October 2022
On October 3, AERA responded to a request for information (RFI) from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Equitable Data on developing a federal evidence agenda for LGBTQI+ equity. The RFI sought input on describing disparities; informing data collections; and privacy, security, and civil rights. The RFI follows on President Biden’s June 2022 executive order on Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals.
In a jointly signed letter, AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine; Sudip S. Parikh, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Columbia University professor Jonathan B. Freeman; Paul Schroeder, executive director of the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics; Juliane Baron, executive director of the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences; and Wendy Naus, executive director of the Consortium of Social Science Associations urged the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) indicators on surveys conducted by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES).
The letter highlighted the importance of including these data indicators in NSF surveys for a comprehensive understanding of the disparities that LGBTQI+ individuals face in STEM careers. In addition, the comments described how the inclusion of questions related to sexual orientation and gender identity on NSF surveys would not raise sensitivity concerns and would be covered under federal privacy and confidentiality protections. The letter also encouraged the White House Office of Management and Budget to include funding in the FY 2024 budget request for NSF to continue research to improve SOGI and other demographic measures and to develop infrastructure for SOGI data.
As stated in the letter: “Where NCSES identifies LGBTQI+ disparities, including how they may intersect with other marginalized characteristics, NSF should exchange relevant data with other agencies and stakeholders and use the data to inform policies and protocols that can broaden the participation of LGBTQI+ people in U.S. STEM fields.”
AERA has been actively engaged in seeking the inclusion of LGBTQI+ data in NCSES surveys for the past four years, jointly with Freeman and scientific association partners.
AERA also provided comments in response to the RFI that detailed necessary resources, data, and considerations for the development of a federal evidence agenda for LGBTQI+ equity. In particular, the comments noted that current data collection typically takes a retrospective view of LGBTQI+ students’ experiences across the education lifespan. Comments also detailed the lack of inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in longitudinal surveys conducted by the Department of Education.
“It is long overdue that those of us in leadership roles pay greater attention to non-binary demographic categories, trans identities, and race-gender intersectionalities as integral to understanding the well-being and life course potential of our children, youth, and adult populations,” Levine wrote. “The avoidance of meaningful enumeration provides us with little information to advance a federal policy of equitable counting for all or embedded bias, access, and treatment in services and support.”
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