by 
by Andrew Kohls, Kansas State University
We all have that one tab favorited, or our “go-to” online resource memorized. We’re career advisors, and seeking out specific resources for our students is part of our daily routines at work. However, when we are presented with a unique student situation, those same go-to resources may not be helpful. This is what I found true in regards to serving my LGBT students.
Let’s rewind a little bit. Last summer I was fortunate to go the Graduate Career Consortium in San Antonio, TX. During this conference, I was able to dive into specific situations that are currently affecting our students. One of these situations included the following:
An LGBT student has recently accepted a position in a southern state. However, since accepting the position the state has recently passed very strong, anti-LGBT legislation. He has very big concerns about his protections if he were employed in this state. How can this student back out of the offer, or ask for another location, without “outing” himself?
Boom. Have any of you ever experienced a similar situation in an advising appointment? I had not; so this was absolutely eye opening for me! I immediately started to investigate resources available to help students with situations similar to this one. I also acknowledged that in my own office, resources geared toward our LGBT students were not as visible as they could be. These experiences really prompted me to submit a proposal for last fall’s Kansas Association of Colleges and Employers (KACE) conference. I wanted to expand on work that had already been done to help support this specific student cohort.
Luckily for me, over the summer the NACE Community published a list of LGBT resources. The main goal for my presentation was to deep dive into some of the most useful tools from this list. Following is a list of my top 4 resources from the NACE resources, accompanied with highlights of each:
- Out & Equal (http://outandequal.org/toolkits-guides/)
- 2017 Workplace Equality Fact Sheet
- “Out at Work” Video Series
- LGBT Terminology
- LGBT Map (http://www.lgbtmap.org)
- Equality Profiles for each state focusing on state laws concerning employment, housing, public accommodations, state employees, etc.
- Human Rights Campaign (http://www.hrc.org/explore/topic/workplace)
- Corporate Equality Index: rates companies on LGBTQ Equality
- “Coming Out at Work” Self-Reflection Questions: (https://www.hrc.org/resources/coming-out-at-work)
- S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/wysk/enforcement_protections_lgbt_workers.cfm)
- Title VII protections
- Employment Discrimination
- Past Legal Decisions
Those resources alone are fantastic, but I wanted to find more resources that would address atypical questions that are asked in advising appointments. Through more research, I was able to find resources focusing on exactly the points I was looking for. Such resources included:
- TransEquality (https://transequality.org/documents )
- Map allowing users to get information for the process of changing their legal name and/or gender for specific states on state and federal IDs. Also includes outside, state-specific resources.
- What name should I use on my documents? (https://www.ou.edu/career/pdfs/FAQtransjobseekers.pdf)
- Wonderful document from the University of Vermont answering common questions received from Transgender students regarding the application process.
- What should I wear to my interview?
(https://www.thebalance.com/gender-neutral-interview-and-business-clothing-2061166)- Recent article discussing gender neutral interview and business clothing
- Do I list my LGBT club/organization involvement/activism?
(https://www.careereducation.columbia.edu/audiences/lgbtq-students )- Again, we look to our collegiate friends to offer amazing examples of including (or not including) such experiences on a resume. It’s amazing to see how the same experience can be written two different ways, without misrepresenting or undervaluing the student’s experience.
- Also great sections on: Using Preferred Name, Choosing Professional Attire, Coming Out In An Interview and Evaluating Employer Culture and Fit.
In my presentation, I addressed these invaluable resources in-depth. However I also challenged my colleagues to be informed and aware of current issues affecting our LGBT students. Around the time of the presentation, Trump had just signed his memorandum banning trans individuals from serving in the military, the Supreme Court has just decided not to hear a case from Texas involving spousal benefits for gay and lesbian public employees, and many cases of individuals rejecting service to LGBT customers based on religious beliefs. These situations are on-going battles for our students and I encourage advisors to be informed of current issues affecting our students to better guide their advising practices. Many news outlets are now offering LGBT-specific channels to follow such as NBCout on Facebook. Look up your local ACLU chapter on social media, or other state specific platforms. Here in Kansas there is an organization called Equality Kansas, which provides great, current LGBT-related news.
Overall, I was thrilled with the opportunity to provide my findings to my colleagues at the KACE Conference. I would highly encourage all of you to reflect back on recent advising sessions and perhaps identify a student-cohort that you are not as familiar with. Schedule time on your calendar to dive deeper into specific issues affecting them, find online and on-campus resources to help them with their career development, and SHARE your findings with the rest of us! Don’t reinvent the wheel, per se…but keep building the path forward!
__________
Andrew Kohls currently serves as an Assistant Director in the Career Center at Kansas State University, working with the College of Architecture, Planning, and Design, as well as graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences. Kohls has been working in higher education since 2010, having previous experience in immigration advising, orientation programming, and admissions. Connect with him at: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkohls
