from University leadership. All questions are grounded in research regarding measuring the constructs of inclusion and belonging in the higher education setting. They are designed to help identify areas of focus for leadership and to inform efforts that foster inclusive excellence. ### What results will be reported? expand\_more The Pulse Survey will help us understand levels of inclusion and belonging for staff, students, faculty, and academic personnel. Public reporting will include aggregate response rates and data at the University level by group (faculty/academic professional, staff, and degree-seeking students). Results will also be reported by self-reported gender, race, sexual orientation, and other variables from the survey’s demographic questionnaire.