"It's Completely Erasure": A Qualitative Exploration of Experiences of Transgender, Nonbinary, Gender Nonconforming, and Questioning Students in Biology Courses

Biology is the study of the diversity of life, which includes diversity in sex, gender, and sexual, romantic, and related orientations. However, a small body of literature suggests that undergraduate biology courses focus on only a narrow representation of this diversity (binary sexes, heterosexual...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:CBE - Life Sciences Education 2022-12, Vol.21 (4), p.ar69
Main Authors: Casper, A. M. Aramati, Rebolledo, Nico, Lane, A. Kelly, Jude, Luke, Eddy, Sarah L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biology
Biology - education
Career Readiness
Female
Gender Identity
General s and
Group Membership
Humans
Inclusion
LGBTQ People
Male
Outcomes of Education
Resilience (Psychology)
Science Instruction
Sexual Behavior
Sexual Identity
Student Attitudes
Student Experience
Student Interests
Students
Transgender Persons
Undergraduate Students
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Summary:Biology is the study of the diversity of life, which includes diversity in sex, gender, and sexual, romantic, and related orientations. However, a small body of literature suggests that undergraduate biology courses focus on only a narrow representation of this diversity (binary sexes, heterosexual orientations, etc.). In this study, we interviewed students with queer genders to understand the messages about sex, gender, and orientation they encountered in biology and the impact of these messages on them. We found five overarching themes in these interviews. Students described two narratives about sex, gender, and orientation in their biology classes that made biology implicitly exclusionary. These narratives harmed students by impacting their sense of belonging, career preparation, and interest in biology content. However, students employed a range of resilience strategies to resist these harms. Finally, students described the currently unrealized potential for biology and biology courses to validate queer identities by representing the diversity in sex and orientation in biology. We provide teaching suggestions derived from student interviews for making biology more queer-inclusive.
ISSN:1931-7913
1931-7913
DOI:10.1187/cbe.21-12-0343