Being gay a minority ?

[columbia09]

On the Stanford application, there's a section that states include anything about your background including sexuality that you'd like the admissions committee to know. I put that I was gay and how I can contribute to my other classmates. Does being gay give you some sort of advantage ? I wonder if I should add it on my other applications as well

Edited November 8, 2014 by columbia09

[GeoDUDE!]

Maybe you should ask the program coordinator/head of graduate program. I'm sure you will get a good response. 

[Cookie]

Does being gay give you some sort of advantage ? I wonder if I should add it on my other applications as well

 

Gosh, so being straight would be a disadvantage? It should NOT matter.

[hreaðemus]

This is most likely a diversity issue, in which case sexuality will not have an impact on your chances of admission or funding - I asked my mentor the same question for Berkeley's application, and she said that LGBTQ folks are no longer considered an underrepresented group in academia. However, a history of extreme financial hardship and/or non-white ethnicity/race both have the potential to qualify you for diversity scholarships -- people who grew up in working class/impoverished households and people of color ARE still underrepresented in university settings. So! Mention you're gay if it suits you, omit the information if it doesn't; your chances should remain approximately the same either way. But if you come from poverty or identify as anything other than white, it may benefit you to share that with admissions committees.

[Between Fields]

Gosh, so being straight would be a disadvantage? It should NOT matter.

 

Just like being white or male is a disadvantage with affirmative action, right? Please. 

 

I'll be honest: mentioning it did help my admissions decisions, partially because it helped explain some trouble I had in my first two years of undergrad (depression and other issues), but also because I'd been able to demonstrate an interest in working on LGBTQ issues professionally. For Geology, this second part might not be so important (are there gay rocks you'd want to study? ), but perhaps the first part could if you need it to.

 

Re: hreaðemus' point: I'm not sure this is a universal conclusion, and seems highly field-dependent. columbia09, you could get in contact with the people who did Queer in STEM (http://www.queerstem.org) to see if they have any advice.

[Cookie]

LGBTQ folks are no longer considered an underrepresented group in academia. However, a history of extreme financial hardship and/or non-white ethnicity/race both have the potential to qualify you for diversity scholarships -- people who grew up in working class/impoverished households and people of color ARE still underrepresented in university settings. 

 

THIS! 

[TakeruK]

I think I will ignore the posts that are ignorant of privilege here (can easily spiral into a completely different discussion that might not help the OP) and just address the OP's question. 

 

At my current school, I am part of a group of students that work with the University and Graduate School to address issues like diversity and the environment for minority students at our school. I've learned a lot about the complicated details behind policies.

 

First, people who identify as a LGTBQ person are definitely a minority in academia. We are working to build a community of allies to better support our colleagues. If you walk around the offices in my school, you will notice that some doors have "Safe Zone" stickers, indicating that some members of the office have undergone the ally training for LGBTQ people. The fact that this exists indicates that LGTBQ people are a minority.

 

Second, it is important to realise that there is a difference in the United States' legal definition of an "under-represented minority" (URM) and the practical reality of which communities are a minority in academia (I'll just call this latter group a "minority" group). The definition of a URM is very strict and usually only means something like: "African Americans, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans (American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians), Pacific Islanders, and mainland Puerto Ricans" (taken from a google search of URM definition). Also, notice that you have to be American to qualify. That is, a Mexican-American would be a URM, but an international student from Mexico would not be a URM.

 

On the other hand, the broader sense of diversity would include all types of minorities in academia, not just URMs. So, for STEM in general, this generally includes women, LGBTQ people, some socio-economical groups, and many visible minorities. Being a minority does not have to related to your field of work at all. That is, your minority status should be relevant whether or not being a minority affects the subject of your study.

 

Whether or not a certain program will consider either URM or general minority status in applications can vary a lot from place to place and it is an understandably tricky issue on how to act as fairly as possible. I think schools that demonstrate an interest in your diversity background (e.g. asking for personal history statements etc.) would generally care more about recruiting a diverse class and will factor in additional hardships faced by trying establish yourself in a community where you are a minority. But exactly what is the fairest way to do this, I do not know.

 

I do know that generally applying a +X points advantage for someone who identify as some sort of minority is probably a bad idea, and so is setting quotas for diversity. So, that is why I would not want to ask someone a question like "What advantage do I have for identifying as a gay person?" because that is not how we will gain both fairness and diversity. My solution would be for people in privileged positions to realise what life is like for those without privilege (i.e. minorities) and consider that in their evaluations. Again, exactly how to do this fairly is hard and I don't know.

 

Finally, for those who identify as a minority group, it is helpful to know that many schools will have a lot of resources to try to show already accepted minority students that they are welcome and encourage them to accept the school's offer. Because while it is tough to make an argument for accepting someone based on minority status, everyone would agree it is a bad thing if we accept 8 non-minorities and 4 minorities but the incoming class is only 8 non-minorities. So, one thing we are doing is to work with our campus' diversity center to do things like a coffee hour meet and greet for all visiting prospective minority students where they can meet the diversity center staff, meet current students who are also minorities etc. and have a frank discussion of what life is like as a minority student at my school. 

[hreaðemus]

I should clarify that I in no way meant to diminish the LGBTQ experience of discrimination either inside or outside of academia. My original response was simply a paraphrase of my mentor's answer to my own question about whether being an LGBTQ applicant myself would be counted towards minority fellowships and funding; her answer, as I said above, was no. (I'm an English major, so the situation may be different elsewhere.) She did mention, as Between Fields also kindly pointed out (thank you!) that it would be worth mentioning if coming out or being a sexual minority had had a profound impact on my experience as a student - but because in my case it didn't, I decided not to discuss my sexuality in my application. I'm sorry if I offended anybody! I only meant to share the feedback I received from a professional.

Edited November 11, 2014 by hreaðemus