The document summarizes findings from analyzing gender and cultural diversity in Boston city employee and voter databases using NamSor's onomastics APIs. It found gender gaps varied significantly across city departments, with more males in public safety roles and more females in education roles. Analyzing names revealed cultural origins too, showing departments like the fire department had more Irish names while schools had more diverse origins. Voter data similarly showed neighborhoods varied in their cultural mixes. The analysis demonstrated onomastics can provide additional insights beyond traditional demographic data sources.

1. ONOMASTICS TO REVEAL
> GENDER GAP / GENDER PAY GAP
> DIASPORAS AND OTHER DIVERSITY ANALYTICS
Alvaro LIMA, Boston Redevelopment Authority
Elian CARSENAT, NamSor Applied Onomastics
1
2015-08

2. 2
 NamSor Gender API extracts the likely gender of
personal names
(ex. Andrea Rossini : Male; Andrea Parker : Female)
 The gender gap in City of Boston employees
 Original file : Employee_Earnings_Report_2012.xlsx
 Genderized : output_employees_genderized.xlsx

3. 3 simple steps to view the gender gap
3
Read examples of industry wide studies (airline pilots, Hollywood, start-ups, ...)
http://gendergapgrader.com/
Employees List City

4. Example – Boston City Employees
4
RapidMiner +
NamSor API
Employee_Earnings_Report_2012.xls
(no gender information in original doc)
genderized document, with detail to make
gender gap / gender pay gap statistics
Both First Name and Last Names
are used to infer gender:
-Andrea Rossini -> Male
-Andrea Parker -> Female
-O. Sokolova -> Female
-N.S.->Unknown
-Olga S. -> Female
1 2 3

5. Gender Gap By Department
5
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Transportation-Parking Clerk
Law Department
ASD Human Resources
Boston Public Schools
Boston Public Library
State Boston Retirement Syst
Dept of Voter Mobilization
Neighborhood Development
Boston City Council
Elderly Commission
Assessing Department
Boston Cntr - Youth & Families
Transportation Department
Dpt of Innovation & Technology
Inspectional Services Dept
Boston Police Department
Property Management
Parks Department
Public Works Department
Boston Fire Department
Boston City Gender Gap
by dept having 50+ employees
%M
%F
%U
More Male
More Female
Source: output_employees_genderized.xlsx

6. Gender Gap By Earnings Range
6
2344
5488
303
3390
4863
15
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
22026+ 59874+ 162754+
Boston City Gender Gap
Count of employees with
total earnings > $22k, $59k, $162k
Female
Male
Source: output_employees_genderized.xlsx

7. Gender Pay Gap – average earnings
7
- 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000
Boston Public Schools:Teacher
Boston Public Schools:Librarian
Boston Police Department:Police Officer
Boston Police Department:Police Detective
Transportation Department:Parking Meter Supervisor
Inspectional Services Dept:Housing Inspector
Dpt of Innovation & Technology:Sr Data Proc Sys Anl
Dpt of Innovation & Technology:Data Proc Sys Analyst
Boston City Gender Pay Gap
Average earnings by Dept by Title
(NB: Median should be used instead)
Female Avg
Male Avg
Source: output_employees_genderized.xlsx

8. Is it accurate? Testing with Boston Voters List
8
NamSor API
Output (B)
NamSor API
Input
Declared
gender (A)
How often A=B?
Row Labels Female Male Unknown (blank) Grand Total Precision Recall
F 194442 9625 1884 205951 95.3% 99.1%
M 6249 165069 1779 173097 96.4% 99.0%
(blank) 3339 3688 355 7382
Grand Total 204030 178382 4018 386430 95.8% 99.0%
Precision > 95%

9. The gender gap is measured accurately
9
Using Declared Gender Estimating Gender using Names
45%
53%
2%
Voters List Gender Gap (actual)
M
F
U
47%
53%
0%
Voters List Gender Gap (inferred)
Male
Female
Unknown
Error rate in range 0% to 2%, usually <1%
(NB can vary based on demographics, ex gender can’t be inferred of Chinese, Korean names)

10. 10
 NamSor Origin API extracts the likely country/culture of
origin of personal names
 Diversity of origin in City of Boston employees
 Original file : Employee_Earnings_Report_2012.xlsx
 Origins : output_employees_origined.xlsx
 Diversity of origin in City of Boston voters
 Original file : Voters List.txt
 Origins : Voters_Origined.xlsx

11. <CAVEAT>
11
 So far, at NamSor, we have worked mostly on international projects related
to highly qualified migrants (company directors, scientists, inventors, ...)
 In the context of a US City, we believe our unique onomastics technology
(using names) should be combined with other more traditional approaches
to geo-demographics (census, qualitative surveys ...)
 We try to innovate and bring a different view, but we also hope to work
hand-in-hand with you to reconcile the data coming from traditional geo-
demographics (such as gender, race and ethnicity) with the fine grain
information that names can bring in (such as gender, linguistic root, likely
country/region of origin, ...)
</CAVEAT>

12. Boston City Employees
Diversity of origin/culture by Department
 35% of Employees of
the Boston Fire Dept
have an Irish Name
 15% of Employees of
Boston Public Schools
have an Irish Name
12
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Boston City Employees
– by Dept and Origin
Fire Dept
35% Irish
Public Schools
15% Irish
Irish Names

13. Boston Voters List
Diversity varies district by district
13
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
02124
02130
02135
02127
02136
02131
02132
02125
02118
02128
02119
02116
02121
02122
02129
02126
02115
02134
02215
02114
02120
02113
02111
02108
02109
02210
02110
02467
02199
02163
02169
02445
02446
02026
Boston City Geo-demographics
by ZipCode by likely Origin Russian Federation
Ghana
China
Austria
Czech Republic
Uganda
Benin
Belgium
Netherlands
Greece
Viet Nam
Kenya
Sweden
Switzerland
Portugal
South Africa
Germany
Italy
Spain
France
Ireland
British
Source: Voters_Origined.xlsx

14. Boston Voters List
Ex. Portuguese, Spanish, Italian Names
14
 ZIP 02125 : About 21% of people with a
Portuguese name live in ZIP 02125, whereas only
6.6% of people with a Spanish name, 3.8% of
people with an Italian name live in that district.
 ZIP 02128: Only 5.8% of people with a Portuguese
name live in ZIP 02128, whereas 10.9% of people
with a Spanish name, 15.2% of people with an
Italian name live in that district.
Source: Voters_Origined.xlsx

15. Boston Voters List: Diversity by occupation
Interesting ones: Firefighter, CNA, Cleaner, Waiter, Economist, ...
15
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
UNKNOWN
STUDENT
ATHOME
ATTORNEY
CLERK
ENGINEER
PHYSICIAN
ADMINASST
HOMEMAKER
LABORER
SECRETARY
SOCIALWORKER
PROFESSOR
ARCHITECT
TECHNICIAN
SELFEMPLOYED
CARPENTER
REALESTATE
EDUCATOR
BANKER
COORDINATOR
CASHIER
MUSICIAN
LIBRARIAN
(blank)
ELECTRICIAN
SECURITY
RN
EDUCATION
THERAPIST
CUSTODIAN
REALTOR
HOUSEKEEPER
RECEPTIONIST
SUPERVISOR
CONSTRUCTION
BUSDRIVER
OPERATOR
RESEARCH
PAINTER
HEALTHCARE
CLEANER
PLUMBER
HEALTHCARE
FOODSERVICE
ADVERTISING
AUDITOR
BUSINESSOWNER
Source: Voters_Origined.xlsx

16. Boston Voters List
by Occupation and by Origin
16
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
British Ireland France Italy Spain Portugal Russian China India Pakistan Somalia Ukraine Thailand Japan
Boston City Voters - occupation breakdown
by onomastic class
OTHER
TEACHER
STUDENT
RETIRED
Source: Voters_Origined.xlsx

17. US Census vs NamSor geo-demographics
17
 In July 2015, the US Government announced new
rules that will require all cities and towns receiving
federal housing funds to assess patterns of
segregation.
 The NY Times has published interactive maps of
Boston geo-demographics, which we can compare
with the information inferred by NamSor

18. US Census Race Map of Boston
18
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/08/us/census-race-map.html

19. Using Voters List+NamSor is finer-grain
 US Census:
1pixel = 40 inhabitants
 Voters List:
1 pixel = 1 voter
19

20. Voter’s list:
we can zoom further into 051200
 US Census
 Voters List + NamSor
20

21. Voter’s List: breaking down ‘white’
 In 051200, ‘White’ is
dominent
 ‘White’ can be broken
down further
 (Southern, Northern,
Eastern, Western Europe)
21

22. Voter’s List:
distinguishing Portuguese, Spanish, Italian
22

23. Current limitation (we’re working on it):
NamSor doesn’t see Black
23
The Census block 101001 is 83% composed of Black inhabitants, but NamSor
recognizes European names. That can be resolved by further work on the
sociolinguistics and relations between firstName and lastName.

24. Analysing other databases would provide
valuable information about:
24
 Local Businesses in Boston
 Start-ups / VC / Business Angels in Boston
 Students, Professors & Researchers in Boston
 Tourism in Boston
 ...

25. NamSor Pricing
25
 NamSor API price is based on volume, typically
 130€ / 10,000 data rows processed
 plus cost of acquisition of source data
 We can support our clients with training, data sourcing,
data filtering, methodology, mapping
 950€ plus Tax (Time & Material, daily rate)
 Price range for a typical engagement
 4000k€ to 45k€, on average 15K€

26. Conclusion
26
 As a pilot, we analysed two databases (Employees,
Voters List) and discovered interesting patterns in
gender diversity as well as diversity of
culture/origin in Boston City voters and employees.
 Other projects could use such data, in order to
make Boston City even more inclusive to men and
women of all origins.
 The technology is simple to use and affordable.

27. Merci !
 http://fdimagnet.com/  http://namsor.com/
27
Juillet 2013, Ambassade de Lituanie à Paris
 elian.carsenat@namsor.com
 +33 6 52 77 99 07
 Twitter @NamSor_com