Sexual- and Gender-Minority Undergraduate Students' Fit in STEM: Relationships and Mitigation Strategies

• In Event: Women, Underrepresented Minority, and LGBTQPIA+ Students' STEM Experiences and Success: Undergraduate Climate and Social Capital

Abstract

1. Objectives or purposes
SGM students in STEM experience micro-aggressions, discrimination, and exclusion due to views (i.e., perceptions, biases, and stereotyping of their identities) of others. These experiences can lead to poor feelings of ‘fit’ – the sense that one is welcomed and included in STEM. Ones perception of fit is important because it can impact degree persistence.

We examine how undergraduate SGM students engage in the negotiation of their identities within their STEM academic climate by focusing 1) on a type of stereotype management that we refer to as ‘micro-defenses’; and 2) on their social networks of support.

2. Perspective(s) or theoretical framework
Research shows that racially minoritized STEM students deploy strategies to counter and resist the micro-aggressions they experience, including stereotype management, and also receive messages from people in their social network that help them negotiate their feelings of fit. We extend these studies by examining how SGM populations deploy such strategies. In particular, we focus on 1) micro-interactional resistance designed to shield oneself from mistreatment (e.g. choosing not to put a PRIDE sticker on their laptop to avoid judgment), and 2) social capital, both network-based (i.e., the people (peers, professors, family) and the resources provided in an individual’s network), and participatory-based social capital (i.e., the people and the resources available through their participation in organizations, such as oSTEM).

3. Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry
We conducted interviews using a protocol that inquired about 1) how gender and/or sexual identities were managed, 2) how students navigated the ideological terrain in STEM, 3) what social capital, was available and 4) how they perceived academic climate/fit. Interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

4. Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials
Participants included 29 SGM undergraduate STEM students. Their gender identities were: agender (1), man (6), nonbinary (1), nonbinary/queer (3), transgender (4), woman (17). Their sexual identities were: asexual (3), bisexual (10), gay (9), lesbian (7), and queer (7). Their racial/ethnic identities were: Asian (7), Black/African American (2), other (1), and white (19).

5. Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view
Twelve of the 29 students noted that they fit in well, and a quarter said they did not fit into their department. Three themes emerged during analysis: 1. Hearing, witnessing, or experiencing gender and sexual identity stereotypes negatively affected students’ feelings of fit. 2. Having SGM faculty and peers positively affected students’ feelings of fit and influenced how they navigated their degree programs (e.g., students chose organizations/classes based on the number of SGM peers/faculty/professors present). 3. Micro-defenses (e.g., presenting as cis in lab to avoid mistreatment from professors) were used by participants to help protect them from micro-aggressions.

6. Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work
This study advances theory on social capital and fit in STEM by examining how these constructs differ for SGM students. It also extends research on identity management by introducing the notion of ‘micro-defenses’.

Authors

• Mya Malaykhan, University of Connecticut - Storrs

• Rebecca A. Campbell-Montalvo, University of Connecticut - Storrs

• Chrystal A. S. Smith, University of Connecticut - Storrs

• Michelle Hughes Miller, University of South Florida - Tampa

• Maralee Mayberry, University of South Florida

• John Skvoretz, University of South Florida - Tampa

• Hesborn Otieno Wao, University of South Florida