A holistic understanding of inclusion in STEM: Systemic challenges and support for women and LGBT+ academics and PhD students

Marco Reggiani · Jessica Dawn Gagnon · Rebecca J. Lunn

21 citations0/0 files storedScience Education

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Career Development and Diversity Gender Diversity and Inequality Gender, Sexuality, and Education

Abstract

Abstract Barriers to equity, diversity, and inclusion remain in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) for historically underrepresented and marginalized individuals. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of women and LGBT+ academics and PhD students in the United Kingdom. Specifically, this article examines systemic challenges and support that 82 participants who identified as women and/or LGBT+ academics and PhD students have experienced in their STEM environments and throughout their careers. In this qualitative study, we employed intersectionality theory to frame a thematic analysis of interviews and focus groups. Our findings indicate that the experiences of participants are characterized more by inequities than by support from colleagues, peers, and higher education institutions. Inequities are widespread and intersectional, and have a cumulative impact whenever individuals endure multiple and potentially escalating challenges—which include hard‐to‐spot disadvantages, stereotypes, prejudice, as well as harassment, bullying, and discrimination. Participants’ accounts illustrate the benefits of different support mechanisms but also the limitations of initiatives to support marginalized individuals and groups in STEM that are not systematically embedded across institutions. Based on our findings, we present two conceptual models to better understand systemic challenges and their consequences for women and LGBT+ academics and PhD students in STEM, as well as to inform more holistic support mechanisms to create more inclusive STEM environments. Implications from the study highlight institutional accountability as key to improving climates and transformative change.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 21 citations exist upstream.

References

2006Using thematic analysis in psychology 2017Thematic Analysis 1990Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity 2018Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics 1997A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance.1978Men and Women of the Corporation 2021Conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis.1986Learning from the Outsider Within: The Sociological Significance of Black Feminist Thought

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.