Sex-Gender Identity Data Standard

Intended Audience and Contact Information

Contact:	Chief Data Officer, Office of the CIO
UDM Domain:	Person
Intended Audience:	Internal UBC

Purpose

This standard aims to achieve consistency around the data collected for Sex and Gender Identity and the format in which it is collected and stored in across the University.

Several guidelines have been referred to in developing this standard. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA)¹ and UBC’s Office of University Counsel² provides guidelines on when it is appropriate to collect personal information such as Sex and Gender Identity. The report from the BC Registrar's Association on Establishing Expanded Gender and Naming Declarations: Being Seen, Being Counted³ provides guidelines on relevant attributes to be collected with regard to Sex and Gender Identity.

This standard applies to all UBC applications collecting Sex, Gender and/or Trans experience data. Exceptions are listed in the Dispensation section.

Standard

Sex Standard

A person’s Sex may be captured as part of a person’s record. This information is self-declared by the person themselves if they choose to disclose it.

A person may have only one active or current Sex value but multiple inactive values along with corresponding effective start date and effective end date. Sex must always be a required field to ensure data collection; however, persons must always be able to choose an option such as “Choose not to disclose” as an option for non-disclosure.

Sex Attribute

The following attribute of Sex is supported at UBC:

Attribute	Requirement	Definition
Sex	Required	A person's legal sex.

Accepted Data Values for Sex

Following is the list of accepted values for Sex at UBC:

Accepted Data Value	Definition
Female	When a person’s legal sex is "Female".
Other Legal Category	When a person’s legal sex is other than male or female.
Male	When a person’s legal sex is "Male".
Choose not to disclose	Response for someone who chooses not to disclose their sex.

The values for Sex must be accompanied with an Effective Start Date and Effective End Date since this attribute of a person is subject to change with time. Persons are legally allowed to change their Sex⁴.

Gender Identity Standard

A person’s Gender Identity is defined as follows⁵:

Gender Identity – Gender Identity refers to how people each understand their deepest, truest sense of their gender. It includes a wide range of identities that include but are not limited to woman or man.

A person’s Gender Identity may be captured as part of a person’s record. This information is self-declared by the person themselves if they choose to disclose it.

A person may have only one active or current Gender Identity value but multiple inactive values along with corresponding effective start date and effective end date. Gender Identity must always be a required field to ensure data collection; however, persons must always be able to choose an option such as “Choose not to disclose” not to as an option for non-disclosure.

Gender Identity Attributes

The following attributes of Gender Identity are supported at UBC:

Attribute	Requirement	Definition
Gender Identity	Required	Gender Identity refers to how people each understand their deepest, truest sense of their gender. It includes a wide range of identities that include but are not limited to woman or man.
Trans Experience	Required	Trans Experience is when their gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth.

Accepted Data Values for Gender Identity

Following is the list of accepted values for Gender Identity at UBC:

Accepted Data Value	Definition
Woman	When a person self-identifies as “woman”.
Non-Binary	When a person self-identifies with a gender identity other than “man” or “woman”.
Man	When a person self-identifies as “man”.
Choose not to disclose	Response for someone who chooses not to disclose their Gender Identity.

The values for Gender Identity must be accompanied by an Effective Start Date and Effective End Date since this attribute of a person is subject to change with time.

Accepted Data Values for Trans Experience

Following is the list of accepted values for Trans Experience at UBC:

Accepted Data Value	Definition
Yes	The person has Trans⁷ experience.
No	The person does not have Trans experience.
Choose not to disclose	Response for someone who chooses not to disclose their Trans experience.

The values for Trans Experience attribute must be accompanied with an Effective Start Date and Effective End Date since this attribute of a person is subject to change with time.

Guideline for Data Collection

Sex and Gender Identity information must only be collected “when it relates directly to and is necessary for a program or activity of UBC, and only from the individual, rather than from a third party⁸.

Gender Identity of a person must not be derived from their name or their name prefix.

As Sex and Gender Identity can shift over time, there should be easy and clearly-communicated mechanisms for a person to update their Sex and Gender Identity attributes.

Collection of data pertaining to Sex, Gender Identity and Trans Experience can be facilitated with the following questions:

What is your legal sex? Select one from Female, Other Legal Category, Male or Choose not to disclose
What is your gender identity? Select one from Woman, Non-Binary, Man or Choose not to disclose
Are you someone with trans experience (meaning your gender identity does not align with your sex assigned at birth)? Select one from: Yes, No or Choose not to disclose

"Choose not to disclose" is an optional enumeration unless there is a legal requirement to collect it.

Compliance

This standard about Sex and Gender Identity must be complied with through every stage of the data lifecycle with the exception of any dispensations (see Dispensation section):

All applications must collect Sex and/or Gender Identity as recommended in this standard.
Enterprise Data Integration must adopt this standard.

Dispensation

Legacy systems are exempt from this data standard. Examples of legacy systems are:

Student Information System (SIS)
Human Resource Management System (HRMS)
Finance Management System (FMS)

As systems are replaced, adoption of this standard is required.
As existing systems change to adopt this standard, the Enterprise Data Governance team needs to be informed.
Dispensations from this new data standard include:

Development and Alumni Engagement does not collect Sex and Gender Identity data for donors.
Human Resources (HR) does not collect data for Sex. In case of a collection of Gender Identity data, HR will not have "Choose not to answer" as an accepted value.