The National Center for Science & Engineering Statistics (NCSES), an independent statistical agency housed within the National Science Foundation (NSF), has proposed adding questions about sex at birth, gender identity, and sexual orientation (SOGI) to the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED). This decision comes after six years of testing, deliberation, and advocacy led by FABBS Board member Jon Freeman. The extended delay is explained, in part, by the commitment of NCSES to ensure that data would be collected in a manner that ensures the confidentiality and privacy of respondents and their responses.
Pending approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), these SOGI questions will be included in the 2025 SED data collection effort that begins in June 2024. SED is an annual exit survey required of all PhDs in the United States. The expectation is that other surveys of college-degree and PhD holders will soon adapt similar questions.
There is extensive data that shows deep disparities for LGBTQ+ people in STEM including barriers to completing degrees and negative workplace experiences (LGBTQ+ in STEM: Fostering Inclusion and Resolving Disparities Using Demographic Data).
The collection of voluntary sexual orientation and gender identity questions is critical to help policymakers better understand and address LGBTQ+ disparities in STEM disciplines. Official statistics from these surveys directly inform national policies and enable data-driven solutions, including the determination of NSF and NIH diversity definitions that guide funding decisions.
See additional coverage:
LGBTQ Ph.D. graduates will soon be counted in key U.S.survey, Science
