Certain demographic transformations now underway are poised to change the nature of human communities and how they function. These trends are vital context for reporting and research of all kinds.
A May 2014 White House report on “big data” notes that the ability to determine the demographic traits of individuals through algorithms and aggregation of online data has a potential downside beyond just privacy concerns: Systematic discrimination.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) periodically offers data and insights on mental health and related concerns across the population.
In 2012, DHHS issued an updated report, “2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings,” which was based on face-to-face survey interviews with 68,487 randomly selected Americans during 2010.
The study’s findings include:
Corporations often claim to be meritocracies where advancement is based strictly on performance. However, subtle barriers can block advancement for minorities in some settings. One framework of understanding proposed by academics is the “minority vulnerability thesis,” which suggests that meritocratic “ideologies” can mask workplace decisions that — intentionally or not — reinforce historical patterns of discrimination.
