LGB Career Counseling
- 1. Coming out from invisibility Helping Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Clients Address Challenges in the Job Search and Workplace Neepa Parikh San Francisco State University Graduate Student
- 2. Rationale Passing of Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) H.R. 3685 Same-sex attractions continue to be stigmatized despite some advancements in the workplace Heterosexism is commonplace at many work sites regardless of location What can Career Counselors do? Is counseling this population different? Gain awareness of challenges lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients may face
- 3. Cass Model of Sexual Identity Formation Age of identity formation varies, depending on several factors (i.e. ethnicity) No clear boundaries between stages Stage 1: Identity Confusion Initial awareness of feeling different. May seek information or reject feelings Individuals at this stage typically will not reveal these feelings to a career counselor or anyone else
- 4. Stage 2: Identity Comparison Beginning acceptance of LGB identity. Maintenance of heterosexual public identity. May reach out to others in the community Due to invisibility, visible presence of role models may be lacking Cass Model of Sexual Identity Formation
- 5. Stage 3: Identity Tolerance Increased interactions with LGB community. Negative experiences may cause individual to reject identity. Cass Model of Sexual Identity Formation
- 6. Stage 4: Identity Acceptance Friendships develop within LGB community, but the individual may choose to pass as heterosexual in many areas of life. Sense of safety may determine whether the individual discloses sexual orientation to career counselor Individuals at this stage are likely to prefer keep their identity hidden at the workplace Cass Model of Sexual Identity Formation
- 7. Cass Model of Sexual Identity Formation Stage 5: Identity Pride Individuals have pride in their identity and feel anger towards the heterosexist society. May be publicly out. Client may seek employment in gay-affirmative companies or organizations May be actively involved in the LGB community Outreach to the LGB community
- 8. Stage 6: Identity Synthesis Greater congruence between public and private identities The client will most likely be explicit about his or her sexual orientation Cass Model of Sexual Identity Formation
- 9. Coming Out Coming out to self self-acceptance of the individuals own sexual orientation (Pope et al. 2004) Coming out to others Disclosing of ones own sexual orientation to others; may be a written/verbal, public/private statement to others (Pope et al., 2004). Coming out to others is a continual process When, if, and where an individual comes out may depend on their level of Sexual Identity Formation
- 10. What does this mean for Career Counselors?
- 11. Case Example #1 Daniel is a Mexican-American male who identifies as gay. He is obtaining his multiple-subject teaching credential this Spring and would like help with his job search. He is planning to move in with his parents in a suburb of Los Angeles. Daniel does not seem happy about this move and soon discloses to you that he is attracted to men. He states that although he tries to hide his identity and pass as heterosexual, this will be most difficult under his parents roof and at an elementary school. He is not out in college either. Daniel states that his main goal is to get a job and help out his parents.
- 12. Some thoughts Some LGB individuals may fear negative consequences of revealing their sexual orientation (i.e. family/friend rejection, harassment, job loss) regardless of the how gay-friendly the setting may be. There may be some other cultural reasons for remaining to stay closeted and pass as heterosexual Stereotypes of pedophilia may cause gay men to stay closeted in career fields working with children
- 13. How to proceed Use gender-neutral language and keep relevant literature to create a gay-affirmative environment How is gender brought up in Interviewing Techniques workshops? Has there been any outreach to or collaboration with the LGB community? Disclosure in not the goal; inclusiveness is! Respect the clients decision to remain closeted Recognize that assimilation is a coping mechanism
- 14. How to proceed (cont.) Counselor and client should discuss the pros and cons of staying closeted or coming out in a nonjudgmental way: How will the client manage his public life versus private life? How will the client manage questions about his personal life? How will the client manage company/organization social events? What would it be like to conceal his orientation? How will the client handle/respond to homophobic jokes in the workplace? It is not up to the counselor to decide whether an environment is safe enough for disclosure
- 15. Other things to consider If the client eventually moves from one stage to the next. What is the size of the LGB community in the work locations city? Does the company offer domestic partnership benefits ? Is there required sensitivity training for staff? Are there any LGB associations at the job site? Are there any current employees who are openly LGB at the workplace? Are invitations to social events inclusive of all sexual orientations?
- 16. Trade-offs Some clients may feel that remaining closeted is necessary for career advancement in certain industries Some clients at Stage 3 and Stage 4 of Sexual Identify Formation simply may not be ready to publicly disclose their sexual orientation Again, a discussion of the pros and cons may be necessary
- 17. Case Example #2 Sarah is a Iranian-American women who identifies as bisexual. She is open to friends and family and has a lot of pride in her identity. She feels comfortable with a more stereotypical masculine appearance and feels that she is unemployable because of this. She has done a lot of volunteer work on campus, but has never had a paid position.
- 18. Some thoughts Discrimination based on ones appearance (or assumptions about ones sexual orientation) may be a reality Chances are that Sarah has faced negative/surprised/perplexed reactions from people in the past. Note: Individuals who identify as bisexual are not simply confused about their sexual orientation. Bisexual individuals typically do not feel limited in their attractions.
- 19. How to proceed Explore with the client how she has dealt with these reactions in the past There is a possibility that Sarah may not feel confident about what she has to offer in her employment Skills identification exercises may help Sarah gain confidence in her skills and increase her marketability Interview role-plays can be helpful Help client to recognize illegal interview questions
- 20. Some best practices Due the fact that there may be limited role models in the LGB community. Establish and maintain relationships with LGB professions Clients may conduct info. interviews with these professionals not only to learn more about the specific job, but to get an insiders view on company culture Collaborate with local or campus LGB centers
- 21. Final Thoughts It can not be assumed that a clients presenting problems has to do with sexual orientation Counselors need to recognize other aspects of the clients identity (i.e. ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status) Career counselors need to make an effort to create LGB-affirmative environments if clients do need to bring up coming out issues Representatives from the Queer Alliance at SFSU feel that it is important for service providers to know appropriate terminology
Editor's Notes
- #2: - Being an invisible minority may mean that the community is perhaps overlooked because they are not readily-identified. - We live in a heterosexist society, even though parts of it may be more inclusive. You do not have to be part of any specific community to be an advocate. No matter what our identification, we all grew up in a heterosexist society, in which heterosexuality is seen as the norm Addressing our own heterosexist upbringing is a continual process and cannot simply be addressed with only a change in language. - We do not want to perpetuate this feeling of being invisible in our work with students Imagery exercise: Imagine you wake up Monday morning after spending a wonderful weekend with your partner, and you realize that something is different today. Suddenly, your relationship with your opposite-sex partner is considered abnormal or immoral in our society. You come in to work and some of your coworkers are inquiring about your weekend: Hey, did you do anything for Valentines Day? Where did you go? Who did you go with? Your anxiety increases. Youre afraid of being found out, or perhaps they already know. You decide to say, Oh, I dont really celebrate Valentines day and you hope the subject is dropped so you can get back to work. - For some of you, this situation may be a reality, for many others, this is something we take for granted. After all, many of us do not have to think twice about discussing our weekend plans with coworkers.
- #4: Along with other development tasks, such as Eriksons Stages of Psychosocial Development, LGB individuals also go through their own Sexual Identity Formation. Career counselors should be aware of these stages when working with LGB clients, especially with issues of disclosure. At this stage, the individual is usually questioning their sexual orientation
- #5: Need to confront issue of social alienation that accompanies the identity
- #6: Increasingly strong LGB self-identification, but usually continues heterosexual presentation. Overall, trying to reduce feelings of isolation
- #7: There may be minimal contact with the heterosexual community and contacts with other LGB individuals is frequent Clients may prefer working with LGB Career Counselors
- #8: Actively involved in community and may be part of organizations such as the Queer Alliance here on campus
- #9: Ones sexual orientation is usually seen as only one aspect of self rather than the entire identity
- #10: Coming out is a deeply affirming process. The individual may come out to a friend or two at the beginning, and it may take several years for them to come out to family Coming out is usually associated with increased anxiety since the individual may be thinking of the worst-case scenario Career counselor may need to help clients explore how to come out in the workplace and why
- #13: Stage 3: Identity Tolerance or Stage 4: Identity Acceptance Just because the person is in San Francisco, doesnt mean he or she always feels safe
- #14: When bringing up dressing for an interview, are we being rigid in our gender role stereotypes Has the career center bothered to find out what some of the needs of the LGB community could be? In the case of Daniel, we need to respect his right to remain closeted
- #15: Many people, in general, like to keep their private life separate from work This may be the first time someone is asking this individual these questions without telling them what they should or should not do.
- #16: Just because a client does not feel comfortable publicly disclosing his or her identity right now, it doesnt mean it is not going to happen Basically, will there be support for the client if and when he decides to disclose his sexuality? An individual cannot usually assess whether practice matches policy until he or she is in the environment.
- #19: Stage 4: Identity pride
- #22: There are no hard and fast rules for working with LGB clients as everyone is unique. However, its important to be aware of some of the challenges these clients may face and address them appropriately.