Schrodinger’s queers: Are they, or aren’t they?

STEM disciplines have a bad reputation for gender and sexual minority (GSM) inclusion. Both large scale quantitative surveys and more personally focussed qualitative research have shown that most GSM people in STEM disciplines modify, restrict, or manage their self-expression in professional contexts. In educational institutions, relationships are potentially more fraught as the interpersonal complexities of pedagogic interactions make things yet more difficult.

This paper will reflect on a range of contextual literature as a way positioning the personal stories of seven GSM academics at a British university. Undertaken over a period of two years, the reported research involved a series of open discussions with teaching academics across a range of STEM disciplines. Surprisingly, even in the context of a liberal, higher education context, all collaborators adopted impression management strategies in their relationships with colleagues, and noticeably more constrained relationships with students.

The paper concludes with preliminary observations about the impact of institutional equality and diversity policies as a way of promoting an open, and inclusive professional context, and considers the implications of the research for student-facing STEM academics.