?? What Demographics Forms Say About Inclusivity at Your Company

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By Sean Fath and Devon Proudfoot | March 27, 2024

Picture yourself filling out a job application online. You arrive at a question asking you to provide some demographic information, like your gender or race. Although several response options are provided, you notice that your own identity group is not included in the list. At this point in the process, how would you feel about this potential employer? Would you expect to feel a sense of belonging if hired?

We explored situations like these, which we term instances of “identity omission,” in a recent paper. We find that the seemingly mundane choices companies make when designing demographics forms — such as those used in job applications or employee engagement surveys — can have relatively major implications. For members of minority groups, finding their identity omitted in an organization’s demographics forms can make them question whether their identity is valued and respected by that organization.

However, decision makers in organizations may not recognize the implications of the response options and formats they use in demographics forms. In this article, we summarize recent research on identity omission in demographics forms and offer two low-cost, low-risk suggestions for how organizations can boost the inclusivity of the demographics forms they use.

1. Identity Omission in Demographics Forms
2. Rethinking Organizational Demographics Forms

• Err on the side of inclusivity.
• Broaden the response formats used.

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