LGBT Life in UK Higher Education: an ethnography of staff-student working relations

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In 21st century Britain, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi, trans)communities have seen many legislative changes impactingday-to-day life (Local Government Act 2003, Marriage(Same-sex Couples) Act 2013). With an increased legalacceptance has come an assumption that social andprofessional aspects of life too have improved for LGBTpeople, particularly in spaces that are seen as progressive,like Higher Education (HE) institutions and their directlysurrounding areas. I have been an LGBT volunteer involvedwith community-building, policymaking, and wellbeing atSussex University and Goldsmiths College, both institutionswhich have a reputation for attracting LGBT students.However, relations between volunteers and university staffwere often characterized by our frustration at - what seemedto us - the lack of interaction with student initiatives fromuniversity management, especially when we made an activeeffort to reach out to the university. This left a lot of day-today work to student volunteers, who often lacked the trainingor time to do this properly.I will conduct ethnographic research to explore the extent towhich HE institutions promote themselves as LGBT-friendly,how they cultivate this in their own conduct and policy, andhow the work towards this is divided between paid universitystaff and student volunteers. I aim to work from a criticalunderstanding of the impact of neoliberal labour divisions onmarginalized groups (Rottenberg, 2015; Ahmed, 2004), andcombine this with original research on the working relationsbetween universities and LGBT students. This research willoutline which courses of action are beneficial to conductingworking relationships between universities and volunteers,particularly at institutions where students arrive expecting acertain level of LGBT-friendlinessResearch questions:1. To what extent does promotional material for HigherEducation institutions use LGBT-friendliness as a marketingtool?2. What measures do British institutions of Higher Educationput in place to enhance LGBT-friendliness within theirorganizational structures?3. How do LGBT volunteers experience the support (or lackthereof) from their institution of education with regards toworking towards LGBT-friendliness?4. What do these findings suggest for the future ofpolicymaking and practice around LGBT-friendliness in HigherEducation?Research objectives:1. Through analyzing the links between promotional materialand prospective LGBT student expectations, this study willcontribute to scholarship around the marketing of education,and its effects on LGBT people.2. By discussing the effects of university policy, this study willcontribute new insights into methodologies of efficient andmaterially relevant policymaking.3. By analyzing successes and shortcomings in interactionsbetween university staff and LGBT volunteers, this study willgive insight into practical changes that can be made ineveryday conduct between university staff and volunteers, tooptimize working relations.