This year, the Student Experience in the Research University survey asked UF students about their gender identities, offering more options than just “male” and “female.”
Students can choose “trans male,” “trans female,” “gender non-conforming” or write in a response.
The idea to ask students about gender identity came from a study by the Williams Institute that said the best way to identify gender minorities is to ask for sex assigned at birth as well as gender identity, said Noelle Mecoli, assistant director of analytic services for UF’s Office of Institutional Planning and Research.
“As our perceptions change about gender, we should be more inclusive and open to people’s identities,” Mecoli said.
This is the fourth year UF has administered the undergraduate experience survey, which is distributed at 15 research universities and based at the University of California, Berkeley, according to the Association of American Universities.
The survey also asked students if they felt others of their gender and sexual orientation were respected on campus.
Iain Randall, senior ambassador for UF’s LGBT Affairs, said the new questions are a fantastic step toward making the university safer and more inclusive. But he can see how students may find them invasive.
“I’m very open with my orientation, but I could see how some would be bothered by it,” the 21-year-old linguistics senior said.
The questions are another step UF has taken to be inclusive of all students, Randall said.
Mecoli said it’s important for the university to be asking these questions so that it can better understand what students are going through.
“We want to hear the students’ voice,” Mecoli said.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 3/16/2015 under the headline “SERU asks about gender identity”]
