Nondisclosure of queer identities is associated with reduced scholarly publication rates

Abstract

Nondisclosure of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual, or otherwise queer (LGBTQA) identities in the workplace is both common and stressful to those who do not disclose. However, we lack direct evidence that nondisclosure of LGBTQA identity affects worker productivity. In two surveys of LGBTQA-identified scientists, we found that those who did not disclose LGBTQA identities in professional settings authored fewer peer-reviewed publications-a concrete productivity cost. In the second survey, which included straight and cisgender participants as a comparison group, we found that LGBTQA participants who disclosed their sexual orientation had publication counts more like non-LGBTQA participants than those who did not disclose, and that all three groups had similar time since first publication given their academic career stage. These results are most consistent with a productivity cost to nondisclosure of LGBTQA identity in professional settings, and suggest a concrete need to improve scientific workplace climates for sexual and gender minorities.

Fig 1. Factors associated with differences in publication counts reported in the 2013 survey.

(A) Publication count differs significantly by whether or not participants disclosed their LGBTQA identities in professional settings (two-sided t-test, p < 0.001). (B) Publication count by gender identity (women; nonbinary, agender, or otherwise beyond the binary; men) and disclosure of LGBTQA identities, colored as in (A). (C) Publication count by academic position. In all panels, boxes give 25^th, 50^th, and 75^th quantiles; whiskers reach to 1.5x interquartile range; in (B) and (C) letters indicate groups that differ significantly with p < 0.05 in a Tukey HSD test.

Fig 2. Factors associated with differences in publication counts reported in the 2016 survey.

(A) Publication counts by whether or not participants disclosed their sexual orientation in professional settings. (B) Publication counts by gender identity (as in Fig 1B) as well as openness about sexual orientation, with color-coding as in (A). (C) Publication counts by participants’ gender identity and cisgender or transgender status, and disclosure of gender identity or trans status. (D) Publication counts by participants’ gender expression. (E) Publication counts by gender identity and gender expression, with color-coding as in (D). Boxplot interpretation as in Fig 1. (F) Scatterplot of publication count versus time since first publication; line and shaded band indicate linear regression ± standard error.

Fig 3. Predicted relationship between publication count and time since first publication for different LGBTQA identity/disclosure categories.

From the best-fit model explaining publication count in the 2016 survey data (Tables 1 and 2). Color-coding of prediction lines follows Fig 1B.