Queering Identity Management for LGBTQIA+ STEM Students: Applying the Queered Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity

The queered model of multiple dimensions of identity (Q-MMDI) is applied to interviews with 12 LGBTQIA+ undergraduates and graduate students in cis-heteronormative STEM disciplines. Participants were recruited from a STEM course or reading group with discussion of literature on queer experiences. Our application of the four Q-MMDI components (cis-heteronormative context, desire for acceptance, identity performatives, and becoming as an ongoing identity process) allow for framing and expansion of former LGBTQIA+ experiences. Context interacts with desire, as participants described expectations for being accepted in a cis-heteronormative disciplinary environment. Performativity is related to becoming, or the ongoing process of developing identity through action, reflection, and optimism for the future. Courses and reading groups played an important role in validating student experiences, allowing them to express LGBTQIA+ identities in STEM spaces and increasing their community and expectations for acceptance in STEM organizations. The underutilized Q-MMDI extends the theory to STEM disciplinary spaces.