Key Findings

The  ADEA climate survey was conducted in spring 2022 and included 258 participating U.S. and Canadian dental schools and allied dental education programs. ADEA partnered with Nonprofit HR, a private consulting group, to develop and implement the ADEA climate survey. Participation was free and open to all U.S. and Canadian dental schools and allied dental education programs.

The climate study is a crucial step in measuring dental education’s efforts to foster a humanistic and inclusive environment. This page contains a high-level overview of major key findings, takeaways and themes on the perceptions of students, faculty, administration and staff for each of the 10 categories measured in the climate study.

The 10 categories assessed were:

• Overall climate,
• Well-being,
• Sense of belonging,
• Inclusive environment,
• Humanistic environment,
• Inclusive culture,
• Cultural competence,
• Harassment and discrimination,
• Welcomeness and
• Equitable policies and practices.

The baseline data collected will be used to develop strategic priorities and activities, serve as a benchmark for future data collection activities, and assist dental education in gauging future progress. Each participating dental school and allied dental education program received a confidential individual report.

General key findings can be found in the resources listed below:

The climate study yielded large amounts of data and ADEA anticipates spending the next six to seven months reviewing and further analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data. Additionally, an ADEA Association Report detailing and discussing key findings, themes and data will publish in the Journal of Dental Education in 2023. ADEA will also work with dental education and other key researchers to publish a series of articles based on the data.