Is Coming Out in the Community College Classroom an “Occupational Hazard?”

Abstract

Objective: This study is a replication of Russ et al.’s (2002) work, which showed that students’ credibility beliefs about and perceived learning from a male university instructor were negatively affected when he identified as gay. Because the primary professional responsibility of community college faculty is teaching, and student evaluations may influence decisions about teacher effectiveness, perceived teacher credibility may be of particular importance within community colleges. Given the number of years that have elapsed since the 2002 study, determining whether the documented bias still exists is necessary. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine how community college students’ perceptions of a male teacher’s credibility and perceptions of their own learning were influenced by the instructor being open about his sexual orientation. Methods: This study used mixed methods, was undergirded by Critical Realism, and employed a sequential design with questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Results: Participants as a collective did not provide significantly different ratings for any dimension of credibility nor for perceptions of learning in either condition. Interview data largely supported the statistical findings; however, they also revealed discomfort with gay instructors and an eagerness to support marginalized instructors; participant reactions aligned with three broad categories of indifference, discomfort, or allyship. Open-ended responses suggested that participants attended more to competence for the straight lecturer and more to character traits for the gay lecturer. Contributions: The findings, especially with regard to participants’ reduced focus of attention on competence for marginalized instructors, have practical implications for equity and faculty evaluation.