Best questions for high school freshman student survey about diversity and inclusion

Here are some of the best questions for a high school freshman student survey about diversity and inclusion, plus tips for getting the most actionable insights. You can build such a survey in seconds with Specific using the AI survey generator.

Best open-ended questions for high school freshman student diversity and inclusion surveys

Open-ended questions let students share their real experiences and perspectives, capturing nuance you’d miss with just multiple choice. These are best when you want students to voice what’s on their mind—or to uncover themes your team might not anticipate. When it comes to diversity, inclusion, and a sense of belonging, authentic stories matter.

Here are 10 open-ended questions for a high school freshman student survey on diversity and inclusion:

1. What does “diversity” mean to you in the context of our school?

2. Can you describe a time when you felt included or welcomed at school?

3. Have you ever witnessed or experienced someone being excluded because of their background? What happened?

4. How would you describe the mix of backgrounds and cultures in your classes?

5. What would make you feel more accepted and understood by other students?

6. Is there something the school could do better to support students from different backgrounds?

7. What challenges, if any, have you faced fitting in as a freshman?

8. If you could change one thing about how we approach diversity, what would it be?

9. How comfortable do you feel talking about your identity or culture here?

10. What advice would you give to incoming freshmen about making everyone feel included?

Asking these kinds of questions leads to insights into real issues and positive experiences. For example, “students in culturally diverse schools have been found to have higher levels of empathy and understanding”[1], but that doesn’t mean every student feels included—your survey can surface stories both good and bad.

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for high school freshman student diversity and inclusion surveys

Single-select multiple-choice questions are fast for students to answer, so they’re perfect for quick check-ins, pulse surveys, or establishing baselines to measure change. They’re especially useful for quantifying key diversity and inclusion metrics—such as the share of students who feel safe/seen—or as a soft opener before follow-up questions.

Question: How welcome do you feel at our school?

• Very welcome

• Somewhat welcome

• Not very welcome

• Not at all welcome

Question: Do you feel comfortable expressing your identity or culture at school?

• Always

• Sometimes

• Rarely

• Never

• Other

Question: Have you seen or experienced exclusion based on race, ethnicity, or background in the last month?

• Yes

• No

• Not sure

When to followup with “why?” Ask “why?” or “can you say more?” after a student chooses a particular response—especially on questions about comfort, belonging, or experiences with exclusion. For example, if someone selects “Rarely” on the identity question, follow up: “What makes you feel uncomfortable about expressing your identity?” That’s how you get richer context and stories.

When and why to add the “Other” choice? Always offer “Other” when existing options might not fit everyone—especially for identity, experience, or feelings. The open field lets students explain in their own words, which often uncovers issues you hadn’t thought to ask about. This is where automated followup questions can dig deeper and clarify unique perspectives.

Should you use an NPS-style question for diversity and inclusion surveys?

Net Promoter Score (NPS) isn’t just for tracking customer loyalty. It’s a useful, proven way to measure student sentiment in a simple, repeatable way—especially on personal and sensitive topics like inclusion. For high school freshman student surveys, an NPS-style question can surface both broad sentiment and detailed reasons—for example, by asking: “How likely are you to recommend our school as a welcoming place for students from all backgrounds?” Students rate 0–10, with automated followups asking why they picked that score or what would make them revise it.

You can generate an NPS survey for high school freshman students with Specific instantly. This can be a reliable metric for your annual diversity and inclusion report or to pulse-check the campus climate as new freshmen enter.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions are essential for going beyond surface responses. Specific’s automated followup system uses AI to generate real-time, conversational probe questions—just like an expert interviewer. This moves the survey from a static questionnaire into a dynamic, human conversation, building real understanding as you go. Thanks to AI, you save hours chasing insights via email or manual interviews, and you’ll capture richer feedback on what inclusion means to your students.

• Student: “I sometimes feel left out at lunch.”

• AI follow-up: “Can you share an example of what usually happens at lunch that makes you feel left out?”

• Student: “I don’t think there’s a lot of diversity here.”

• AI follow-up: “What kinds of diversity do you feel are missing?”

How many followups to ask? Usually, 2–3 followups are enough to dig deep while keeping the conversation comfortable and focused. With Specific, you can fine-tune this to stop after you’ve gotten the detail you need, or at the respondent’s request—letting students move to the next question when ready.

This makes it a conversational survey—AI-powered followups transform ordinary surveys into engaging conversations, improving both participation rates and answer quality.

Easy AI analysis. Don’t let the richer, longer text replies scare you—Specific’s AI survey response analysis makes it simple to summarize, organize, and see trends across unstructured feedback in seconds, freeing up teams for action.

These automated, expert-level followups are new—try generating a conversational survey for your students to see the difference in quality and engagement.

How to compose prompts for ChatGPT or GPT-based survey tools

If you want to use ChatGPT or another GPT-powered tool to brainstorm questions for your high school freshman student diversity and inclusion survey, the secret is specificity and context. Here’s a basic one-line prompt:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for high school freshman student survey about diversity and inclusion.

But for stronger, more relevant questions, add details about your school, recent challenges, or your survey goals:

We’re conducting an anonymous survey for high school freshman students from many backgrounds. Our goal is to understand their feelings of belonging, any challenges they face being themselves, and what support they need to thrive. Suggest 10 open-ended questions to surface insight from students who may feel excluded or hesitant to share in class.

Once you have a draft set of questions, prompt the AI again:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Select the categories you care most about—for instance, “school climate” or “support systems”—then prompt:

Generate 10 questions for categories school climate and peer interactions.

This iterative approach helps you build a deep and balanced question set that’s tailored to your needs.

What is a conversational survey?

A conversational survey mimics a real, back-and-forth dialogue, using AI to ask contextually smart follow-up questions and clarify answers as the conversation unfolds. Unlike traditional surveys—which are static, rigid, and often skipped or rushed—AI-powered conversational surveys adapt in real time to respondent input, uncovering details that standard forms miss.

Why use AI for high school freshman student surveys? It’s simple: students get a private, conversational space where they feel heard rather than interrogated, so they open up. The AI keeps probing naturally to uncover stories, context, and “why” behind every answer—making feedback more actionable, and analysis effortless for staff. Plus, with conversational surveys, students can complete on any device, anytime, without needing to schedule interviews or long class sessions.

If you’d like to see a detailed walk-through, check out our guide to creating surveys for high school students on diversity and inclusion.

Specific’s AI-powered conversational survey platform delivers the smoothest feedback experience available—making it easier than ever to listen to every freshman’s voice and turn insights into action.

See this diversity and inclusion survey example now

Explore the difference a conversational, AI-driven survey experience can make—capture honest feedback, ask personalized followups, and uncover what really drives belonging for freshman students. Start building your own diversity and inclusion survey and see deeper, real-world insights today.