The State of LGBT and Queer Research in Higher Education Revisited: Current Academic Houses and Future Possibilities

A Review of the State of LGBTQIA+ Student Research in STEM and Engineering Education

“…Renn did, however, mention that as of 2010, there was still a gap in the literature with regard to work with the TGNC and QPOC community. Lange et al (2019) further confirmed with their more recent literature review that there is still a gap in the research with regard to the TGNC and QPOC experience in higher education. It would seem that other fields to tend agree that the TGNC and QPOC population has been neglected, as well (Johnson, 2001).…”

“…Only one paper that we reviewed from the engineering education literature explored the engineering, queer, or other identity development of LGBTQIA+ engineering students (Hughes, 2017), though this topic has been explored at length in other disciplines. Proportionally, however, there seemed to be more explicit discussion surrounding coping mechanisms within engineering education than the broader body of literature (Cech & Waidzunas, 2009Haverkamp et al 2019;Lange et al, 2019), though this work tended to focus on the ways that LGBTQIA+ students navigated toxic systemic structures as opposed to changing these structures to be more inclusive.…”

“…Throughout this paper, we reference the term "LGBTQIA+," which is an umbrella acronym used to describe any person who does not identify with heterosexual and cisgender norms (Gold, 2019). Recent research on the LGBTQIA+ student experience shows a growing interest on this topic, both within and outside of the field of engineering education (Lange et al, 2019). Within this encouraging trend, the disciplines that have placed the greatest sense of urgency on understanding this community's experiences appear to have been higher education, psychology, and queer and gender studies.…”

“…Specifically, work in this area deals with the TGNC communities, as well as the larger queer community in general, with respect to racial/ethnic, class, disability, and other identities. Both Renn (2010) and Lange et al (2019) mentioned in their literature reviews that not enough work has focused on this topic. Newer research appeared to be focusing more on the TGNC and QPOC communities, however.…”

“…Later, research on LGBTQIA+ students evolved to take on a more intersectional lens, and identity development models became additive or cumulative in nature. The latest evolution of LGBTQIA+ research adopted a post-modern interpretation, which rejects identity as additive, and instead examines the experience of LGBTQIA+ individuals through the lenses of queer theory, critical theory, critical race theory, and feminism (Duran, 2019;Lange et al, 2019). Newer works also addressed the apparent gap in the literature with regard to researchers using queer theory that focus on race and ethnicity, known as "quare theory," as a framework for exploring LGBTQIA+ student experiences (Johnson, 2001;Means, 2017) Engineering-Specific Research Findings The first paper breaking ground on LGBTQIA+ student issues in engineering was published in 2009 at the annual ASEE conference (Cech & Waidzunas, 2009).…”