The Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Psychology Faculty Experience: A Concept Map

Self-identified gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) graduate faculty (N = 39) in psychology-related fields responded with multiple phrases to a phenomenological probe, asking “What it's like to be a gay/lesbian/bisexual faculty member.” A research team qualitatively reduced the responses to 61 representative items and returned them to respondents who (a) sorted items according to which ones went together and (b) rated items according to how well they described the respondent's own experience. The result was a 2-dimensional concept map, suggesting that the experience may be understood as having both positive and negative aspects and being both internally and externally mediated. Respondents typically indicated that the positive experiences associated with being a GLB faculty member were more salient for them than were the negative experiences.