Queerness in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): Insights and Foresights From Experienced Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Plus (LGBTQ+) Advocates

The science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) culture has been characterized as hostile to certain groups with noncentered identities, including those who are queer identified. A professional society of Engineering established a community of practice (CoP) in 2015 to respond to the call to improve the STEM climate toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and plus (LGBTQ+) community (see the Letter). Despite this effort to improve the STEM culture, little research has been done to describe how to support the LGBTQ+ community, or how STEM professionals could support their colleagues through advocacy. The purpose of the article is to describe how STEM professionals with an experienced LGBTQ+ advocacy identity, experienced participating in a CoP to support the LGBTQ+ within STEM. Advocacy identity, as described by Messinger (2011), is our guiding framework to understand the development and enactment of an LGBTQ+ advocacy identity in engineering and other STEM contexts. This phenomenologically informed study included individual semistructured interviews as our primary data sources generated three overarching themes. The combination of emergent themes suggests the intersectional nature of the participants’ multiple and integrated identities play specific roles in their advocacy identity. The study identifies insights from experienced LGBTQ+ advocates who are STEM professionals and the participants provided recommendations to improve the STEM culture for the LGBTQ+-identified including strategic leadership and establishing resources to support faculty and staff developing a LGBTQ+ advocate identity. We conclude with opportunities for our STEM colleagues to engage with us in making the STEM climate welcoming toward the LGBTQ+ community to support their full participation in our field.