This study consists of three interconnected programs: (1) a symposium and subsequent meetings with scholars, policymakers, and federal administrative bureaucrats/agency leaders in education, health, labor, and justice to revisit federal data collection in light of the insights of intersectionality; (2) qualitative case studies of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) & the Census, including interviews with key stakeholders, participant observation at working group and advisory committee meetings, and content analysis of documents and public comment focused on ruling relations in Federal Agencies; and (3) quantitative intersectional analyses of leading education, health, justice, and workforce datasets using multiple measures of race (e.g., self-identified, ascribed, street race) and the creation of a summer institute for federal heads of statistical analysis and scholars to practice intersectionality as inquiry through quantitative methods. 

Removing barriers to postsecondary success for Latinx, Black, Indigenous, and other minoritized students requires illuminating intersectional inequities as a first step in advancing institutional transformation (Garcia & Cuella 2023; Casellas Connors, 2021; Giebel et al., 2023; Riegle-Crumb, King, Irizarry 2019). We propose phased mixed method activities: 1) Comprehensive literature review; 2) In-depth qualitative case studies of institutional data collection, document review, and reporting practices related to race, ethnicity, and intersectionality; and 3) Analysis of institutional data collection and reporting practices pre and post anti-DEI Executive Orders. We will focus our research on whether there are any institutions already employing promising practices as well as on missed opportunities.

This study is supported by the Gates Foundation under Grant No. 058266. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funder.