Moving Beyond the Gender Binary in Higher Education Data: Institutional Research Leader Perspectives

Institutional research (IR) leaders play a major role in collecting data on socially constructed identity variables and presenting summary information to senior administrative leaders in higher education institutions. The way IR leaders view and talk about gender data has the potential to influence how institution leaders view gender-related issues. This qualitative study examined IR leader interpretations of gender data and considered the extent to which their responses reflected an established social justice framework (QuantCrit). The results showed that some IR leaders have concerns about binary gender variables, but more information may be needed on how this variable relates to gender discrimination.