Research in the news: Openly gay faculty less comfortable at work than closeted peers

Openly gay collegiate faculty are significantly more uncomfortable at work than are closeted gay faculty, a pattern most severe for those working in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines, according to a Yale-led study.

The pattern applies to the broad LGBQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer) community, lead researcher Eric V. Patridge of Yale said.

The research paper — titled “Factors Impacting the academic climate for LGBQ STEM faculty — was published online Feb. 10 in the Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering.

Patridge collaborated with Ramon S. Barthelemy of Western Michigan State University and Susan R. Rankin of Pennsylvania State University.

Patridge is a research associate in Yale’s Center for Molecular Discovery.