Making university STEM environments more inclusive for LGBTQ+ individuals

Science and engineering disciplines have been considered unwelcoming spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals and LGBTQ+ students are less likely to persist in STEM majors compared to their straight and cis peers. This talk will discuss how we can work to create more inclusive academic environments for LGBTQ+ individuals by sharing the results of multiple studies. The first explores the challenges for LGBTQ+ students in college courses and highlights these students’ need for LGBTQ+ role models in the classroom. The second study examines what encourages LGBTQ+ instructors to reveal or conceal their LGBTQ+ identities to students in their college courses and identifies how we can create academic spaces where more people feel comfortable revealing their LGBTQ+ identities. The final study measures the impact of an instructor revealing their LGBTQ+ identity in a college course on all students as well as on LGBTQ+ students specifically.  The talk concludes by discussing ways to make universities more inclusive for LGBTQ+ individuals.

Location: San Carlos Conference Room (POST 135); Downtown Campus