Equity Research & Analytics

Our team supports UC San Diego's Strategic Plan and the Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence through:

Facilitating Accountability Through Data

We facilitate the use of data to build meaning-making in collaboration with context-knowledgeable others. We achieve this by embedding our work into processes and partnerships focused on improving structures, policies, and practices to support our campus-wide commitment to Inclusive Excellence. Currently, the Equity Research & Analytics Team provides data for several key accountability processes, including the Campus-Wide Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence Accountability Process and the American Association for the Advancement of Science STEMM Equity Initiative, also known as SEA Change.

Mixed Methods & Theoretically Informed Research

We embrace sociological, educational, organizational change, and other bodies of scholarly research & theory to inform and contextualize our work. We engage multiple methods to enable us to answer pressing questions with thoroughness and rigor to drive institutional action. An example of this work includes our 2022 report, co-authored with the Director of the Office for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion Mardestinee Perez, Supporting UC San Diego’s Academic Employees: Findings and Checklists for Change from the Academics@UCSD™ Survey and Roundtables.

Collaborative Partnerships Around Data & Research

The work of the Equity Research & Analytics Team would not be possible without our fantastic partners! Internal to Institutional Research, the Equity Research & Analytics Team partners closely with the Student Success Research & Analytics Team, Administrative Operations Research Team, and individual contributors to support data-informed change. The Equity Research & Analytics Team also partners with data & research experts across General Campus, the Health Sciences, and the Health System to ensure the information used to drive change is both accurate and appropriately contextualized. Our Team embraces the Executive Vice Chancellor's Collective Impact approach and operates under the motto that we can "make tremendous progress on UC San Diego’s strategic priorities by working together more intentionally."

Providing Educational Opportunities and Developing Community to Support Equity-Minded Data Use & Assessment Practices

The Equity Research & Analytics Team works in partnership with other units and experts to provide educational opportunities to increase equity-mindedness in the data, research, and assessment space. This includes providing support around developing an equity-mindedness approach to units undergoing program review, through trainings with Erin Espaldon, the Director of the Student Success Research & Analytics Team. We also work closely with other units that share our philosophies about equity-mindedness and student-centeredness such as Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Assessment, Evaluation, and Organizational Development to create staff and faculty development opportunities, such as our multi-part equity-minded assessment cycle course, which will be offered for a third time with UC Santa Cruz in Fall 2023.

Providing Thought Partnership Around Equity-Minded, Privacy-Oriented, and Ethical Data Use

"It's important to remember that behind every data point is a daughter, a mother, a sister—a person with hopes and dreams." - Melinda Gates

We operate with the understanding that institutional and research data should be used in ways that respect the full humanity of the persons it is derived from, and work with like-minded partners across campus to encourage a philosophy around data collection, use, and sharing that centers equity, privacy, and ethics. As scholars who are familiar with the histories of communities that have been deeply impacted by the inappropriate use of data and research, we seek to be a voice in the room to question policies or practices that may unintentionally contribute to marginalization, risk, or harm.