The Office for Institutional Equity tracks annual demographic data pertaining to the relevant labor market, internal Institutional workforce, job applicants, as well as pertinent Duke-related trends. By making certain aggregated data and analysis available to those within the Duke community with a legitimate business purpose, our main goal is to transform demographic and transactional information into meaningful insights that drive Duke’s equity and diversity initiatives.
Data Access and Usage
In accordance with Duke’s Data Security Policy, by submitting the Data Request Form, the Requestor and others privy to the provided data commit to maintaining the security (confidentiality, integrity and availability) of the data, consistent with Duke requirements. The provided data will not be used, considered, or disseminated outside of the scope of the legitimate business purpose. This Toolkit is intended to safeguard all data, with priority given to Sensitive and Restricted data; any violation of federal or state law, or this or other applicable policies, standards or contracts may result in corrective action.
Utilizing Data to Inform Placement Goals for Recruitment
One useful application of Affirmative Action data is the analysis around job group compositions to ascertain placement goals. Placement goals (under Executive Order 11246), utilization goals (under Section 503), and hiring benchmarks (under VEVRAA) are targets that can be established as good faith efforts to recruit qualified URMs, veterans, women, and individuals with disabilities.
These goals are not quotas, which are illegal, and they should not be construed as a ceiling or floor for employing individuals with particular identities. Rather, they should serve as a guide for departments to benchmark the demographic composition of their teams and implement steps to attain equitable representation of qualified individuals. According to OFCCP regulations, under 41 CFR 60-2.16:
In all employment decisions, the contractor must make selections in a nondiscriminatory manner. Placement goals do not provide the contractor with a justification to extend a preference to any individual, select an individual, or adversely affect an individual’s employment status, on the basis of that person’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.
U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, 41 CFR 60-2.16
By reviewing the relevant aggregated data, departments can establish goals and take appropriate measures to remedy areas of concern to meet those objectives. Appropriate measures could include: revising practices that hinder employment opportunities, expanding outreach to increase diversity of applicants, and developing other equitable hiring practices.