DS 5.x: Sex and Gender

How should the Ed-Fi Data Standard handle sex and gender in version 5.x,coming out in 2023?

As of Data Standard 4.0, we have a single SexTypeDescriptor. In this version, we added two options to the list of default descriptor values: non-binary and not selected. Anyone in the community can modify these descriptor values. But they cannot change to Gender if that is a preferred term.

Should gender also be made available?

Also, should "SexType" be change to just "Sex"? The word "type" comes from the first two generations of the Ed-Fi data standard, but looks quite out of place today since there is only other type in the ODS/API - SchoolYearType (which itself is also strange).

The CEDS standard, as of October 2022, has "Sex" but not "Gender" on the student demographics. There is on place where CEDS uses gender: "Career Technical Education Nontraditional Gender Status". In this case it is a Boolean value that is context specific to career technical education, and thus might not immediate relevance to the Ed-Fi Data Standard. Perhaps this could be tracked, if desired, in Program Participation.

Are there any state requirements to report gender? Even without federal or state standards, are there any local use cases that want gender in their data set, for local equity analysis for example?

Creating this ticket as a placeholder for any community conversation. This ticket does not advocate one way or another - just presents some considerations.