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Original poster

How should I fill in my employer's "Self-ID" questionnaire?

32 replies

OneInAGoogol · 01/10/2020 00:45

My employer has asked employees to fill in a “self-identification” form, choosing fields that best reflect how we would like to be represented Hmm in the company’s demographic reporting, apparently to inform their diversity and inclusion efforts. I started losing hope a few words into the identity-centric preamble, but the last sliver disappeared once I got to the “Gender and Sex” section.

Please, oh wise ones, tell me how I should answer the following question (online, with no free-text fields), bearing in mind that I am female, and have no “gender identity” that I’m aware of. I thought I’d seen it all with these sorts of questions, but they’ve gone and achieved a whole new level of conflation:

————————————

People whose gender / sex is not male or female use many different terms to describe themselves. For the purposes here, “nonbinary” is an umbrella term to describe the experience of gender that is not male or female. While some transgender people are nonbinary, other transgender people have a gender identity that is either male or female.

Gender / Sex (select all that apply)

  • Prefer not to answer
  • Man
  • Nonbinary
  • Woman
  • None of the options apply to me

Do you consider yourself transgender? (select one)

  • Prefer not to answer
  • No
  • Yes
  • None of the options apply to me

————————————

Note that if I check “Prefer not to answer” or “None of the options apply to me”, I can’t check any of the other options, so putting both “None of the options apply to me” and “Woman” is not possible (unfortunately, as that would probably be the most appropriate answer if I’m supposed to select my “gender / sex” as requested).

I’m considering putting “Nonbinary” and “Woman”, but I don’t know if there’s any risk of this sort of thing backfiring. For example, the company might look at the data to discover there are more “nonbinary” people than they realised, and decide they need to introduce a whole host of new measures to be inclusive of people who fit their preconceived idea of what it means to be “nonbinary” (which I presume involves being very woke and very navel-gazing). This would probably not be a desirable outcome.

OP posts:
Escapeplanning · 01/10/2020 06:00

Just don't bother completing it at all.

Original poster
OneInAGoogol · 01/10/2020 01:37

@BlackWaveComing Good point — "woman" is not a sex, so I shall not be selecting that. "None of the options apply" it is, then.

@NonnyMouse1337 Yes, I'm in the UK (though the company is headquartered in the US, and the vendor that provides the software they use to collect the data is also US-based). The form is not entirely anonymous, in the sense that the data will be linked to my work profile; though apparently it is effectively anonymous, as the few people who are able to access the raw data for aggregation purposes will not be able to see the names corresponding to each data point. There is no space in the form to add further text.

I was thinking of emailing someone about this, but haven't decided exactly what to say (there are so many things wrong with this question that the thought of trying to articulate it all is draining enough). Would you recommend keeping it very simple, or would you go into some detail about why it's important they collect actual sex data?

OP posts:
Toomanynotes · 01/10/2020 01:30

What happens if you don't complete it? If you get chased up for it, would you feel able to express your concerns and reasons as to why you cannot complete it? I think that's the approach I would take.

CharlieParley · 01/10/2020 01:19

To be honest, this form in my view is already discriminatory, because it forces those who identify as trans to out themselves (this question should never be mandatory), it alters what should be the protected characteristic of sex to sex/gender and because it discriminates against those who do not espouse a belief in gender ideology.

CharlieParley · 01/10/2020 01:14

@BlackWaveComing

If you must fill it out, then none of the options apply.

With an email attachment to whomever is in charge of it politely explaining that there was no box for sex-female.

I agree. Under these circumstances, I would be doing the same.

I would also point out that the questionnaire is most likely in breach of the GDPR regulations that stipulate the collection of such personal data must be for a defined, specific purpose, while this just looks like a general throwing out a net to see what you catch kind of thing.

Depending on standing and level of job security, I would probably also add that they must comply with the Equality Act, even as a private enterprise, and if anyone ever brings a claim for discrimination under the EqA, a tribunal will look very closely at their Equality and Diversity policies and monitoring and if they find that the protected characteristic under which the staff member is claiming unlawful discrimination is missing or misrepresented, it will count against them.

NonnyMouse1337 · 01/10/2020 01:08

Are you in the UK? Is the questionnaire anonymous? Is there space in the form to add further text?

I anonymously filled in a work questionnaire and in the space to describe 'Other' type of gender identity, I stated that I do not have a gender identity but my sex is female. I also entered in a space for comments about getting the protected characteristics right according to the UK Equality Act etc.

BlackWaveComing · 01/10/2020 00:47

If you must fill it out, then none of the options apply.

With an email attachment to whomever is in charge of it politely explaining that there was no box for sex-female.