Exploring the Impact of Discrimination on the Psychological Well-being of Lesbian Students at South African University Campus

Abstract

An exposure to homophobic attacks may vary by a person's place of residency, and at the university, lesbians may function at their optimal level when receiving social and emotional support from the significant others. The aim of this study was to investigate how lesbian students at the University of Fort Hare, South Africa, deal with discrimination. Twenty-one lesbians, aged between 19 and 37 years old, were selected using snowball technique and they gave their informed consent to participate in a qualitative study. Drawing from resilience theory as a theoretical framework of this study, the findings showed that lesbian students experience unconditional positive regard from their lecturers and reported high levels of psychological well-being, namely, self-acceptance, self-autonomy, purpose and meaning in life, positive relationship with others and environmental mastery. In conclusion, this study recommends the implementation of policies on transformation to address diversity at the universities.

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression-Based Violence in Catalan Universities: Qualitative Findings from University Students and Staff

“…What has complexi ed the situation in the Catalan context is the generalized reaction of internalization that LGBTQI + victims and other agents have shown. As the literature highlights, this response of normalization and naturalization of the violence against sexual or gender diversity contributes in the reproduction of the violence against the LGBTQI + community (3,16,(22)(23)(24).…”

“…On the one hand, the case of hostile environment is conditioning to the free expression of the felt gender identity and sexual orientation (9,(18)(19)(20)(21). On the other hand, all these forms and manifestations of violence can generate a response of internalization and normalization of the homophobic actions, perpetuating the violence and affecting negatively in the life quality and wellbeing of LGBT students (3,16,(22)(23)(24).…”

“…Secondly, it affects their academic performance, presenting a lower grades in average in comparison to hetero-cis students (25) showing the lack of social cohesion of university students. This difference of academic results has been analysed as an aftereffect of LGBT stigmatization creating di culty of focussing in their studies (19), having further consequences in their future possibilities and academic success (23). Thirdly, these realities of LGBTphobia in HEI's promote exclusionary climates and affects negatively to the cohesion and relationality of sexual minority students (21).…”

Sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression-based violence in Catalan universities: qualitative findings from university students and staff

“…On the one hand, the case of a hostile environment is conditioning the free expression of the felt gender identity and sexual orientation [9,[18][19][20][21][22]. On the other hand, all these forms and manifestations of violence can generate a response of internalization and normalization of the homophobic actions, perpetuating the violence and affecting negatively in the life quality and wellbeing of the LGBT+ academic community [3,16,[22][23][24][25].…”

“…Secondly, it affects their academic performance, presenting a lower grade in average in comparison to hetero-cis students [26]. This difference of academic results has been analysed as an aftereffect of LGBT stigmatization creating difficulty to focus on their studies [19,27], having further consequences in their future possibilities and academic success [24]. Thirdly, these realities of LGBTphobia in HEI's promote exclusionary climates and negatively affects the cohesion and relationality of sexual minority students [22].…”