Hearing from our students: what do students with queer genders tell us works in biology courses

Supportive Narratives

1. Sex and gender are not the same

2. Sexes beyond male and female, genders beyond cisman and ciswoman, and sexual behavior and orientations beyond heterosexuality are legitimate

3. Concepts of sex, gender, reproduction, sexual behavior, and orientation are influenced by both biological observations and societal norms

Members of our network interviewed 50+ life science majors with queer genders to understand what ways of talking about topics related to these students identities increase their belonging or helped them resist harmful narratives about them in larger society.

Students identifed different ways positive messages could be brought into the classrooms and the size of the sample highlights how different students value different things, suggesting there isn’t just one way to support students, but that trying multiple ways to bring in these supportive narratives could help.

The article concludes with a table of recommendations for teaching based on the interviews.