How do you respond to demographic questions?

[litechick]

What do you do when faced with questions on forms regarding your race, gender, abilities, sexual orientation, veteran status, etc?

It has always seemed like a weird double bind to me. If you want equal treatment that should mean that these factors are irrelevant but in order to prevent discrimination we need to look at whether certain groups are being given opportunities--which means collecting that data.

Some years ago I was working for a large liberal Christian church's national convention, at which they were electing officers and various staff positions. I was entertained when a delegate approached the audience mic to ask: 'Our bylaws dictate that we have representatives from each of these groups but the voting packet doesn't contain that information so how do I know who to vote for?'

If you are a member of an under represented group, do you want to highlight that or hide it? If you are a member of a majority group, do you want to highlight that or hide it?

How do you decide whether to check that box or not?

[Maltaran]

I've never really thought about it, I just tick the boxes, but that's probably because I'm a straight white male.

[DeathYon]

I guess it would depend on the type of form, right? What type of forms are we talking about?

I mean, sexual orientation shouldn't be on a form, but the rest make sense. If you were admitted into a hospital then they'd need to have your race, gender, and veteran status.

It's three in the morning here and I don't fill out very many forms, so I'm not going to be much help :dunce:

[ElizabethB.]

I guess it would depend on the type of form, right? What type of forms are we talking about?

I mean, sexual orientation shouldn't be on a form, but the rest make sense. If you were admitted into a hospital then they'd need to have your race, gender, and veteran status.

It's three in the morning here and I don't fill out very many forms, so I'm not going to be much help :dunce:

Why hospital needs race?

[cdawnb]

There can be genetic diseases that are much more common say in the African American or certian Jewish communities than in others. Knowing your race can help determine diagnosis in the medical field.

[litechick]

I guess it would depend on the type of form, right? What type of forms are we talking about?

That's part of the question. Do you answer in one situation and not another? etc.

For instance, once I was asked to fill out a form which asked: Is your company owned/run by a member of XYZ group? The owner was gay so I asked if I should check that box and he declined. I have no idea what was his reasoning. I face the same dilemmas. Should I identify or not? How do you separate principle from self-interest? What do you perceive as the principle or the self-interest?

[cdawnb]

That's part of the question. Do you answer in one situation and not another? etc.

For instance, once I was asked to fill out a form which asked: Is your company owned/run by a member of XYZ group? The owner was gay so I asked if I should check that box and he declined. I have no idea what was his reasoning. I face the same dilemmas. Should I identify or not? How do you separate principle from self-interest? What do you perceive as the principle or the self-interest?

My feeling is that in some cases, the information is important to gather so that we know what is happening in different communities.

I guess, for me, it simply depends on who is asking the questions. Employers, doctors, schools, yes. Marketing companies, maybe not so much.

[DeathYon]

That's part of the question. Do you answer in one situation and not another? etc.

For instance, once I was asked to fill out a form which asked: Is your company owned/run by a member of XYZ group? The owner was gay so I asked if I should check that box and he declined. I have no idea what was his reasoning. I face the same dilemmas. Should I identify or not? How do you separate principle from self-interest? What do you perceive as the principle or the self-interest?

I'm going to have to agree with cdawnb.

[Cuellar]

My recommendation would be to lie on employment applications if it is advantageous. Plenty of employment decisions are illegally made based on these factors (generally not based on the form though). I sure as shit would never list myself as being gay or an atheist, because both groups are pretty opening discriminated against in the US. Case and point is Tim Cook just came out in 2014, and he's arguably the best seated CEO in the world.

With government contracts being a Disadvantage Business can give you a huge advantage, so you probably want to make sure you flag you're a minority if you even have an inkling of being able to do so.

There are a lot of companies that are pretty specifically a certain faith, so doing some research and lying would also be advantageous potentially, but obviously you'd have to fake that shit potentially for a LONG time.

I personally think you should stand for your principles. But you really can only do so if you actually get your foot in the door.

[DJDonegal]

I choose not to respond on religion and sexuality.

I answer the disability one because I often consider whether they might need to consider special circumstances (not that I would have any special circumstances for them to consider).

[litechick]

I will admit that I am surprised. I have always felt conflict over these questions and I've heard enough grousing about Affirmative Action that I would have thought some white men would decline to answer for fear of discrimination.

I don't want my gender to be an advantage or a disadvantage so I feel dirty marking the box if I think it will be an advantage. Also, I hate the implication that my accomplishments are tainted because I was given preference due to my gender. One time I marked the 'is your business owned by a woman?' box and felt angry--I didn't get the job because of that!

Funny story, a friend of mine works as a part of a small crew wherein she is the only non-white, non-man. They were talking about who might get selected for a job opening and the guys did their usual routine about how it would probably be some minority. It doesn't occur to any of them that she was a minority hire. Did they have the same conversation when she was interviewing? What did they think when she first joined the crew? Did she earn their respect such that she became (in their minds) an Honorary White Guy? Didn't her inclusion give them any sense that the job could be done well by a minority and it didn't matter?

[S John]

Honestly I think that *most* of the time, its just about gathering statistics. I have had those thoughts before though, wondering if being a white male might actually hurt me in some circumstances, but I never have not provided honest information.

My experience is that people want to hire the best person for the job. The people interviewing you are going to have to work with you, most likely. I just go in there and kick as much ass as possible in the interview and hopefully I'll get it. I've done a little bit of interviewing myself and I do not give a shit about demographics. I want the person who is the best combination of knowledgeable, affable, and adaptable. I don't care if that is a white dude from Iowa or a black transgender lesbian Muslim refugee. Just be competent. I don't care about anything else.

[Tears of Lys]

On a job interview form, of course I answer everything. On any other type of form, if there's a question I feel is too intrusive, I skip it.

I would never put down incorrect or misleading information on a form. Sometimes you can just out-"smart" yourself.

[Solmyr]

I do not mind revealing details about sexual orientation, religion or even political preference, as long as I can infer the reason behind me being asked those questions. If the statistics bureau is doing their national survey, sure, I'll help you guys - we all benefit from using these statistics after, might as well not feed you garbage. If a random person on the street hands me the same questionnaire - though luck pal.

These questions do not come up often where I currently live tho. I don't recall ever being asked about sexual orientation or religion on a form (except on the internet). As for gender, around here you cannot hide that, as names and especially surnames give your gender away with 99.9% certainty - people don't even ask about gender on forms if the form has a name.

As for job interviews, I believe the employer has the right to pick the candidate he wants and if that isn't me, we're both better off anyway. Granted, I've never been penniless and starving, so I guess I might reevaluate this principle if I desperately needed a job.

[brook]

I always answer honestly but other than gender and a limited aspect of race (most official forms here will ask if you are Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander but breaking it down further than that is rare) I don't think I've really been asked the rest on anything other than health-related surveys.

[scotcat]

I always answer honestly.

Though I have to admit that I fail to see how my sexual orientation or religion affect my ability to do an office job. I'm not saying I mind ticking those boxes when filling in a form, I just fail to see how I - as a straight, white, female, atheist - am any less or more capable of doing the job than a person of another race/sexual orientation/religious belief with the same qualification.

As for interviews, I've been asked what church I attend or if I'm planning on having getting pregnant. I believe people should choose the best candidate for the role, but in the case of both of those particular interviews the jobs went to 18 year old girls they could pay less money to. What's the point in even asking those questions if you're going to base your employment strategies on who you have to pay less wages to?

[Dr. Pepper]

It's always a struggle for me and most of the time I end up not answering or just putting 'other'. Some of it is an issue of feeling like it would be dishonest to check off certain boxes since you can't really look at me and intuit that I'm this or that minority or protected group. Some of it is not knowing whether I'm actually eligible to tick off a certain box. Then there have been times in the past that I did check off those boxes and later felt like I was chosen based on fulfilling a quota and it made me feel dirty, but only because it goes back to not looking like my 'box' and not knowing if I was even allowed to check the box.

For jobs, I've only encountered sexuality and/or religion questions twice. One happened to be for a religious affiliated private school. I had been recommended by a family member and decided to go to the interview out of respect and I suppose curiosity. I answered honestly there. Obviously didn't get the job.

On anonymous government forms or marketing, depends how I feel that day.