How to Foster a More Inclusive LGBTQIA+ Learning Environment

“In this time of social unrest and physical disconnection, fostering an inclusive classroom environment is especially important,” writes Cliff Rouder, EdD, pedagogy and design specialist at Temple University’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching, in a recent Faculty Focus article. “For students who identify as LGBTQIA+, we need to remember that they face some unique (as well as some similar) realities as other students.”

Those realities include intolerance, hate, and violence, as well as higher depression and suicide rates than heterosexual students, Rouder writes in the article. Those realities are accentuated for those students with an intersecting identity.

In order to create a more inclusive learning environment for LGBTQIA+ students, instructors can take seven steps including putting open-ended questions about identity in a pre-semester survey; familiarizing oneself with current terminology; assessing course content for inclusiveness; assessing one’s classroom climate; being a resource for campus groups and activities; being mindful of pronouns; and demonstrating one’s allyship.

Read more about how to create a more inclusive classroom for students who identify as LGBTQIA+ in the article.