Abstract

On every campus there are vulnerable people who are trying to make sense of the world around them, navigating structural systems with only male/female gender options, and feeling like they do not belong. All campus community members deserve to be recognized in respectful and inclusive ways by acknowledging their gender through pronouns and lived names. This chapter serves as a best practice guide describing how the authors worked with universities in the United States to design and enable new gender data options in campus systems to further a culture of inclusivity. The work of enabling gender data is complex and transformational. During these projects, expect many nuanced needs to emerge along with the potential of harming vulnerable, gender-nonconforming people.

A Service Design approach provides the framework and methods for centring research on human needs, desires, and experiences. These must be evaluated against the institution’s business and technical constraints, and in a context of socio-political externalities. Adding the infrastructure for collecting and using gender data on campus has far-reaching impacts. It demonstrates that the institution values inclusion and begins to normalize expansive gender categories for campus community members and beyond. Enabling new data means significant work must be done revising business practices, updating technology systems, and cultivating a culture of belonging. Working with and advocating for the needs of genderqueer, nonbinary and transgender people touched the authors deeply, as we designed for and led change efforts at universities. We learned how structural changes influence culture, and vice versa.