FASEB Recommends NSF Collect SOGI Data in Workforce Surveys

By: Jacqueline Robinson-Hamm
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
On June 24, FASEB transmitted comments to National Science Foundation (NSF) on the renewal of the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG), announced in the Federal Register on May 4. NSF’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) collects, analyzes, and interprets data on a variety of populations in the scientific workforce, with demographics routinely being measured in NCSES surveys.

Recently, a careful sample of the NSCG respondents received pilot demographic questions on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). FASEB applauded this effort in its comments and recommended expanding SOGI data collection to additional critical workforce surveys. Previously, FASEB has urged NSF to collect SOGI information in the Survey of Earned Doctorates, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, and the Survey of Doctorate Recipients. 

NSF and NCSES have been collecting scientific workforce demographics for decades and are well positioned to be a safe harbor for SOGI data. FASEB looks forward to future iterations of NCSES surveys that collect SOGI data to include the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities in assessments of diversity in the highly skilled U.S. scientific ecosystem.