LGBT professionals' workplace experiences in STEM-related federal agencies

Abstract

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals in U.S. workplaces often face disadvantages in pay, promotion, and workplace experiences, and emergent research suggests these disadvantages may be particularly pernicious within science and engineering. However, no research has yet examined whether STEM-related organizations really are more disadvantageous for LGBT employees than other organizations. Using representative data of federal employees, over 8000 of whom identify as LGBT, I compare the workplace experiences of LGBT employees in STEM-related federal agencies with their non-LGBT colleagues, and then compare LGBT employees in STEM agencies with LGBT employees in other agencies. Across three dimensions of workplace experiences (perceived treatment as employees, workplace fairness, and work satisfaction), LGBT employees in STEM agencies report systematically more negative workplace experiences than their non-LGBT coworkers, and LGBT employees in STEM-agencies have consistently more negative experiences than LGBT employees in other agencies. I also find that LGBT professionals are under-represented in STEM-related agencies. These results have important implications for STEM workplaces and STEM education: even if LGBT students make it through the heteronormativity and heterosexism within science and engineering education documented in previous research, they may encounter similar hostility in the workplace. It is the responsibility of STEM educators to socialize their students-LGBT and non-LGBT alike-to expect and demand workplaces where anti-LGBT bias is not tolerated, and where all employees, regardless of sexual identity and gender expression, are respected.