LGBT + academics’ and PhD students’ experiences of visibility in STEM: more than raising the rainbow flag

Abstract

The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT +) individuals in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) are still understudied and, despite some improvements, are still characterised by patterns of exclusion, disadvantage, and discrimination. In this article, we explore how visibility is perceived and navigated by LGBT + academics and PhD students in STEM, with a focus on the ways that interlocking systems of oppression impact people and groups who are marginalised and historically excluded. This article draws on a broader research project about the experiences of women and LGBT + people in STEM that was conducted between 2019 and 2020 at a UK university and is framed by intersectionality theory. Based on the thematic analysis of interviews and focus groups with 24 LGBT + participants, findings suggest that visibility is still a risk for LGBT + academics and PhD students in STEM. We found that the labour of navigating visibility was perceived as an unfair disadvantage and that the focus on individuals’ visibility in the absence of meaningful and transformative inclusion initiatives by higher education institutions was regarded as tokenistic. The article argues that addressing LGBT + visibility should firstly be an institutional responsibility and not an individual burden and that this work is essential to set the conditions for personal visibility to happen by choice, safely and without retribution.

“That’s just the way it is”: bullying and harassment in STEM academia

“…However, even in subjects, such as chemistry, where women now constitute 44% of undergraduates, progress has not translated into strong representation at later stages (39% of doctoral student and 9% of chemistry professor positions; Royal Society of Chemistry, 2018). Similar patterns are evident in STEM academia for ethnic and racial minorities (Joice & Tetlow, 2020); people with a disability (Joice & Tetlow, 2021); and LGTBTQ + individuals (Cech & Pham, 2017;Reggiani et al, 2024).…”

“…More generally, research points to a range of consequences of identity misrecognition and categorization threat including diminished self-worth, depression, hypervigilance, and loss of agency (Smith et al, 2007); as well as social-identity management strategies (e.g., reduced commitment to the group and withdrawal of effort; Tyler & Blader, 2003); and concealment of minority identities and changing one's behaviour in order to 'pass' or 'fit-in' , Kim & Meister, 2022;Moore & Nash, 2021;Reggiani et al, 2024). For instance, Black academics in STEM report navigating racial stereotypes through choices about appearance, speech, and behaviour to mimic the majority norm, a type of social performance to be situated as academically acceptable (Griffin et al, 2011;McGee, 2016).…”

Inclusive Frameworks in Online STEM Teaching and Learning

“…In their discussion of LGBT+ inclusion in STEM, Reggiani et al (2023) counter the suggestion that inclusivity is irrelevant to STEM, stating that the "positivist epistemology and the language of STEM further reinforce marginalization by rendering LGBT + identities and experiences seemingly irrelevant, as if LGBT + people in STEM can take their identities off like a jacket at the laboratory, office, or classroom doors" (p.3). A similar comment could be made about other forms of minoritized identities in STEM.…”