LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) resource centers are campus spaces dedicated to the success of sexual minority students. However, only a small handful of American colleges and universities have such spaces. Political opportunity and resource mobilization theory can provide a useful framework for understanding what contextual factors contribute to the presence of these centers. Independent variables’ effects on the likelihood of a campus having an LGBT resource center are measured using logistic regression. Results indicate that public schools with more prestige in liberal political contexts are more likely to have LGBT resource centers, suggesting that both resource mobilization and political opportunity are useful conceptualizations.
This work investigates how American college students make meaning of the heterosexism and homophobia they encounter in their daily lives. Through interviews and a focus group with 23 out lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) college students, analysis yielded four themes: the overwhelming majority of students minimized incidences of heterosexism and homophobia; there was a desire on the part of many respondents to develop an identity apart from, rather than integrated with, sexual identity; the campus climate was generally portrayed as positive; and some participants expressed resistance, suggesting that heterosexism and homophobia can be countered.
The Problem. There are three barriers that might prevent gender and sexual minority (GSM) persons from putting the tenets of authentic leadership into practice. First, full authenticity with all social actors could carry risk in a world where heterosexuality and conformity to the gender binary remain the norm. Second, because of norms that surround the embodiment of leadership, GSM leaders who may wish to practice authenticity may not be able to be authentic in a way that is intelligible to others. Third, the very term authenticity is problematic: If authenticity is dependent on other's interpretations of behavior as authentic, then there may be no such thing as an authentic self. The Solution. This review of the literature outlines how human resource development (HRD) professionals may put authentic leadership principles into practice with GSM people-or to the ends of creating a more expansive understanding of what the authentic could be for us all. Interrogating the concept of authenticity and agitating for structural change can allow more individuals to realize their authentic selves. The Stakeholders. Through collective engagement in the project of troubling and reconstructing authentic leadership based on the scholarship related to GSM people's obstacles in practicing such, then we may be able to yet promote new forms of authenticity for all leaders.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.