Katey gives a talk at UCLA Out in STEM Chapter

Katey presented a talk titled "Creating inclusive spaces for academic STEM for LGBTQ+ individuals" for the UCLA Out in STEM Chapter.

We talked about how the sciences have been considered an unwelcoming space for LGBTQ+ individuals and LGBTQ+ students are less likely to persist in science majors compared to their straight and cis peers. We discussed how we can work toward a more equitable scientific community by creating more inclusive biology academic environments for LGBTQ+ individuals. I reviewed three studies examining the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in academic biology. The first explored the challenges that active learning biology courses may present for LGBTQ+ students and highlighted these students’ need for LGBTQ+ role models in biology. The second study examined what encourages LGBTQ+ instructors to reveal or conceal their LGBTQ+ identities to students in their college biology courses and identified how we can create academic spaces where more people feel comfortable revealing their LGBTQ+ identities. The final study measured the impact of an instructor revealing their LGBTQ+ identity in a biology class on all students as well as on LGBTQ+ students specifically. The seminar concluded by discussing ways to make academic biology more inclusive for LGBTQ+ individuals.