Queering Agricultural Education Research: Challenges and Strategies for Advancing Inclusion

Abstract

For more than 30 years, the field of agricultural education has grappled with complex questions of how to recruit, support, retain, and teach diverse youth. Yet the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community is rarely included in published agricultural education research. This philosophical paper addresses the immediate need for understanding more about LGBTQ youth in agricultural education, while identifying opportunities and specific strategies to shift the culture of agricultural education research towards inclusion. Queer theory is leveraged to reveal a nascent body of literature related to sexuality in 4-H and school-based agricultural education. LGBTQ youth in agricultural education face significant challenges: educators ill prepared to meet their needs, a lack of policies to inform decision making, active homophobia from teachers and peers, among others. Agricultural education researchers face methodological and disciplinary barriers to conducting LGBTQ research. Authors employ unique tacticsto conduct and disseminate their work. Understanding these strategies and analyzing the conditions that necessitate their use contributes to the disciplinary knowledge of how to conduct inclusive research – not just for LGBTQ youth – but for the profession writ large.

Cooperative Extension in Indigenous Communities: Characteristic of Successful Programs

“…While the methods of research are a survey and interviews, both of which are prevalent in colonized, Western research, the methodology strived to be decolonizing, with an emphasis on counternarratives, the co-construction of knowledge with participants through their lived experiences (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2016), and the liberatory effects for Indigenous peoples. Decolonizing methodology and research on Indigenous topics has not been common in the Journal of Agricultural Education (Vicenti-Henio & Torres, 1998), though other critical methodologies which share similar epistemological tenets have been published more recently (Barajas et al, 2020;Cline, Rosson, & Weeks, 2020;Murray, Trexler, & Cannon, 2020).…”

Members’ Perceptions Regarding Diversity and Inclusion within the American Association for Agricultural Education

“…Lastly, the AAAE National Research Agenda (Roberts et al, 2016) challenged agricultural education researchers to examine the effectiveness of strategies for recruiting diverse individuals into agriculture and natural resource careers. While studies pertaining to DEI within agricultural education have been conducted, the majority have focused on racial/ethnic minority issues surrounding secondary agriculture students; undergraduate and graduate students; preservice agriculture teachers; and secondary agriculture teachers (Murray et al, 2020;Tubbs, 2015). Missing from the literature is research relating to DEI efforts among all underrepresented and marginalized groups and within the professional society for Agricultural Education-the American Association for Agricultural Education.…”

Where are the Gays? A Systematized Literature Review of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) STEM Practitioners

“…Social/Technical Dualism [6], [19]- [26] Heteronormativity and Masculinity [19]- [22], [24], [27]- [34] Meritocratic and Depoliticized [9], [19], [24], [28], [35] Silent Professionalism [1], [4], [5], [9], [19], [20], [29], [32],…”

“…Discomfort discussing LGBTQ+-related issues added to the silent culture. Ignorance and a lack of education, political orientation, and homophobia further induce a climate of ignorance and silence about LGBTQ+ topics, terminology, and knowledge, compounding the discomfort felt by many [32]. The general lack of knowledge to further understand the needs of LGBTQ+ students.…”

“…There seems to still be active homophobia between peers and educators who are ill-prepared to support diverse learner needs. Additionally, a lack of policies exists to inform decision-making [32], considering the unique needs of LGBTQ+ people. It comes as no surprise that the best practices for creating inclusive engineering classrooms and laboratories for LGBTQ+ STEM practitioners involve increasing understanding, support, visible advocacy, and listening at all institutional levels [37], [38].…”