Search

In response to the call for new and innovative methods of assessing campus climate (Worthington, 2008), the current study is the first to examine the readiness of a Latina/o campus community to address lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) concerns. Using the Community Readiness Model, data were collected through individual interviews with a total of 16 students, staff, and faculty from programs and organizations serving the Latina/o campus community. The 6 dimensions assessed included climate, knowledge of LGB concerns, knowledge of LGB efforts, leadership, resources, and efforts. Findings suggest that there is a mismatch between the current Latina/o LGB programming and the Latina/o campus community's stage of readiness to address LGB issues. Despite the fact that Latina/o LGB efforts had been developed for about a decade, the community was assessed to be at a vague awareness stage of readiness with regard to the dimensions of climate, knowledge of LGB concerns and efforts, and leadership. The resources dimension was found to be at the preplanning stage of readiness, whereas the efforts dimension was reported to be at the preparation stage by staff and faculty and at the initiation stage by students. Given the stage variability across dimensions, programming has to focus on the lowest stage of readiness obtained, namely vague awareness. Culturally sensitive recommendations for programming strategies that match the community's stage of readiness are presented.

This study investigated the experiences of 42 college/university-level instructors with regard to incorporating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer ( LGBTQ) content into their family-oriented courses. Based on how supportive they rated their colleagues, departments, and institutions for their teaching about LGBTQ issues, and how open they deemed their students to learning about such perspectives, participants were categorized as working in one of three teaching climates: the least positive, moderately positive, or the most positive. Notably, the authors found that educators faced resistance from other faculty members in addition to students. Further, most faculty assessed their students as open to learning about LGBTQ issues, yet teaching about transgender and queer issues appeared to be particularly challenging for some. Perceived challenges varied by the teaching climates in which participants reportedly worked. The challenges and strategies shared by participants have implications for both faculty and administrators concerned with creating more inclusive classrooms and departments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]