Why does the application include questions about gender, sexual orientation, disability, race and ethnicity, and veteran status?
Disability Lead seeks to collect a variety of demographic information about our applicants. Your response will not influence a decision regarding acceptance and will only be used to help measure our success in attracting a diverse applicant pool. Please note that you are only required to indicate your self-identified disability, all other information is voluntary.
While we annually review and revise this section based on user feedback with the intention of including diverse response options, we would like to acknowledge that this system is imperfect. We recognize the limitations of the response options provided and value the opportunity for all applicants to self-identify. We encourage the utilization of the “Other” response option as a way to self-identify beyond the categories provided.
Additionally, we have created a resource to further explain the various category options. We encourage applicants to educate themselves on the variety of ways that individuals self-identify in order to promote learning and inclusive interactions. Click here for this resource.
If you have any feedback on this section, we welcome you to reach out to Risa Rifkind at rrifkind@disabilitylead.org.