Choosing a living group is one of the major decisions students make during their undergraduate career, yet this important decision is made during the first few days students are on campus. Nevertheless, over 82 percent said they were content (combines "very satisfied" and "generally satisfied" responses) with their living group experiences. Only 6 percent were dissatisfied. In fact, satisfaction with the living group experience was higher than satisfaction with other aspects of their undergraduate experience. Given the speed with which students must make up their minds, it is reassuring to note so much satisfaction with this decision. Either students can size up an appropriate living group situation immediately, or they are very adaptable, or a little of both.While gender and GPA were not related to living group satisfaction, type of living group was strongly related. As figure 7-1 indicates, students living in independent living groups (ILGs) were decidedly more satisfied than students who lived in dorms or off-campus.
Importance of living group characteristics
Seniors were asked to assess the importance of eighteen characteristics of their living groups. Their rankings are shown in figure 7-2. Close friendships, a non-racist environment, and adequate private living spaces were considered "very important" by approximately three-quarters or more of the seniors.
- ILG and dorm residents put the same nine features in their top ten. Only one feature listed by each group is not found within the top ten of the other group. There are also some important differences. Significantly higher percentages of ILG residents said that close friendships, a good social life, and intellectual stimulation were important, while higher percentages of dorm residents said that adequate private living spaces and a non-sexist environment were important. (See table 7-1.)
Table 7-1 Most Important Living Group Features:
ILG and Dorm Residents Compared(Percent Indicating Features were "Very Important") ILG Residents Dorm Residents "Very Important" Rank "Very Important" Rank Close friendships (2) 94% 1 80% 1 Non-racist environment 75% 2 74% 3 Sense of community 74% 3 62% 6 Good social life 70% 4 49% 9 Supportive upperclass students 69% 5 54% 7 Good physical condition of premises 59% 6 63% 5 Intellectual stimulation 58% 7 41% 10 Adequate private living spaces 56% 8 77% 2 Adequate common spaces 53% 9 52% 8 Seriousness about academics 49% 10 37% 11 Non-sexist environment 46% 11 64% 4
- When only men were examined, there remained a slight difference between dorm and ILG respondents with regard to non-sexist environment although this difference was not statistically significant: 38 percent of the male ILG respondents indicated a non-sexist environment was important compared with 51 percent of the male dorm respondents.
- Higher percentages of women than men classified the following living group attributes as "very important": non-racist environment, non-sexist environment, physical condition of the premises, housemaster or faculty contact, and helpful graduate resident tutors.
Living group features
Seniors were asked about the extent to which the eighteen living group features mentioned above were present in their living group. In a number of instances the percentage of students viewing a feature as "very important" was larger than the percentage indicating it was present "to a great extent." The most noteworthy differences were quiet study areas, intellectual stimulation, and close friendships, where there was more than a 20 percent difference between the importance of the feature and its actual presence in the living group. (See figure 7-3.)
Significantly higher percentages of ILG than dorm residents said their living group provided close friendships, adequate common spaces, supportive upperclass students, a sense of community, a good social life, intellectual stimulation, and alumni whom they considered friends and/or mentors. On the whole, the data indicate that a strong social support system is more characteristic of ILG's than dorms which seems to account for the higher satisfaction among ILG residents.
Dormitory and ILG residents evidenced similar patterns for seriousness about academics, non-racist environment, and good physical condition of the premises. Significantly more dorm residents reported that their living group had a non-sexist environment. (See figure 7-4.)
Satisfaction with the living group experience and overall assessment
Satisfaction with the living group experience correlates most highly with close friendships, sense of community, supportive upperclass students, a good social life, adequate common spaces, and intellectual stimulation. These features are consistent with those that students said were most important. Satisfaction with the undergraduate educational experience is significantly correlated with satisfaction with living group, sense of community, adequate private living spaces, a non-racist environment, and supportive upperclass students. Whether students would encourage others to attend MIT is significantly correlated with a sense of community and supportive upperclass students.
Table 7.2 Correlations Between Presence of Living Group Features and Outcome Measures (Gamma Coefficients)
Outcome Measures
Living Group Features Satisfaction with living group experience overall Satisfaction with undergraduate education Would encourage similar high school senior to attend MIT Close friendships .83 (a) -- -- A sense of community .80 (a) .29 (c) .33 (b) Supportive upperclass students .75 (a) .29 (c) .28 (b) A good social life .78 (a) -- -- Adequate common spaces .70 (a) -- -- Intellectual stimulation .66 (a) -- -- Alumni you consider friends or mentors .49 (b) -- -- Non-racist environment .47 (a) .27 (b) -- Adequate private living spaces .40 (b) .34 (a) -- Communal dining .37 (c) -- -- Good physical condition of premises .40 (b) -- -- Non-sexist environment .41 (b) -- -- Ethnic and racial diversity .46 (a) -- -- Seriousness about academics -- -- -- Regular contact with housemasters and/or other faculty -- -- -- Single sex living arrangements -- -- -- Quiet study areas -- -- -- Helpful graduate resident tutors -- -- -- Satisfaction with living group experience -- .37 (b) -- Level of significance as indicated by chi-square test: a = p<.001 b = p<.01 c = p<.05 -- = Not significant on chi-square test or no meaningful relationship as indicated by gamma score
