Improving Employer Data Collection- the Journey to Modernization of the U.S Equal Opportunity Commission’s Employer Information EEO-1 Survey

• Activity Number: 66 - Improving Data Collection: Challenges in Survey Practice
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Sunday, July 28, 2019 : 4:00 PM to 5:50 PM
• Sponsor: Government Statistics Section
• Author(s): Rashida Dorsey* and Margaret Noonan
• Companies: US EEOC and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Keywords: workforce data; data collection; evaluation

Abstract

The EEOC administers the EEO-1 data collection, an annual survey of private employers and federal contractors, that collects data on race, ethnicity and sex by job category. EEO-1 data are used by the EEOC to investigate charges of discrimination against private employers to describe the representation of minorities and women reported by private industry. As the current system has not been comprehensively assessed for 20 years, the EEOC is currently undergoing a major modernization for the survey.The effort consists of evaluating and revamping data collection, reporting and access. Improvements will be made to improve the complete data lifecycle of EEO-1 data,including revising survey instrument, improving statistical rigor,reducing burden on respondents, enhancing use of survey data in support of the EEOC mission,and improving public access to the data. This presentation will outline opportunities and challenges to overhaul the EEO-1 data collection, current activities and projected improvements associated with the modernization efforts;and outline how efforts align with the tenets of the Federal Data Strategy and the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018.