New self-ID questionnaire in development
May 01, 2023
Submitted on behalf of Equity and Human Rights.
Work on the Better Data Project, which seeks to improve the identity data gathered at the University of Victoria, continues to progress. Over the past two months, the project team has consulted with groups and individuals across the university community. These consultations gathered feedback on the draft ethical principles and data governance practices which will ground the project, as well as the new disaggregated self-identification questionnaire. The project team is grateful for the meaningful feedback offered throughout the consultation phase and the support and excitement from community members about the project.
The questionnaire
To gather better data, UVic needs to ask better questions of its students and employees. The new Better Data demographic questionnaire has been designed based on best-practice guidelines from topic experts and guiding policy documents (e.g., the Grandmother Perspective).
The new questionnaire will provide an opportunity for the UVic community to self-identify across six identity categories: (1) Gender identity; (2) Sexual orientation; (3) Indigenous identity; (4) Disability identity; (5) Racial and/or ethnocultural identity; and (6) Religious and/or spiritual identity. This is significantly expanded from UVic’s existing data collection.
Later this year, both employees and students will be able to fill out the questionnaire through their UVic online user profile. The launch of this phase of the project will include a campus-wide communications and an awareness campaign on the goals of the Better Data project and its outcomes.
The bigger picture
The Better Data project is a proactive institution-wide initiative led by Equity and Human Rights in consultation with Executive Council, Academic Resource Planning, Human Resources, Faculty Relations, and the Office of the Registrar.
This data collection will help to drive equity action on campus. The higher the response rate across both employee and student populations, the better understanding we will have about who is a part of the UVic community. This understanding will inform:
- efforts to improve recruitment, retention, and advancement across the institution, including setting ambitious representation goals;
- a targeted review of support structures to ensure they can respond to our community’s diverse needs, so we can build a campus that supports the success of all students and employees;
- work on cultivating a sense of belonging throughout the community.