Gblt

[dynamicmind01]

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This was mentioned in a previous thread, and I am just kind of curious. I am a gay male, applying to programs next year, for Fall '11 admission. I have no interest in doing anything GBLT related in terms of research or scholarly work, though I am interested in larger professional development issues that relate to GBLT issues.

I am wondering if people who have applied before or applied this round who were GBLT felt that this this ever came up for them in interviews or SOP. I don't want it to pigeon-hole me at all, but just interested in how it might play out. Anyone feel it helped or hurt?

Figured we don't really talk about this a lot, but we always talk about minority status.

 

[PsyDWannabe]

This was mentioned in a previous thread, and I am just kind of curious. I am a gay male, applying to programs next year, for Fall '11 admission. I have no interest in doing anything GBLT related in terms of research or scholarly work, though I am interested in larger professional development issues that relate to GBLT issues.

I am wondering if people who have applied before or applied this round who were GBLT felt that this this ever came up for them in interviews or SOP. I don't want it to pigeon-hole me at all, but just interested in how it might play out. Anyone feel it helped or hurt?

Figured we don't really talk about this a lot, but we always talk about minority status.

Quick little story. I have a professor (btw, one of the most amazing people I have ever met for more reasons than one) who is transgender/genderqueer and catholic and I am in one of the pretty well known schools in one of the most southern states you could think of. Anyways, when he was interviewing for grad school, he basically came out and straight up said, "I am transgender, do you think it would pose any kind of problem if I got a position within this department?". Half of the people interviewing him had no idea what he was going on about and the other half just did not care what or who he was. Not saying that is exactly how it will play out or you, it largely depends on who happens to be interviewing or admitting you. But in the grand scheme of things, it does not seem like people would care too much. As long as you can show them that you have good credentials and know what the heck you are doing there, I'm inclined to think you'll do just fine.

 

[mnpsych]

In my experience of interviewing my identification as a gay male didn't hurt or help - I don't think. It just is what it is. It seems to me that if it is an issue at a particular institution, that may be a place you want to avoid. I would hope that, in this profession especially, sexual identity wouldn't be an issue. Although I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Did I address your question?

Best of luck to you.

 

[leavingprov]

This was mentioned in a previous thread, and I am just kind of curious. I am a gay male, applying to programs next year, for Fall '11 admission. I have no interest in doing anything GBLT related in terms of research or scholarly work, though I am interested in larger professional development issues that relate to GBLT issues.

I am wondering if people who have applied before or applied this round who were GBLT felt that this this ever came up for them in interviews or SOP. I don't want it to pigeon-hole me at all, but just interested in how it might play out. Anyone feel it helped or hurt?

Figured we don't really talk about this a lot, but we always talk about minority status.

Confused if you in any way identified yourself as gay in your SoP. I didn't explicitly but my areas of clinical and research interest as well as past work experiences were LGBT focused, so the subtext was pretty gay 😀.

If your interests aren't LGBT specific, how would you imagine this coming up for you? One way I would see it coming up is if you specifically asked the question in an interview re: professional development and student support opportunities for queer students or something like that. Or, if you felt like your personal experiences coming out, etc, somehow influenced your interest in psychology and discussed that in an SoP or interview.

I agree with mnpsych both in terms of being confused about your question and also about being LGBT neither hurting nor helping, though more likely helping as I do think schools try to find a diverse range of applicants across many different 'minority' groups.

 

[psychdiva]

This was mentioned in a previous thread, and I am just kind of curious. I am a gay male, applying to programs next year, for Fall '11 admission. I have no interest in doing anything GBLT related in terms of research or scholarly work, though I am interested in larger professional development issues that relate to GBLT issues.

I am wondering if people who have applied before or applied this round who were GBLT felt that this this ever came up for them in interviews or SOP. I don't want it to pigeon-hole me at all, but just interested in how it might play out. Anyone feel it helped or hurt?

Figured we don't really talk about this a lot, but we always talk about minority status.

My experience is similar in that I am a lesbian identified female, yet I have little scholarly interest in LGBT issues directly, except with regard to professional development and developing multicultural competency. In my case, I have not always stated that I am lesbian; however, I discuss how my views about diversity are influenced through my personal identity lens. This is one way to bring it up because you will be asked about diversity issues: what do they mean, what is your commitment, how do you work with different populations, etc. Most schools are at an impasse between wanting to expand and become more diverse, yet are confused as to how to implement and measure true growth with regard to diversity.

Overall, I would advise to bring it up if it is really salient to who you are as a person. Don't just bring it up simply because; it may come off as disingenuous. I agree that it is a lesser discussed diversity issues, combined with the fact that you still have professors who have been practicing since homosexuality was included in the DSM. I understand the desire to not want to be pigeon-holed, as I have to caution against that quite often. However, I think that whatever way is natural in your daily life will work best for you. Even though I do not conduct scholarly research in this area, I am involved in a lot of LGBT activism (well before school took over my life) so you can see that my stance just as a person is a little more in the forefront than most people. Conversely, I think that a person who is more reserved in their daily conversations regarding their sexual orientation should not begin to expound on it in their interview, just for the sake of disclosure. I think that talking about it in a natural way can only help. If it hurts and you were coming from a genuine stance, then that is probably not a school you would want to attend.

 

[leavingprov]

My experience is similar in that I am a lesbian identified female, yet I have little scholarly interest in LGBT issues directly, except with regard to professional development and developing multicultural competency. In my case, I have not always stated that I am lesbian; however, I discuss how my views about diversity are influenced through my personal identity lens. This is one way to bring it up because you will be asked about diversity issues: what do they mean, what is your commitment, how do you work with different populations, etc. Most schools are at an impasse between wanting to expand and become more diverse, yet are confused as to how to implement and measure true growth with regard to diversity.

Overall, I would advise to bring it up if it is really salient to who you are as a person. Don't just bring it up simply because; it may come off as disingenuous. I agree that it is a lesser discussed diversity issues, combined with the fact that you still have professors who have been practicing since homosexuality was included in the DSM. I understand the desire to not want to be pigeon-holed, as I have to caution against that quite often. However, I think that whatever way is natural in your daily life will work best for you. Even though I do not conduct scholarly research in this area, I am involved in a lot of LGBT activism (well before school took over my life) so you can see that my stance just as a person is a little more in the forefront than most people. Conversely, I think that a person who is more reserved in their daily conversations regarding their sexual orientation should not begin to expound on it in their interview, just for the sake of disclosure. I think that talking about it in a natural way can only help. If it hurts and you were coming from a genuine stance, then that is probably not a school you would want to attend.

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 exactly!