Diversity Statement

[brainwrangler]

I have the option of submitting a diversity statement to one of the schools on my list. I'm white, American, culturally Christian, upper-middle-class from professional parents...and gay and transgender.

I don't plan to specialize in LGBT issues in grad school; my documents are mostly legally changed and the average person would not be able to tell I'm trans; and since I plan to specialize in older adult issues, I fully intend to keep my gender history and sexuality quiet at work.

That said. Northwestern's application procedure is extremely LGBT-friendly (requesting my preferred pronouns and providing a blank space to describe my gender identity), and "sexuality" is specifically listed as an example of diversity in the prompt. Should I go ahead and submit a short statement? All I can think of is increased rapport with LGBT clients and increased awareness of potential confounds in research (e.g., some studies combine all transgender subgroups, regardless of assigned sex or hormonal status).

[HAC]

1 hour ago, brainwrangler said:

I have the option of submitting a diversity statement to one of the schools on my list. I'm white, American, culturally Christian, upper-middle-class from professional parents...and gay and transgender.

I don't plan to specialize in LGBT issues in grad school; my documents are mostly legally changed and the average person would not be able to tell I'm trans; and since I plan to specialize in older adult issues, I fully intend to keep my gender history and sexuality quiet at work.

That said. Northwestern's application procedure is extremely LGBT-friendly (requesting my preferred pronouns and providing a blank space to describe my gender identity), and "sexuality" is specifically listed as an example of diversity in the prompt. Should I go ahead and submit a short statement? All I can think of is increased rapport with LGBT clients and increased awareness of potential confounds in research (e.g., some studies combine all transgender subgroups, regardless of assigned sex or hormonal status).

I would say you should go for it. Your personal experience will be an asset to you and the faculty by providing you with a novel perspective. The diversity statements are there to demonstrate what unique experiences you can bring to the academic community. 

[MarineBluePsy]

If you feel comfortable disclosing then you can.  I'm not sure how you plan to work with older adults, but there are a ton of unanswered questions regarding LGBT aging that you may or may not have a unique perspective on.  If being trans has given you any insight into the struggles of other minority groups or a way of finding common ground you could discuss that.

[philopsych]

3 hours ago, brainwrangler said:

I have the option of submitting a diversity statement to one of the schools on my list. I'm white, American, culturally Christian, upper-middle-class from professional parents...and gay and transgender.

I don't plan to specialize in LGBT issues in grad school; my documents are mostly legally changed and the average person would not be able to tell I'm trans; and since I plan to specialize in older adult issues, I fully intend to keep my gender history and sexuality quiet at work.

That said. Northwestern's application procedure is extremely LGBT-friendly (requesting my preferred pronouns and providing a blank space to describe my gender identity), and "sexuality" is specifically listed as an example of diversity in the prompt. Should I go ahead and submit a short statement? All I can think of is increased rapport with LGBT clients and increased awareness of potential confounds in research (e.g., some studies combine all transgender subgroups, regardless of assigned sex or hormonal status).

I'm gay, but I'm in the closet. I opened up in my applications and said yes I'm a queer individual. I'm not specializing in LGBTQ issues; but, like you said, we might be better able to understand our LGBTQ clients.