[Dcouncil] Shattering the Lavender Ceiling Takeaways

[Aurora Realin]

Thanks Rebecca – you are awesome!

Aurora P. Realin, MBA, CDM (She/Her/Hers)
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accesibility Program Manager
407.493.2255
realin at jlab.org<mailto:realin at jlab.org>
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi

[JLabEmailSig]

From: Dcouncil <dcouncil-bounces at jlab.org> On Behalf Of Rebecca Anderson via Dcouncil
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2023 10:06 AM
To: Rebecca Anderson via Dcouncil <dcouncil at jlab.org>
Subject: [Dcouncil] Shattering the Lavender Ceiling Takeaways

Hi fellow Council Members-
Yesterday, I had the privilege to attend Michael Ramsey-Musolf’s “Shattering the Lavender Ceiling – A Gay Theorist’s Perspective” presentation.

Here are a few of my personal takeaways for those that are interested/could not attend (in no particular order).

The “Lavender Ceiling” refers to certain roadblocks that LGBTQ+ folks experience in the workplace due to their sexual orientation. This is a similar idea to the more commonly known “Glass Ceiling” that women experience in the workplace.

During the hiring process, how are we considering someone’s social location? How much MORE has someone had to experience to get where they are currently.

How can we bring up the next generation of LGBT+ physicists if they have no role models? How can we support growth?

A scientist without the Lavender Ceiling can focus on science. A scientist with the Lavender Ceiling needs to focus on science AND acceptance, retaliation, safety, etc. but society expects both parties to perform the same.
Ramsey-Musolf commonly referred back to his social location when explaining his purview, which I thought was important and maybe something that we could explore more when we talk about implicit and explicit bias.

  *   A social location includes the following factors: socioeconomic status, race, gender, age, ability, geographic location, religion and sexual orientation. All of these factors influence how we view the world.
  *   Explicit bias – Beliefs we carry on a conscious level. This tends to be more problematic and what we think of more when we think of bias. For example, “You don’t look like a lesbian.”
  *   Implicit bias – Beliefs we carry on an unconscious level. This tends to be more subtle. For example, “Are the two of you siblings?”

A good reminder is that not everyone wants to be featured as a token representative from the demographic group they represent. There is a fine line between representation and forced representation. It is great to be included but forced inclusion or pressured inclusion is not acceptable. Additionally, it should not be up to the minority person or group to do all the advocacy legwork. There needs to be a cultural shift where EVERYONE does their part instead of one group always bearing the brunt of self-advocacy. That said, it is also important to remember not to take over a group’s movement and make it about yourself. Always be willing to grow- what works in some situations may not work in all.

Some additional reading material:

  *   APS - LGBT Climate in Physics: https://www.aps.org/programs/lgbt/upload/LGBTClimateinPhysicsReport.pdf
  *   Outlist: https://lgbtphysicists.org/outlist.html

A quote: “Someone must shake the foundations so that others can topple the walls.” I believe that this quote was from his mentor during seminary – if someone recalls her name, please share.

Thanks all, Rebecca

Rebecca Anderson
Internal Communications Specialist
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Jefferson Science Associates, LLC
757-269-6809 | duckett at jlab.org<mailto:duckett at jlab.org>



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman.jlab.org/pipermail/dcouncil/attachments/20230329/b098a52a/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 12960 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <https://mailman.jlab.org/pipermail/dcouncil/attachments/20230329/b098a52a/attachment-0001.png>