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Disparity Study

$500,000 Grant from Harris County

Lone Star College has received $500,000 grant to conduct a disparity study. It is a great oppotunity for the College to discover information about the following:

  • Disparity studies generally focus on economic issues involving M/WBEs that are competing for local and state government agency contracts.
  • Insight to determine if access to government contracts are unfairly denied to minority- and women-owned firms in the marketplace.
  • The results and outcome of the study will help these local or state governments assess the need for changes in contracting and purchasing policies and  practices.
  • The results will also allow these agencies to formulate a plan if it is determined that procedural changes or new programs are required.

 

Components of the Disparity Study

Utilization Analysis

Availability analysis

Disparity analysis

Anecdotal and circumstantial evidence

Utilization analysis is used to determine the universe of firms awarded government contracts and subcontracts in a particular time frame. It determines the percentage of firms available to fulfill government contracts and subcontracts. This analysis will help determine if there are clear disparities in the dollar percentage for government contracts and subcontracts received by M/WBEs in a particular time frame compared to their presence or availability in the marketplace.

Finally, but equally as important, anecdotal and circumstantial evidence is collected to provide context for the quantitative analysis. Anecdotal data is collected through  focus groups, public hearings, telephone surveys of firms, online surveys, and personal interviews.

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