Exploring the effect of shared LGBTQ+ identities between STEM instructors and students

Individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and otherwise non-straight and/or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) have often not felt welcome or well-represented in the biology community and are less likely to persist in STEM majors than their straight and cis-gender peers. Same-identity instructor role models can positively impact students, particularly those with marginalized and underserved identities. However, it is unclear to what extent LGBTQ+ students know out LGBTQ+ instructors in biology, and how knowing out instructors impacts students’ experiences in college. This NSF IUSE project will document to what extent LGBTQ+ instructors reveal their identity to undergraduate biology students in the classroom and what influences their decision whether to reveal their identity. This project will also assess the impact of LGBTQ+ instructors revealing their identity in the biology classroom on all students and on instructors themselves.