Almost a third of LGBT+ physical scientists in the UK have considered leaving their jobs because of discrimination and toxic workplace climates. That is according to a new report by the Institute of Physics, Royal Astronomical Society and Royal Society of Chemistry. It also found that one in four LGBT+ scientists do not feel they can be themselves at work.
The report – Exploring the workplace for LGBT+ physical scientists – is based on a survey of over 600 people who identify as LGBT+ or support the LGBT+ community, and who work in the physical sciences as doctoral students, university employees, teachers and industry employees. As well as a questionnaire, 12 respondents were also interviewed with the report containing a number of individual stories.
Although the survey found that 75% of LGBT+ respondents thought their working environment was comfortable and 70% said it was improving, 16% had personally experienced harassment and 30% had witnessed exclusionary behaviour. Furthermore, men tended to respond more positively than women, who in turn were more positive than individuals who are non-binary (meaning they are transgender or do not identify as either a man or a woman). Teachers, the report found, have the least access to LGBT+ networks that would otherwise help alleviate isolation, exclusion and marginalization.
Ongoing journey
The report contains several recommendations that employers, learned societies and individuals can do to make the workplace environment more welcoming for the LGBT+ community. These include bystander and unconscious bias training; including your chosen pronoun in your email signature and online profiles; and having strongly signposted codes of conduct in companies and at events.
“Our report outlines a series of actions that will help cultivate a much more positive atmosphere for us all,” says Jennifer Dyer, head of diversity at the Institute of Physics (IOP), which publishes Physics World. “From showing visible support for the LGBT+ community to participating in events and ensuring policies and practices are in place to create an inclusive environment, there is nothing to hold us back from doing this”.
The report demonstrates that much improvement is required before the physical sciences can be considered open to everyone and that science needs to be more inclusive and supportive for it to reach its full potential. Indeed, speaking at an event on 26 June at Burlington House in London to launch the report, IOP chief executive Paul Hardaker, describes it as “the beginning of a continuing journey”.
