The Challenge
It wasn’t too long ago that we were asked if we could modify our forms with regards to how we are collecting gender data. We thought “What do you mean? Seems simple enough. Male, Female, what else is there?” Wow, I can’t believe that was what we once thought… Since then, all of our research, discussions and attempts to create forms to collect this data in an open, inclusive but “data conscious” way, has led us to this point.
Our goal was simple. We needed to modify our current data system from a binary classification of gender to an open-ended, flexible system that would remain backwards compatible in both data structure and user clarity. OK, maybe not so simple… We knew we still needed to be able to format the collected data in a way that would be easy to access, integrate, count and share. We also knew that we were not going to find or create the one perfect solution that will satisfy everyone, but we were certainly going to try – at the very least – to get the ball rolling in the right direction.
We have met and discussed this with a group of independent school heads including Sharon Lauer of The Unquowa School, Ben Chant of Poughkeepsie Day School and Mick Gee of Allendale Columbia School as well as Dr. Jennifer Bryan, Ph.D. of Team Finch Consultants. To all of them, we are extremely grateful. After more discussions, mock-ups and then even more discussions, we came to this…
Form Fields
To get this data collected with a single form field that isn’t ambiguous or confounding to either the most informed or the least informed on this subject is the task at hand. Our approach has been to take a position based on collaborative research and investigation, to design a solution based on that position and to be ready to make adjustments as we see the nature of the situation change.
Information regarding gender identity will most often be submitted on an online application or registration form and can be updated as needed after the forms have been submitted and the data has been saved. We have added an open-ended text field to our typical binary option which, among other things, gives us the ability to continue to make it a required field when necessary. It should be noted that this is not a typical form building option, it required some custom coding on our part. Try this example and see the results displayed below…
The Data Set
Regardless of what data is submitted in the form above, the data will be collected, saved and referenced as a data set. Try the form above to see the results displayed below…
- Field one will be saved based on the field selected in the form above i.e. “O” for the open field, “M” for the male field, “F” for the female field.
- Field two will be saved as the text description of field one above.
NAME | O-M-F | Gender/Identity |
Chris | {—} | {—} |
Merge Variables
Personalizing content is a hallmark of the Communications Module in our data management system. We needed to continue that effort even with the above data model changes. Submit the form above to see the variables update…
Example: We are so pleased to welcome your {child–son-daughter} Chris to our school. We are certain {they–he-she} will be a welcomed addition to {their–his-her} new class. Chris will act as an older {sibling–brother-sister} to one of our younger students in a mentoring program which we think will suit {them–him-her} just fine.
Meeting Requirements
Breaking the form data into two fields has created the ease of “back-end” use that we were looking for. We can very easily filter and query on the O-M-F field in order to facilitate operations such as the merge variables above. Front-end users can still analyze and integrate the data since it is so easily accessible and “countable” for lack of a better word. The text description of the data (as described above as field two) is inserted and shared as it has been entered originally by the form submitter and never displayed as just an O, M or F.
We think that this solution, while certainly not perfect, has met our original goal. We consider this approach to the solution as a “soft-focus” look at the problem, knowing full well that we are simply trying to insert a small piece into a much larger puzzle that better minds than ours are out there working on – and to them we say, we hope this helps.
A note to current P&D software users: Stay tuned… these changes are currently under development throughout our entire software platform.