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How LGBT+ scientists would like to be included and welcomed in STEM workplaces

Steps that peers and institutions can take to make laboratories, conferences and lecture halls safe and inclusive spaces.
  1. Kendall Powell

    1. Kendall Powell is a science journalist in Boulder, Colorado.

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    1. Ruth Terry is a freelance writer in Turkey.

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    1. Sophia Chen is a freelance writer in Ohio.

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‘Invisible’: that is how many scientists from sexual and gender minorities (LGBT+) describe their status at their institution, laboratory, classroom or office. Sexual orientation and sexual and gender identity are not common topics of conversation in many science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workplaces, and these scientists argue that they should be. They say that cloaking an important part of their identity at work can have dangerous consequences for mental health and career advancement, both for individual scientists and for the disciplines that could drive them away.

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Nature 586, 813-816 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02949-3

These interviews have been edited for clarity and length.

References

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