The first National Higher-Education Climate Survey: Experiences of Israeli LGBT Students

• In Event: Policy and pedagogy and SOGIE issues in education

Proposal

The first National Higher-Education Climate Survey: Experiences of Israeli LGBT Students


Global research literature, has pointed out from looking into the experiences of LGBT students in higher education institutions, that the climate is not optimal for these students who experience high levels of harassment and violence. This is caused by how differently LGBT students are perceived, receiving care that is not the same as the general population in higher education institution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. This paper will present a research, first of its kind, and scope in israel, that studied the experiences of LGBT students in higher education institutions in comparison to the general population of students.

The goal of this current research is to provide primary data about the experiences and state of LGBT students in higher education institutions, in comparison to the experiences of their fellow hetreosexual cisgender peers. For this purpose a self-answering questionnaire was constructed for analysing climate parameters: the quantitative aspect of their studies relating to their sexual orientation and gender identity within higher educational programs, exposure to acts of violence (verbal, physical, sexual) in the campus, reaching for university assistance services, satisfactional degree from the treatment LGBT students receive within higher education institution, and their future academic aspirations.

This paper will present the findings of this research, that will provide knowledge about an nonoptimal climate towards LGBT students studying within a higher educational institution in israel. It is apparent among the prominent findings that 26.1 percent of LGBT students have experienced sexual harassment within the campus parameters. The LGBT students have a harassment rate that is 6.5 times higher than the general population of students ( according to the student union survey of 2015). Among transgender and bisexual students the rates of sexual harassment are the highest. Additionally, LGBT students are exposed more frequently in the campus to offensive comments related to their sexual orientation or gender identity; avoid exposing their sexual orientation fearing they would be harmed; exposed to offensive comments in the classes themselves, related to sexual orientation, gender identity, LGBT community, etc.

Authors

• Avner Rogel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Magnus Hirschfeld Institute - IGY

• Guy Shilo, Tel Aviv University

• Oren Pizmony-Levy, Teachers College, Columbia University