Navigating Dialogue: Ideological and Partisan Variations in Mid-Atlantic College Student Discussion Comfort

How comfortable are college students in navigating difficult conversations? This project measures student perspectives across three mid-Atlantic institutions: West Chester University, Penn State Harrisburg, and Gettysburg College. We investigate how comfortable students feel when challenged by classmates and faculty with vastly different views, and whether ideological or partisan variation is present. Using a non-probability convenience survey of full-time undergraduate students, we find that that most students tend to be comfortable in class and are not fearful of speaking up among different opinions. Instead of confronting and challenging each other in the moment, most students prefer to ask questions and speak after class. There are some partisan and ideological differences in how comfortable liberal vs. conservative students would be to speak up. However, overall, this sample suggests that concerns from public commentators of a conformist “woke” college culture are overstated, and students report engagement with difference in productive ways. These findings will better assist educators to design creative solutions to encourage and support students’ ability to dialogue across differences.