NCES Needs To Be More Inclusive

Campus Pride along with 36 other national & regional organizations requested that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) incorporate nonbinary students into all categories of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). A letter on behalf of the signatories was sent to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) who has oversight of NCES. A separate request for comment was also filed with the DOE online in the public request for comments. The organizations are recommending that NCES add a “nonbinary gender identity” category to all tables. As colleges are becoming more detailed in identifying the gender identities of their students, NCES should consider including additional gender options such as agender, gender fluid, genderqueer, questioning, trans man & trans woman. These would allow for a more comprehensive understanding of their students across gender identities. The letter states: “While we appreciate that the NCES is proposing to add a single question to IPEDS that asks colleges about the number of students at their institutions who identify as other than female or male, this change is not enough. Nonbinary students need to be included in all gender breakdowns so that their experiences, which are often very different from female & male students, can be recognized & fully accounted for in order to ensure a safe, inclusive learning environment. The value of nonbinary inclusion should outweigh any added reporting burden on colleges.” Since 2001 Campus Pride has been the leading national organization building future LGBTQ & ally leaders as well as creating safer communities at colleges and universities. For More Info…