LGBTQ People in STEM

(2020, Excerpt)

With its history of excluding women, and especially in the US, racial minorities, it should come as no surprise that LGBTQ individuals are also under-represented in STEM fields. Like other minorities, LGBTQ people do not fit within the traditional heterosexual white male narrative of STEM in the US. However, sexual identity can be more complicated than race or gender. Often, it is invisible in academic or professional settings, and its intersection with other identities creates many unique kinds of LGBTQ people. The concept of sexual identity itself, compared to race and gender, is relatively new. This raises the question: In what ways are LGBTQ individuals excluded in STEM fields? With its history of excluding women, racial minorities, and people of lesser economic means, the STEM community’s exclusion of sexual minorities falls in line with their typical behavior. These factors produce an inhospitable environment for LGBTQ people studying STEM, in STEM academia and other STEM careers.

From the moment LGBTQ individuals decide to pursue a degree in STEM, they encounter an uphill battle in a heterosexist environment. According to a 2018 study, LGBTQ students were actually more likely to engage in undergraduate research than their heterosexual peers, an act which signifies a stronger commitment to their area of study. It also corresponds with a 13.46% increased likelihood of remaining in STEM for the general population of students. However, LGBTQ students were 9.54% less likely to stay in STEM (Hughes 2018). This points to forces beyond the LGBTQ students themselves, both interpersonal and cultural, which drive them away from their chosen field of study. A 2011 study found that in the field of Engineering especially, LGB issues can be seen as “social” and therefore irrelevant to a highly technical, professionally minded student body (Cech 2011). Such a climate favors students within the sexual majority who don’t regularly worry about these issues and who are advantaged by the current system. Meanwhile, it dismisses and alienates LGBTQ students and their concerns.

Of the LGBTQ students who do graduate with a degree in STEM, many go on to face even more friction in their work environments. According to a 2009 study, LGBT people often feel invisible because personal lives aren’t discussed very much in their workplaces, and a heterosexual norm is assumed. Additionally, pressure is often exerted on these individuals to keep their identities hidden. One interviewee was told “to be more conservative in appearance, not to bring her partner to department events, and not to adopt children” (Bilimoria et. al. 2009, 90-91). Such demands not only force an employee to conceal their personal life in ways that other employees would never have to, but may even force them to refrain from making personal life choices at the risk of losing their job. In absolutely no scenario would a cisgender heterosexual person be asked to make such a compromise. In a 2015 study of federal agencies, it was found that LGBT professionals in STEM had significantly worse workplace experiences than their cisgender, heterosexual coworkers, with measures such as transparent evaluations, respect from supervisors, and support of work-life balance. Using the same measures, it was found that LGBT people in non-STEM-related agencies had generally more positive workplace experiences (Cech 2015). Discrimination is also experienced by LGBT people in other fields, but within STEM, it is particularly pronounced.

Ultimately, the broader community must acknowledge that LGBTQ issues are relavent, even in contexts where personal and social issues are supposedly not. LGBTQ people are disadvantaged by pressure to stay silent, microaggressions, and an unwelcoming environment that has been formed with the sexual majority in mind. One step towards this is breeding a healthier culture of talking about life at work. There is a time for getting work done, but frequently, there is time to converse. The notion that speaking about personal life in the workplace is unprofessional, particularly when one’s lifestyle is different from the norm, is a rule that tacitly benefits the majority. Ultimately getting more queer people involved in STEM will be the greatest help. With greater numbers, the rest of the community will be able to get used to their presence, and having more role models will help young LGBTQ people stay around to become part of the community themselves.

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