Increasing Sexual and Gender Representation, Inclusion, and Respect in Research

Author: Rebecca Revilla ​

For our weekly Inclusion in Neuroscience topic, our lab read Refining Research and Representation of Sexual and Gender Diversity in Neuroscience (Edmiston & Juster, 2022) and watched an interview with Dr. Karen Blair on LGBTQ+ Inclusivity in Research. These resources summarized a history of exclusion and mistreatment of LGBTQ+ individuals in research and presented helpful suggestions for how scientists can conduct LGBTQ+ inclusive research. Additionally, Edmiston and Juster (2022) explained the critical need for research in this area to continue to shift focus toward understanding the “effects of minority stress on the brain and on mental health” as well as the development of related interventions. During our discussion, several themes emerged as particularly relevant to conducting LGBTQ+ inclusive research within our lab. 
In the B-RAD Lab, we are interested in understanding human development across the lifespan. This means we are often working with children and adolescents. Edmiston and Juster (2022) provided suggestions for conducting research on LGBTQ+ youths. Specifically, the authors described the care that researchers must take to avoid outing LGBTQ+ youths to their caregivers. This requires thoughtful wording of recruitment materials and consent forms. Our lab found this idea extremely insightful and discussed how we could be more cautious and considerate of our materials. For example, we ask participants to fill out a participant information form that has various demographic fields including options to share pronouns and gender identity. It will be important for our lab to create a specific plan for protecting this information and/or informing potential youth participants about these demographic questions during the assent process. 
A broad question that emerged for our lab after reviewing the materials is, what is the line between being inclusive and invading privacy? Specifically, when should we ask or not ask for demographic information related to sexual orientation and gender identity? One point posed by a lab member was to only ask for this information if it benefits the participants or will benefit others in study outcomes. Another lab member added to this point by comparing the typical collection of data on outward identities versus inner identities, such as why we would only classify participants using outward identities. Others challenged these ideas by stating that some people do not like to be labeled and questioned whether labeling identities is truly practical or beneficial. Although we did not identify a clear answer to this question, our lab connected this question with the importance of using mixed-method study designs and community-based participatory methods as we work to conduct more inclusive research.