We are excited to announce the results of our 2024 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Survey, the second survey since EJP launched our DEI Initiative. The DEI Survey was first released at a lunch event on Monday, December 2, 2024 with EJP members. You can read the 2024 DEI Survey online.
The DEI Team plans to elaborate more fully on the survey in a future blog post, but preliminary results show an increased diversity in EJP membership than when we conducted an earlier survey in 2017.
We believe this is tangible evidence that our DEI efforts are having a positive impact.
First, we are grateful to everyone who took the time to fill out our survey. A total of 94 respondents (outside members) completed the 2024 survey from April 20 to May 20, 2024. We also want to acknowledge the work of EJP’s DEI Team, especially interim coordinator Julia Spielmann, and Andrea Miller, who co-authored a summary of the survey results, as well as Amber Dunse, Aurora Cruz Torres, and Rebecca Ginsburg.
Demographics Matter
In 2018, we began our DEI Initiative and adopted our Inclusion Commitment. At the urging of EJP students, we had previously held longstanding “critical climate” conversations, which are now called “Critical Conversation.” All EJP members are required to participate in one meeting annually. The topic for this year’s conversation, “constructive disagreement,” was chosen by EJP’s incarcerated students. Members can sign up for a meeting online.
We conducted an earlier survey in Fall 2017 showing that 87% of EJP outside members identified as White, 8% African American, 5% Hispanic, and 16% Asian. This compelled us to take further action. Demographics matter for a college-in-prison program, for pedagogical reasons and community building.
Danville Correctional Center, like other prisons in Illinois, is overrepresented by Black and Brown people, a reflection of the racial inequalities of mass incarceration in the United States. According to a recent IDOC report, of the 1,620 people in custody at Danville prison, 56% are African American and 18% are Hispanic or Latino.
We released the first 2022 DEI Survey which showed increased diversity from five years previous. We had a total of 115 outside EJP members respond to the 2022 survey. Among them, 40.9% were White, 16.5 Black/African American, 8.7% Latino, 9.6% East Asian, and 9.6% were South or Southeast Asian.
The 2024 DEI Survey showed roughly the same results. There were fewer people who responded, a total of 94 outside members. Among those surveyed, 43.6% were White, 16% African American or Black, 8.5% Latino, 3.2% East Asian, 13.8% South or Southeast Asian.
Since our 2017, the percentage of African American/Black members has doubled and the percentage of Latino members has increased significantly. It is important that EJP’s outside members strive to achieve the diversity of our students in the classroom. The DEI Initiative is about more than just demographics, but ensuring diversity in our program is a start.
Other Findings
A review of the 2024 data indicates that most participants expressed overall satisfaction with EJP. There were 71% of participants who said their experience was “extremely positive.” Asked about whether they feel EJP’s leadership team genuinely cares about diversity, equity, and inclusion, 97.7% of participants said they “agree” or “strongly agree.”
Overall, participants felt supported within EJP. Asked if they felt respected by the people they work with in EJP, 95.1% of participants said they “agree” or “strongly agree.” Sexual minority participants reported higher support scores compared to heterosexual participants. Psychological safety ratings were also high, with no significant demographic differences. Physical safety was rated highly, with all participants feeling safe in campus spaces and 92.7% feeling safe in spaces at the Danville Correctional Center.
About 9.6% of respondents reported witnessing or experiencing incidents of harassment or microaggressions in the past year, an increase from 4.9% in 2022. Although participants expressed comfort with the EJP Grievance Process, comfort levels varied across reporting channels.
Comparing 2022 to 2024, key measures of satisfaction, support, and safety remained stable or slightly improved. However, the increase in reported incidents underscores the need for continued efforts to maintain a welcoming environment.
Next Steps:
• Further analysis of the 2024 survey results by the DEI team, possibly leading to specific recommendations.
• Ongoing discussions on program climate at Danville Correctional Center with incarcerated EJP students.
• Climate survey of incarcerated EJP student body in 2025
If you are interested in discussions on diversity, equity, inclusion, and related subjects, please sign up for the DEI book club coming in the spring!