# Ethnic statistics in Julia User Survey

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/ethnic-statistics-in-julia-user-survey/41022>\
**Category:** Community\
**Created:** [June 8, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/ethnic-statistics-in-julia-user-survey/41022 "2020-06-08T23:00:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![lhp22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@lhp22](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/lhp22)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/ethnic-statistics-in-julia-user-survey/41022/1 "2020-06-08T23:00:26Z")

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What’s the purpose of the ethnic questions in the julia user survey ? It’s completely inappropriate.

NB : Same questions are asking with LGBT+ questions …

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**Author:** ![ettersi](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ettersi/32/6829_2.png) [@ettersi](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ettersi)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 3:35am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/ethnic-statistics-in-julia-user-survey/41022/2 "2020-06-09T03:35:04Z")

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I assume the point of the question is that ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc. does influence how we express ourselves and how well we get along with other people, whether we like it or not. The point of the question then is to determine whether there are subtle biases in the Julia community which make the community feel unwelcoming to certain groups of people.

Put differently, I think it would be great if the survey wouldn’t have to ask these questions because the answers truly are irrelevant, but there are many hints which indicate that this is not the case. And given this circumstance, it is probably better to admit and address the issue than to pretend that it does not exist.

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**Author:** ![Oscar\_Smith](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/oscar_smith/32/25343_2.png) [@Oscar\_Smith](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Oscar_Smith)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 3:54am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/ethnic-statistics-in-julia-user-survey/41022/3 "2020-06-09T03:54:28Z")

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It’s also worth mentioning that norms for appropriateness here vary by culture and region, and the prefer not to answer option is there for a reason.

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**Author:** ![Pbellive](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/pbellive/32/3604_2.png) [@Pbellive](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Pbellive)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 4:18am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/ethnic-statistics-in-julia-user-survey/41022/4 "2020-06-09T04:18:07Z")

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In addition to @Oscar_Smith’s point, I think it’s important to reiterate the fact that the in the survey it states that the responses are anonymous and the results are only analyzed in aggregate. I think that asking someone to answer those questions and then identifying them personally would be completely innapropriate. However, in collecting aggregate data on ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender, the survey designers can attempt to determine if there are subsets within those categories that are under-represented in the julia community, and then perhaps increase engagement with/outreach to those communities, in an attempt to make the julia community more diverse and inclusive.

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**Author:** ![Tamas\_Papp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tamas_papp/32/25949_2.png) [@Tamas\_Papp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Tamas_Papp)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 7:56am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/ethnic-statistics-in-julia-user-survey/41022/5 "2020-06-09T07:56:37Z")

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In addition to the excellent answers above, you may be interested in the discussion here:

> [@RFC: 2020 Julia User and Developer Survey](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/rfc-2020-julia-user-and-developer-survey/38442/):
>
> Dear all, It is time again this year to launch our annual User and Developer Survey. For those who didn’t see last year’s survey, please do see: [Julia User - Developer Survey 2019](https://julialang.org/blog/2019/08/2019-julia-survey/) We plan to launch this survey in a few days. I’m sharing it here for feedback and suggestions on improvements. Results will be shared during JuliaCon like last year. Thanks, -viral