John’s Journey as the Longest-Running BESTEST Member 

Research That Matters 

To start, I have frequently worked in LGBTQ+ research so that was a key point in choosing my research topic. Similarly, I have also worked as a graduate teacher on campus, so I have also worked as a faculty member on a university campus. When looking for past literature on how the experiences of LGBTQ+ people on university campuses were, I was really only able to find research pertaining to LGBTQ+ students on these campuses. Although it is a very good thing that this research is taking place to highlight the experiences of LGBTQ+ students, it was leaving out an entire demographic of research on LGBTQ+ faculty and staff on these same campuses. Because of this, I felt deeply interested in the idea of examining if there were differences in experiences between LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ faculty and staff members on university campuses.

After doing a lot of research on LGBTQ+ student experiences and LGBTQ+ employees outside of academia, I hypothesized that LGBTQ+ faculty and staff members would experience higher levels of burnout and turnover intentions while also experiencing lower levels of perceived organizational support, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. I further hypothesized that minority stress, burnout, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and perceived organizational support would all act as predictors for turnover intentions in LGBTQ+ faculty and staff.

Getting the Word Out 

Due to potentially being flagged as a phishing scam, in order to recruit participants I had to individually email university faculty and staff members using campus directories. A link to my survey was also posted on APA LISTSERVs. In total I got 307 responses initially to my survey. This survey included demographic questions, the Minority Stress Subscale: The Expectations of Discrimination, Perceived Organizational Support Scale, Burnout Measure: Short Version, Short Index of Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, Turnover Intentions Scale: Short Version. After thorough cleaning of the data, 55 participants were removed from the dataset to end up with 252 responses.

What the Numbers Say 

When analyzing the data, my 1st hypothesis was supported. LGBTQ+ faculty and staff reported higher levels of burnout and turnover intentions with lower levels of job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, organizational commitment than non-LGBTQ+ faculty and staff members. However, burnout and job satisfaction were the only predictors of turnover intentions among LGBTQ+ faculty and staff. Unfortunately, these results suggest that LGBTQ+ faculty and staff are having significantly worse experiences compared to non-LGBTQ+ faculty and staff.

LGBTQ+ faculty and staff reported higher levels of burnout and turnover intentions with lower levels of job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, organizational commitment than non-LGBTQ+ faculty and staff members. 

Turning Data Into Action 

What does this mean for universities? Ideally, more protective policies would be put in place, leaders will uplift LGBTQ+ faculty and staff through pride and celebrations, LGBTQ+ signs and symbols will be allowed and promoted, and amenities will be provided specifically for the LGBTQ+ population. All of these can help support more creative and efficient workers, and decrease costs associated with training and turnover. 

Leaving the Lab, Not the Mission 

Overall, I have truly enjoyed my time as a researcher in the B.E.S.T.E.S.T. Lab! I am very proud of the work I have done and hope I can continue to inspire and help the LGBTQ+ community especially during this time where the future is scary. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my thesis research and I hope it inspires you to be able to lead your own research study as well!