Search

The present study explored LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other non heterosexual/cisgender identities) engineering students' navigation of engineering educational contexts and reported the impacts of the engineering educational culture on LGBTQ + students' well-being. Drawing from a sample of ten LGBTQ + university students in the United States, we found that students described cultural norms sustained through minimal tolerance for and the avoidance of identity talk or expression. Systemic homogeneous cultural norms redefine safety expectations for LGBTQ + engineering students while normalizing expectations that LGBTQ + students be silent and tolerate mistreatment. Participants also described the consequences of invisibility and identity conflict that they face for being different within an inequitable field. These findings bring attention to a culture within engineering programs that silences LGBTQ + expression and leaves students feeling isolated. Further research is needed to explore the effect of affirming communities on LGBTQ + engineering students' well-being. We conclude with research and clinical implications for working with LGBTQ + engineering students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this art-based study was to work with non-binary people to explore the impact of their sexual objectification experiences (SOEs) on their relationships with their bodies. Ten non-binary people completed body maps, or artistic representations of their bodies in the context of sexual objectification. Results revealed an idiosyncratic, complicated picture of mixed metaphors and powerful imagery illustrating non-binary SOEs. Themes included a focus on sex characteristics where participants played with nudity, censorship, and boundaries to express and assert themselves. Other forms of expression involved language, facial, gender and cultural expression as well as nature imagery and pain. Participants spoke to their positive, interesting, and challenging experience with the body map itself. Psychologists and clinicians are encouraged to follow best practices when working with non-binary people experiencing sexual objectification, paying attention to how heterogeneous gender identities create unique experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]