Equity "on the Sideline" of Evaluations: A Mixed-Methods Study of New England Evaluators' Practices in 2020

• In Event: Research on Evaluation SIG Session

Abstract

Evaluators have opportunities to advance equity within evaluations, yet little research has examined whether and how evaluators center equity in evaluation practice. This paper explores whether and how evaluators in New England address inequities and advance equity throughout evaluation phases. The study uses a complementarity, sequential mixed methods design comprised of a researcher-developed online questionnaire administered to a convenience sample of practicing evaluators (n=82) and individual, semi-structured interviews with a subset of this sample selected to maximize variation (n=21). Eight overarching findings suggest that despite evaluators’ attempts to center equity, it remains largely “on the sideline.” This is due to evaluators’ sense of being professionally unprepared, contractual and contextual constraints, and working against some conventional professional and methodological norms.

Authors

• Emily Gates, Boston College

• Kayla M Benitez Alvarez, Boston College