Experiences of educators who identify as lesbian, gay, and bisexual

Abstract

The focus of the phenomenological qualitative study was on the lived experiences of U.S. educators who identified as lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB). Life story data regarding stress, coping, and identity were gathered, triangulated, and analyzed from 24 U.S. educators who identified as LGB teachers, mentors, and coaches. Four themes resulted: (a) subscribing to a helping identity, (b) being effective as an educator, (c) experiencing different levels of support, and (d) being out about sexual orientation to different degrees. Recommendations for future research are provided.

Keywords:

• Educators
• LGBT
• lived experiences
• phenomenology

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the interviewers and field research workers and recognize the contribution of Heather Cole, Stephanie Farrell, Jessica Fish, Janae Hubbard, Evan Krueger, Quinlyn Morrow, Jose M. Rodas, James Thing, Antonio Cintron, and Erin Toolis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The Generations investigators are: Ilan H. Meyer, Ph.D., (PI), David M. Frost, Ph.D., Phillip L. Hammack, Ph.D., Marguerita Lightfoot, Ph.D., Stephen T. Russell, Ph.D. and Bianca D.M. Wilson, Ph.D. (Co-Investigators, listed alphabetically).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this article is part of the Generations Study, supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01HD078526.