LGBTQ + engineering students’ recommendations for sustaining and supporting diversity in STEM

LGBTQ + engineering students in higher education face systemic challenges in their educational contexts because of interlocking systems of oppression that privilege majority identities. The current study uses thematic analysis to explore LGBTQ + graduate and undergraduate engineering students' recommendations for supporting diverse students in engineering higher education programs. A sample of ten LGBTQ + engineering college students in the United States shared effective classroom norms and recommendations for integrating LGBTQ-informed content. Suggestions for higher education institutions revolved around increasing students' feelings of safety or addressing feelings of unsafety in their educational contexts. Students cited community ignorance as well as invisibility/isolation as root causes of their dis-ease as LGBTQ + people in the engineering field. To that end, students suggested improved, expanded, and mandated LGBTQ Allies trainings at the campus level. Our findings incorporate both students' accounts of the problem and their proposed solutions, using community wisdom as the basis for increased support for diversity. Further action is needed from engineering programs to protect and promote the wellness of their LGBTQ + students. We conclude with clinical and research implications to further support and sustain a diverse student body in engineering programs.