LGBTQIA2S+ Well-Being within Academic Communities: The State of the Science

Abstract

It is essential that academic communities achieve and maintain an inclusive campus climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and two-spirit plus (LGBTQIA2S+) faculty, staff, and students. Campus climate can influence faculty and student attrition, self-identity development of LGBTQIA2S+ students, and exacerbate documented health disparities. Academic settings have a challenging history when examining the relationship with LGBTQIA2S+ individuals. Academicians were the originators of pathologizing identities and constructing deviant distinctions in text and publications. Campus climate sets the tone for the success of LGBTQIA2S+ members of academic communities, and research continues to emphasize the most influential factors that directly contribute to that success. Visibility of LGBTQIA2S+ faculty, staff, and students allow for both formal and informal social networks and encourages social and academic integration. Proximity to LGBTQIA2S+ faculty, staff, and students encourages both integration and visibility. Policies that protect and affirm LGBTQIA2S+ individuals are an essential component to visibility as they provide formal protection such as zero tolerance discrimination policies. Progress towards creating healthy academic communities for LGBTQIA2S+ individuals follows larger societal trends of acceptance, and progress continues today through knowledge generation and activism. Commitment to and recognition of the factors that foster healthy academic communities for LGBTQIA2S+ individuals ensures that the discovery and dissemination of knowledge will continue through a more inclusive lens.