Going Beyond the Binary: How to Approach Gender, Language, and Intersectionality with Your Students

Chemistry education is more than teaching students how to use the Periodic Table, balance chemical equations, and work in a lab. Educators are responsible for mentoring and developing the next generation of scientists who are far more diverse than meets the eye. Everything from the language we use, to the way we grade and structure our lessons, to the students we favor can betray unconscious biases and learned behaviors that risk alienation of students and the loss of budding scientists to other fields. Just as it is important to keep up with the latest science as our knowledge of the world evolves through experimentation, it is equally important that we challenge our traditional teaching pedagogy as our understanding of the human experience evolves as well.

Join ACS for this special Pride Month webinar with a trio of educators who are challenging the status quo in STEM education to create a more inclusive experience for their students. Discover ways to support students with intersectional identities, evaluate and overcome the traditional binary in gendered language, and learn how far we’ve come in the last decade in regards to the LGBTQIA+ experience in STEM programs.

This ACS Webinar is co-produced with the ACS Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Respect.

What You Will Learn

• Why we need intersectional feminism in STEM
• How to support students with intersectional identities
• How to define terms related to gender identities and sex
• How to describe two ways gendered language impacts LGBTQIA+ students and faculty in chemistry
• How to identify at least one strategy for overcoming the impulse to presumptively gender people through language
• How one university implemented specific policies that improved the LGBTQIA+ experience in STEM programs