Dictionary · Outreach and inclusion
What is Under-representation in Community Engagement?
Under-representation in community engagement is when the people who take part in a public process do not reflect the people the decision affects. Some groups are heard far less than their share of the community: often renters, people who speak a language other than English, low-income households and people without reliable internet. The record then shows who was able to take part, not what the whole community needs. It is a gap in citizen engagement that an agency can measure and close.
Representative engagement is the goal: the people who take part roughly match the population of the area a decision affects, by place, age, language, race and ethnicity, income, and whether they own or rent.
More terms in the PublicInput dictionary.
Why under-representation matters
Decision makers read the comments, survey results and testimony in front of them. If most of it comes from one neighborhood, one age group or the people free to attend a 6 p.m. meeting, the plan is built around them. Everyone else lives with the result anyway, and the gap tends to show up later: opposition at the hearing, a project sent back for redesign, and less trust the next time the agency asks.
Many agencies also carry a legal duty. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs that receive federal financial assistance. In transportation planning, the Federal Highway Administration’s public involvement guidance asks agencies to seek out and consider the needs of people traditionally underserved by past and current transportation programs. For an MPO, a transit agency or a state DOT, that means being able to show who was reached, not only how many.
What causes under-representation
Most gaps come from how the process is set up, not from a lack of interest. The same causes come up again and again.
| Cause | What it looks like, and who it misses |
|---|---|
| Language | Notices, surveys and meetings in English only miss residents who speak another language at home. |
| The digital divide | An online survey and a virtual meeting, and nothing else, miss people without home internet, a smartphone or the skills to use them, often seniors and low-income households. |
| Meeting times and places | One weeknight meeting at city hall misses shift workers, parents, people without a car or nearby transit, and many people with disabilities. |
| Distrust | Neighborhoods whose earlier input went nowhere, or who are wary of government, stop showing up. |
| Jargon | Acronyms, technical terms and long documents lose anyone who is not already a regular. |
| An inconsistent process | When each project builds its own list and nobody tracks who is missing, the same voices repeat. |
The fixes are as practical as the causes. A phone line and text messaging reach people the web misses, and live translated captions let residents follow a meeting in their own language.
How to tell if engagement is representative
Compare who took part with who lives in the area the decision affects. Set the baseline before outreach starts, check midway while you can still change course, and report it at the end.
- Define the area and its population Draw the boundary the decision affects, then pull its profile from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey: age, race and ethnicity, language spoken at home, income, and owners versus renters.
- Ask a few optional questions Add short, optional demographic questions to surveys and sign-in sheets, and ask for a ZIP code or address so responses can be mapped. Say why you ask.
- Compare the shares Put each group’s share of participants next to its share of the population. A group well below its share is under-represented.
- Find the gaps by place and channel Map responses by ZIP code or district, and see which outreach channels reached which groups.
- Adjust while input is open Send targeted outreach, in the right language and channel, to the groups and areas that are short. Then check again.
- Report it Put the comparison in the engagement summary, so decision makers know whose views they are reading and where gaps remain.
Representative is not the same as statistically valid. A statistically valid survey uses a random sample to estimate what the whole population thinks within a margin of error. Most engagement is open to anyone, so the aim is to know which groups are missing, reach them, and say plainly where gaps remain.
How to reach under-represented communities
Eight steps, in the order a project moves.
Before outreach starts
1. Plan for the people you are most likely to miss
Use the comparison above, or the last project’s results, to name the groups and areas that took part least. Set a goal for each, and note the languages spoken in the area.
2. Partner with organizations residents already trust
Tenant associations, faith groups, schools, cultural centers and other community-based organizations can carry the message, host a session and tell you what would make it easier to take part. Bring them in while the plan can still change, not after.
3. Translate, and write plainly
Translate the project page, the survey and the notices into the main languages spoken in the area, and offer interpretation at meetings. Cut jargon and acronyms, and lead with what is being decided and when.
While input is open
4. Go where people are
Set up at the library, the grocery store, the bus stop, school pickup and community events, not only city hall. Hold meetings at more than one time and place, with a way to join remotely.
5. Offer more than one way to respond
- Online, at any time, on a phone as well as a computer
- By text message, for people with a basic phone
- By phone, with a call-in line and voicemail for people without internet
- On paper, at libraries and community centers
- In person, at meetings and pop-up events, with a hybrid option
Every response, whatever the channel, should land in one record so it counts the same.
6. Check who you are hearing from, and adjust
Look at participation by area, language and channel every week, not only at the end. If one group is short, change the outreach for that group while there is still time.
After the decision
7. Report back
Tell everyone who took part what was decided and what their input changed, in the languages and channels you used to reach them. People who see their input used are more likely to come back.
8. Keep the list for next time
Add everyone who took part to an update list by topic or area, with their language preference, so the next project starts with more of the community already in reach. Tracking this across projects turns one good outreach effort into lasting civic participation.
Case study
How NCTCOG reached residents without home internet
The North Central Texas Council of Governments plans transportation for a fast-growing region of 12 counties. About 11% of households there have no internet at home, which keeps many seniors and low-income families out of online surveys and virtual meetings.
Before
Online tools reached most residents, but not the ones who were offline. Without a way in for them, NCTCOG risked transportation decisions that did not work for the whole region.
After
NCTCOG added a phone line, so residents could call in to live meetings or leave a voice message with no internet needed, alongside hybrid meetings, online surveys and email updates. The phone line alone added nearly 100 voices, and the agency earned the Champion of Inclusive Engagement Award.
- Survey responses
- 157,544
- New participants
- 47,526
- Public comments
- 7,564
Figures from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, as published in Public Engagement Without Barriers: How NCTCOG Made Every Voice Count.
More examples
Other agencies closing the gap
Four more ways agencies have reached people they were missing.
Frederick County, MD
Over 20% of residents speak a language other than English. The county runs ongoing surveys with Spanish-speaking residents, offers meeting translation and interpretation in over 100 languages, and takes budget input online, by email, by phone and in person.
Genesee Transportation Council, NY
A one-person engagement team serves a nine-county region. By adding email, text, voicemail, in-person and virtual options to its online survey, GTC went from dozens of comments on its previous long range plan to hundreds.
King County, WA
Nearly 30% of residents speak a language other than English. The county offered a beaches survey in 10 languages, each with its own link so staff could track language preference for future outreach, and reached over 1,400 residents.
Wood Rodgers
On a transportation study, the engineering firm tracked over 13 notification methods to see which ones reached the community, then used the results so survey participation reflected the diverse study area.
Figures as published in each linked case study.
Questions engagement staff ask
What is under-representation in community engagement?
Under-representation in community engagement is when the people who take part in a public process do not reflect the people a decision affects. Some groups, such as renters, people who speak a language other than English or people without home internet, are heard far less than their share of the community.
What causes low participation in public meetings?
The most common causes are a single meeting at an inconvenient time or place, materials in English only, no way to take part remotely or offline, jargon, and distrust left by earlier input that seemed to be ignored. Meetings at more than one time and place, with call-in, text and online options, remove most of these barriers.
How do you reach underrepresented communities?
Go where people already are, partner with community-based organizations they trust, translate materials and offer interpretation, and give people more than one way to respond: online, by text, by phone, on paper and in person. Then report back on what their input changed.
How do you know if engagement is representative?
Compare who took part with who lives in the affected area. Pull the area’s profile from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, ask participants a few optional demographic questions and their ZIP code, and compare each group’s share. Check midway so you can still adjust outreach.
Who is most often under-represented in public engagement?
It depends on the community, which is why measuring matters. Groups often heard less include renters, younger adults, people who speak a language other than English, low-income households, people with disabilities, shift workers, parents of young children and people without reliable internet.
Does Title VI apply to public engagement?
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs that receive federal financial assistance, so the outreach and meetings those programs run should be open to everyone they serve. Agencies with federal transportation funds also follow FHWA and FTA public involvement requirements. Check your funding agency’s current guidance and your own Title VI plan.
Is representative engagement the same as a statistically valid survey?
No. A statistically valid survey uses a random sample to estimate what the whole population thinks within a margin of error. Most engagement is open to anyone, so the aim is to know which groups are missing, reach them, and report the gaps that remain.
Hear from the whole community, not just the usual voices
PublicInput gives each project a page residents can read in their language, reaches them by email, text and phone, takes input online, by text, by phone and in person, and keeps every response in one record, so you can see who you have heard from and who is missing.
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