6.4: Articles and Essays

APA. (n.d.). APA LGBTQ Resources and Publications. APA.

APA has made a significant contribution to the understanding of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people since first dedicating staff time to these populations in 1987. Over the years, APA has produced many resources to educate the public, support the work of psychologists and inform public policy about LGBTQ people and their lives and health needs. This page provides many of those resources, organized by the primary audiences for which they are intended.

APA. (n.d.). Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. APA.

Advancing the creation, communication, and application of psychological knowledge on gender identity and sexual orientation to benefit society and improve lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's lives.

The Chronicle of Higher Education. (n.d.) Diversity in Academe: The Gender Issue.

Gender issues have fascinated an confounded people for ages. That certainly holds true in academe these days. In this special report devoted to gender, we look beyond the data. Not long ago, women were the focus of most gender discussions in academe. But now it’s more complicated, with each sex drawing attention for different reasons. It’s well known, for example, that female undergraduates outnumber their male counterparts. But why do they behave so differently, and what can colleges learn about their diverse ways in which men and women engage on campus? In this special report, learn how what attracts men to certain fields, read about the so-called school-to-prison pipeline, and other issues related to gender in academe.

Cooper, T. (2021, February 23). Spotlighting the Intersection of Black and Transgender Identities. Human Rights Campaign.

This post is the second of a two-part series focusing on Black History Month through the lens of Black trans women. Read Part One here.

Gamio Cuervo, A. B. (2016, Summer). Latinx: A Brief Handbook. Princeton LGBT Center.

Princeton LGBT Center Online Resource -- adopted by LGBT+ and cultural organizations nationally.

Jaekel, K. S. (2017). Engaging in Inclusion: Cultivating LGBTQ Students’ Sense of Belonging through a Critical Place-Based Curriculum. The International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 8(1), 129-148.

While recent literature has highlighted the importance of inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) topics in the composition courses (Alexander and Wallace, 2009; Furrow, 2012), few have outlined how to include these topics. The purpose of this article is to detail how the inclusion of LGBTQ students and topics was achieved in a freshman first-year writing course using a critical place-based curriculum. While most place-based curriculum do not take into account LGBTQ students’ unique lived experiences on a college campus, this article details how conversations and assignments were altered to take into consideration issues of power and privilege on campus. Implications suggest the need for use critical pedagogical practices in the composition classroom.

Rainey, et al. (2018). Race and gender differences in how sense of belonging influences decisions to major in STEM. International Journal of STEM Education, 5(10).

Abstract Background: Women and students of color are widely underrepresented in most STEM fields. In order to investigate this underrepresentation, we interviewed 201 college seniors, primarily women and people of color, who either majored in STEM or started but dropped a STEM major. Here we discuss one section of the longer interview that focused on students’ sense of belonging, which has been found to be related to retention. In our analysis, we examine the intersections of race and gender with students’ sense of belonging, a topic largely absent from the current literature. Results: We found that white men were most likely to report a sense of belonging whereas women of color were the least likely. Further, we found that representation within one’s STEM sub-discipline, namely biology versus the physical sciences, impacts sense of belonging for women. Four key factors were found to contribute to sense of belonging for all students interviewed: interpersonal relationships, perceived competence, personal interest, and science identity. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that students who remain in STEM majors report a greater sense of belonging than those who leave STEM. Additionally, we found that students from underrepresented groups are less likely to feel they belong. These findings highlight structural and cultural features of universities, as well as STEM curricula and pedagogy, that continue to privilege white males.

Rosser, S. V. (2012, November 2). More Gender Diversity Will Mean Better Science. Chronicle of Higher Education, 59(10), B22–B23.

In this article the author argues that gender diversity in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines will produce higher quality research and design in STEM fields. She comments on the increasing number of women bachelor's and master's degree recipients in science, discusses the benefits of medical and biological research focused on women's issues, and shares her view on both gender and racial diversity in the scientific workforce.

Samalin, J. (2016, July 11). Why Being a “Good Guy” Is Not Enough. Yes! Magazine.

Why Being a “Good Guy” Is Not Enough - Either you’re actively working against sexual violence or you’re enabling it.

Wamsley, L. (2021, June 2). A Guide To Gender Identity Terms. NPR.

Issues of equality and acceptance of transgender and nonbinary people — along with challenges to their rights — have become a major topic in the headlines. These issues can involve words and ideas and identities that are new to some. That's why we've put together a glossary of terms relating to gender identity. Our goal is to help people communicate accurately and respectfully with one another.

Wheeler, M. A. & Sojo, V. (2017, March 7). Unconscious bias is keeping women out of senior roles, but we can get around it. The Conversation.

Most people would not consciously decide to hire candidates based on whether they remind them of themselves. But one unconscious bias – affinity bias – may lead people to favour candidates who are like themselves, research shows. Affinity or similarity bias is where people seek out those who share their backgrounds, group membership, or experiences. If hiring managers and boards of directors are made up of mostly men who unconsciously engage in such bias, it stands to reason that more men than women will continue to be hired and promoted – particularly men who share the same background with current managers. This only serves to perpetuate the cycle of men outnumbering women in leadership positions. Gender targets, de-identifying CVs and structured interviews are but a few of the strategies that can help eliminate such bias in recruiting employees.

Williamson, S. (2019, March 7). Backlash and gender fatigue. Why progress on gender equality has slowed. The Conversation.

We are in the midst of an outpouring of feminist activism kicked off by the pink pussy hat movement in the United States and propelled by #MeToo, which has spread to Australia where a range of luminaries have been named as harassers. And yet we are also in the midst of a backlash, a concern that gender equality has moved too fast, aided by “gender fatigue”. Twenty-seven years ago, Susan Faludi created a furore by documenting what she said was a backlash against women. She said it wasn’t new, as evidenced by penalties imposed on childless and unwed women in ancient Rome, and witch burnings of medieval Europe. Each was a response to perceptions that women were gaining ground. This time it is taking the form of a resurgence of the men’s rights movement, and also in the cries of #notallmen. It is evident in the trolling occurring on feminist websites, negative comments in the media and the rape, violence and death threats inflicted on feminist activists. That’s in social media and society. What about the workplace?

Yengin, D. (2019, March 7). Why women in economics have little to celebrate. The Conversation.

International Women’s Day is a good time ask two critical questions about economics: do we have enough women in it, and does it matter? Women are less likely to take it up than they used to be. Twenty five years ago around half of the students studying Year 12 economics were female. Today it is only around one third. In universities, only about 20% to 30% of undergraduate economics students are female. In the public sector, one third of the economists in senior management roles are women. In academia it is far worse: fewer than 10% of economics professors are women, compared of 20% of professors in science, technology and maths.