New publication! The impact of an LGBTQ+ instructor coming out in class

This week, CBE Life Sciences Education published PhD student Carly Busch's first-author paper: Unveiling Concealable Stigmatized Identities in Class: The Impact of an Instructor Revealing Her LGBTQ+ Identity to Students in a Large-Enrollment Biology Course!

In 2016 we found the LGBTQ+ students were lacking LGBTQ+ role models in science, but feared that instructors would experience repercussions if they came out as LGBTQ+ in class. In response to this finding, we systematically studied the impact of an instructor coming out in class on all students, not just those who identify as LGBTQ+.

This current study examined the impact of an LGBTQ+ instructor revealing her identity in < 3 seconds to an upper level physiology course. We found that most students reported being positively impacted by the instructor sharing her identity and LGBTQ+ students and women report disproportionately large gains!

ASU News highlighted this research in an article "Study indicates perceived impact of a STEM instructor revealing LGBTQ identity to students," which features a video of first-author Carly explaining the study! Check it out.