Overview
This article helps you configure diversity questions for job applicants in Access Volcanic. Diversity Question Settings let you control which diversity characteristics you ask about, ensure compliance with local laws, and respect cultural differences across the regions where you recruit. The feature also includes optional AI support to fill data gaps when candidates choose not to self-identify.
Key benefits
Access Volcanic's Diversity Question Settings help you collect meaningful diversity data whilst staying compliant and culturally sensitive. This feature allows you to:
Stay compliant with regional employment laws that regulate diversity data collection
Ask questions phrased in culturally appropriate ways for each market
Capture structured and consistent data that feeds directly into your Diversity Dashboard
Choose between candidate self-reporting and AI-assisted predictions
Control exactly which diversity characteristics you track and where.
Before you start
Before configuring your diversity question settings, make sure you have:
Admin access to the Access Volcanic platform
Dashboard Configuration completed (this defines which diversity data you want to track)
Jobs linked to clients, disciplines, and locations so the correct regional rules apply
📌 Note: Learn more about setting up your dashboard in the Dashboard Configuration Help Guide.
Understanding diversity characteristics
Access Volcanic supports tracking across eight diversity characteristics. Each characteristic can be enabled or disabled independently, depending on what's legally permissible in each country and what you want to track.
Characteristic | What it tracks |
Ethnicity | Racial and ethnic background information |
Gender identity | How candidates identify in terms of gender |
LGBTQ+ status | Sexual orientation and gender identity information |
Disability | Physical or cognitive disabilities and access needs |
Veteran status | Military service background |
Socioeconomic status | Educational and economic background indicators |
Religious affiliation | Faith and belief system information |
Age | Age range or date of birth data |
How diversity question settings work
Legal compliance by country
Every country has its own preset standards based on local employment laws and cultural norms. Access Volcanic includes these standards to keep you compliant automatically.
For each diversity characteristic in each country, you'll see whether it can be Asked (the question is legally permissible and culturally appropriate) or marked as Never asked (the question is prohibited by law or inappropriate in that market).
You cannot override legal restrictions. If a question shows Never ask, it cannot be enabled for that country.
Cultural sensitivity
Questions are phrased to match local expectations. For example, disability questions in the Middle East use the phrase person of determination rather than disabled person to align with cultural preferences in that region.
AI prediction support
For three diversity characteristics: Gender, Age, and Ethnicity. You can enable AI prediction. This means if a candidate skips a question, the system may predict their response based on their profile data, CV content, or application information, but only if it reaches at least 80% accuracy confidence.
AI prediction helps fill data gaps whilst respecting candidate choice. It's completely optional and can be turned on or off for each characteristic independently.
Accessing diversity question settings
You can access Diversity Question Settings through the admin area:
Log in to Access Volcanic as an admin
Click the Settings tab
Under the Compliance section, select Diversity Question Settings
Choose a country from the Country dropdown to view its preset standards
Configuring diversity questions
Reviewing country settings
Select a country from the Country dropdown menu at the top of the Diversity Question Settings screen
Review the list of diversity characteristics e.g. Gender
For each characteristic, you'll see the standard question wording shown to candidates, whether it can be legally asked in that country, whether AI prediction is available, and whether AI prediction is currently enabled
Enabling or disabling questions
Find the diversity characteristic you want to configure
If the characteristic shows Ask, you can toggle it on or off
If it shows Never ask, it cannot be enabled due to legal restrictions
Repeat for each characteristic you want to configure
Enabling AI prediction
Locate a characteristic that supports AI prediction (Gender, Age, or Ethnicity)
Toggle the AI prediction option to On or Off
When enabled, the system will predict missing data when confidence is above 80%
📌 Note: AI prediction only works for Gender, Age, and Ethnicity. Other characteristics require candidate self-reporting.
Resetting to default settings
If you've made changes and want to revert to the original legal and cultural standards, you can reset a single country by selecting the country you want to reset, clicking the Reset to Standard button, and confirming the reset. To reset all countries at once, click Reset ALL to Standard and confirm you want to reset every country to default settings.
⚠️ Warning: Resetting removes all customisations. This action cannot be undone.
What candidates see
When a candidate applies for a job, they'll see diversity questions based on the country where the job is located, which characteristics you've enabled for that country, and the culturally appropriate phrasing for that region.
All diversity questions are optional. Candidates can always choose to skip questions or select Prefer not to say.
Best practices
Follow these guidelines to get the most from your diversity data collection.
Explain to candidates why you're collecting diversity data and how it will be used.
Keep all diversity questions voluntary to build trust and encourage honest responses.
Review and update your settings regularly as laws and cultural norms evolve.
Enable AI prediction to supplement data when candidates opt out.
Share aggregated Diversity Dashboard results with candidates to demonstrate transparency.
🤓Tip: Being transparent about how you use diversity data increases the likelihood that candidates will self-identify rather than skip questions.
FAQs
Q1: Can I write my own diversity questions?
Answer: No, standard questions cannot be customised. You can only enable or disable them to ensure legal compliance and cultural appropriateness.
Q2: What happens when I reset to standard settings?
Answer: All customisations are removed, and the system restores the default legal and cultural settings for the selected country (or all countries if using Reset ALL).
Q3: What if a candidate skips a diversity question?
Answer: If AI prediction is enabled for that characteristic and the system reaches at least 80% accuracy confidence, it may fill in the missing data. Otherwise, the field remains blank.
Q4: Where can I preview the questions candidates see?
Answer: Select a country and diversity characteristic in Diversity Question Settings to view the exact question wording shown to applicants.
Q5: Can I enable questions that show Never ask?
Answer: No, these questions are prohibited by law in that country and cannot be enabled under any circumstances.
Q6: How accurate is AI prediction?
Answer: The system only predicts data when it reaches at least 80% confidence. Predictions are based on diverse datasets and monitored for bias.
Q7: Do I need to configure settings for every country?
Answer: Only configure settings for countries where you recruit. Each country comes with sensible defaults, so you only need to adjust settings if you want to enable or disable specific characteristics.
Q8: Can I edit the wording of diversity questions?
Answer: No, standard question wording cannot be edited. You can only toggle questions on or off. This ensures compliance and consistency across your organisation.
Q9: Which diversity characteristics support AI prediction?
Answer: AI prediction is limited to three characteristics: Gender, Age, and Ethnicity. Other characteristics require candidate self-reporting.
Q10: Why isn't my Diversity Dashboard showing much data?
Answer: Meaningful insights depend on having sufficient candidate responses. If too few candidates answer questions, your dashboard may show limited data.