STEM Degree Attainment at the Intersection of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: National Population-Based Estimates (Poster 9)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 3:20 p.m.
  In Poster Session: Quantitative Approaches to Queer Education Research

Abstract

While the inequalities for queer and trans (QT) people in STEM fields have gained considerable attention in recent years, the evidence on the representation of QT individuals in STEM is lacking. This study examines the disparities in STEM degree attainment at the intersection of sexual orientation and gender identity using the nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). Our results indicate that compared with their heterosexual cisman counterparts, queer cismen, queer ciswomen, queer transmen, and queer transwomen, were underrepresented in STEM degree completion. The findings support the hypothesis that heterosexual cismen enjoy intersectional privilege in the male-dominant cisheteronormative STEM fields, which has important implications for research and policy in addressing the inequalities in STEM education for QT people.

Author

• Guan Saw, Claremont Graduate University