Inclusion Survey Demographics FAQs

FAQ's around Inclusion survey demographics

Jared Ellis avatar
Written by Jared Ellis
Updated over a week ago

What can I learn from this page?

FAQ's around Inclusion survey demographics

Who is this guide for?

Account Admins, Survey Admins, Survey Creators

Overview

The demographic information collected in the D&I Survey template was crafted and tested over 6 months, and we've made iterations over several years! Ultimately, you are in control of the demographics to capture. The purpose of this academy article is to give you some insight into how the demographics were chosen on the template

Q: What is the intent of the question on the education level of the employee's parent/legal guardian?

A: This question is a proxy for measuring Socioeconomic Status, a critical part of creating a diverse workforce committed to creating an equitable future. Humans are not good at answering what social class they grew up in (e.g. a disproportionate amount of people indicate they grew up as "Middle Class"). By measuring the education attained by one's parents and guardians, you have a more truthful measure of Socioeconomic Status

Q: Does Culture Amp have questions designed to inquire about political affiliation or religion?

A: We purposefully left out religion and political affiliation from our US-centric template; but we encourage you to add them in if you feel like those are important measures for you. Keep in mind that by including certain demographics - you create an implicit promise that you will take action on results that show a disparate experience. Ask yourself: "If religious minorities and those in a political minority do not feel they belong; am I (and my organization) equipped to have the conversation and take action"

Q: How come "I choose not to answer" is not listed as a default choice?

A: In our initial testing, we found that giving an explicitly listed option to not identify increased the number of people that decided not to self-identify. Through user research we found that by mentioning that all demographics are optional, about 5-10% of respondents don't list their demographics (by not answering those questions). But when given an explicit "I choose not to identify option," the non-response rate doubled.

Q: Why is Transgender listed separately from Gender Identity?

A: Transgender people often identify with Man or Woman as their primary gender, as well as being Transgender. If you combine Transgender into the Gender Identity options, you would wrongly assume that being trans is one's primary identity.

Q: Where can I find demographic options for Non-US Employees

A: This google sheet has demographic options for Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Q: Why are Asian groups split out, but not Black/African-American?

A: In our initial testing, we found that Asians were well represented so the template afforded us the ability to split them out. That was not the case with the Black population. However, you should always look at the demographic options and consider whether to condense or expand race/ethnicity options. If you have a large Black population, you should split out the options to include more identities of the African Diaspora.

Did this answer your question?