As June comes to an end, so does Pride Month in Canada. In 12 years of blogging for Signals, I realize I have never covered the topic of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and Pride, although I have written about Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and featured EngiQueers, founded at McMaster University.
In the EDI blog I profiled Vanessa Raponi. She founded EngiQueers and today there are 31 university chapters in nine provinces across Canada, with three more chapters currently in the process of being added.
In my blog I wrote that Vanessa has a vlog on YouTube that she says is “about life, advice and stories from the perspective of a queer woman of colour.” Once again, I recommend you check it out. It can’t be easy being an openly queer woman of colour in engineering so let’s support her bravery and leadership.
Celebrating STEM and Pride
The National Museums Liverpool is featuring LGBTQ* people in STEM. Many are household names and some are living today. Along with the stories of people like George Washington Carver, Sara Josephine Baker and Alan Turing, National Museums Liverpool also shares some sobering statistics on its website, as follows:
“In the UK, 28% of LGBTQ+ scientists in physics, chemistry and astronomy considered leaving their jobs because of discrimination at work and for trans scientists this figure was particularly high, rising to around 50%. It’s a similar story in the US, where it is estimated that half of LGBTQ+ people in STEM did not feel able to be out in the workplace.”
Canada has its own STEM superstars who are openly “out.” The Royal Canadian Institute for Science, or RCIScience, compiled its own list, last November, for International Day of LGBTQIA+* people in STEM.
For the third time EndpointsNews, a top-tier trade publication covering biotech, health, drug and pharma news, is featuring LGBTQ+ leaders in biopharma. Instead of the planned 15 leaders, this year’s article has only 14 leaders to acknowledge that the 15th pulled out for “privacy and safety reasons.” According to the article, the person is considering “leaving biopharma altogether” due to “the lack of industry support,” lending credence to the statistics above.
The profiled biopharma leaders share a passion and conviction for making a difference in their communities. For example, Magdalena Tyrpien, Chief Business Officer at Forge Biologics, is the New York City chapter lead for Breaking 7%, a group that helps connect women in venture capital and business development.
The article states: “She’s also involved in Queer Venture Capital, Women in Bio and OUTbio. Her primary goal in these organizations is to help boost representation in an industry that’s historically male and white. She recalled a 2018 STAT article about how there were more men named Michael than female CEOs presenting at the JP Morgan conference that year. ‘That — to my core, to this day — is my Roman Empire,’ she said.”
All of these queer leaders have interesting stories to share.
Discrimination at work
Researchers E.A. Cech and T.J. Waidzunas have studied discrimination towards LGBTQ STEM professionals in the workplace and have summarized the findings as follows in ScienceAdvances: “LGBTQ STEM professionals were more likely to experience career limitations, harassment, and professional devaluation than their non-LGBTQ peers. They also reported more frequent health difficulties and were more likely to intend to leave STEM. These trends were similar across STEM disciplines and employment sectors. We found no differences by LGBTQ status in education level, work effort, or job commitment. These findings reveal LGBTQ status as a clear axis of inequality in STEM and motivate further research into the mechanisms producing such outcomes.”
In Canada, employers can’t treat employees negatively based on their gender identity or sexual orientation and they are required to protect them from harassment. But harassment still occurs. The workplace is a protected area under the Canadian Human Rights Act, and under every provincial and territorial human rights code. Pride At Work Canada has a guide for LGBTQ2+* employees that outlines definitions, personal rights, laws to protect employees, resources, case studies and more.
For figures on labour and economic characteristics of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Canada, read this report from Statistics Canada published in 2022. There are lots of interesting data, but I draw your attention to the table below on income levels. Heterosexual men earned the most in the surveyed population, followed by gay men. Heterosexual and lesbian women earned about the same. Bisexual men and women earned the least.
The Government of Canada has compiled facts and statistics about 2SLGBTQI+* communities and shares how it is progressing in making Canada a more inclusive country for the 1.3 million people over the age of 15 who self-identify as being part of this population. The most stigmatized group, as reported, are members of the Trans community, at 55 per cent.
*Please note that the acronyms I used in this blog post changed to match what the groups I wrote about use. The most inclusive is 2SLGBTQI+, which means Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and additional sexually and gender diverse people.
Resources
The J. Craig Venter Institute has an excellent list of professional organizations, support groups, scholarships and grants for LGBTQ+ people in STEM, along with articles, op-eds and scholarly resources. Visit their website for the list.
Since I am not part of the LGBTQ+ community, I think it’s appropriate to hear from those who are. This video asks the Pride in STEM community, “What changes do you want to see in STEM?” Please watch.
Stacey Johnson
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