Attn: Queer/Trans STEM Researchers at UConn
The UConn Chapter is oSTEM is excited to announce its first big outreach event, “Queer Science”! Queer Science Day is a science demo day for LGBTQ+ high school students getting ready for college, run by LGBTQ+ STEM researchers (undergrads, grad students, and faculty) at UConn. To make this event run smoothly, we need YOUR help!! If you want in, fill out our interest form to get started!
Think back to your biggest queer mentors as you were discovering your identity. Now, think back to your biggest science mentors as you were starting your academic career. Have you ever had a person who occupied both identities?
My name is Anna Marie, and I’m a Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemical Engineering. When I was young and starting to get interested in science for the first time, there was zero queer representation in those fields for me to look up to. This is not a problem I’m alone in, either. Currently…
- 40% of LGBTQ+ identified STEM workers are not out at work (2013 survey)
- Undergraduate sexual minority students were 8% less likely to be retained in STEM compared to switching into a non-STEM program (2018 study)
- 70% of “out” STEM faculty members felt uncomfortable in their university, those who were out were 7.2x more likely to experience exclusionary behavior by colleagues (2014 study)
- 44% of 270 LGBT Chemical Engineering and News readers reported feeling “excluded, intimidated, or harassed at work in the course of their career” (2016 informal poll)
Even now, I’m one of the only openly queer grad students in engineering, and the only trans grad student in my department. I’d like to change that.
I was lucky enough to be able to attend the oSTEM (Out In STEM) conference last November, where for the first time I was surrounded by people like me: LGBTQ+-identified individuals who were pursuing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. It was there that I met Juliet Johnston, a graduate student in environmental engineering and one of the founders of a program called Queer Science at the University of Minnesota. Queer Science runs events for queer/trans youth who are interested in STEM, including science demo days, hiking trips, etc. I was very inspired by their efforts, and asked, why is this not a thing at UConn?
So, I’m making it a thing at UConn.
I’m partnering with UConn’s very own chapter of oSTEM, and I’ve even assembled a small team of fellow LGBTQ+ graduate researchers who I know personally. We plan to host a science demo day—a la Explore Engineering and YESS—just for queer/trans youth in Connecticut. And we need your help!
We’re in the process of having our budget made up and approved, and we’re currently targeting an early-June (Pride Month!!) date for our demo day, and we just need some more volunteers—volunqueers??—to make this event run as smoothly as possible. We would also like to represent as many departments of the School of Engineering and the broader STEM community at UConn as we can. So, if you’re a queer researcher at UConn—undergraduate, graduate, or even faculty/staff—who wants to help plan and participate in this, please fill out the form below! Bonus points if your department has a demo that they want to show off and you can help run it!
Queer Science Interest Form: https://tinyurl.com/UConnQSD
I hope to have one of two volunteer meetings over the next few months where we can get together and work to make sure this thing happens. Additionally, oSTEM’s general body meetings take place Monday nights from 6:00-7:00 pm; you’ll be able to join their email list on the form above!
Thanks for reading, and I hope to meet you soon!
Best,
-Anna Marie & The UConn oSTEM Officers
For more information, contact: UConn oSTEM at uconnostem@gmail.com