Press release

Many gay engineers still fear “coming out” at work

21 July 2014

Nearly one in three gay and lesbian engineers hide their sexuality from their work colleagues, according to a survey for the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) magazine.

The survey, published in the IET’s E&T magazine, shows that 34.4 per cent say they are not open at work about their sexuality, compared to 45 per cent who say they are.

Reasons for keeping their sexuality secret included the fear of backlash from colleagues: “I have tried hinting to colleagues about my orientation, but this has only resulted in me becoming a laughing stock,” said one respondent.

Others felt that senior management would not approve of their sexuality: “You do sometimes hear homophobic remarks by senior managers. This does not send a reassuring message.”

However, some felt that being open about who they are was not relevant to their job role and they did not want to make others feel uncomfortable.

Only 7.7 per cent of respondents felt they’d been discriminated against by their colleagues because of their sexual orientation, which may signal a changing, more tolerant industry, but the overwhelming majority of these engineers were those who weren’t open about their sexuality: “My colleagues make homophobic comments.  Because I am not ‘out’ I feel safe challenging them,” said one respondent.

Some female respondents felt they were being discriminated against at work for being female as well as gay.

The glass ceiling
But it’s not just social functions or office chit-chat that many LGBT engineers feel excluded from. Around 17 per cent feel that their sexuality has created a barrier to their career progression. Some noted a clear decrease in casual conversations when their managers discovered their orientation, which led to less professional interaction. “I was overlooked for promotions, hence my departure to another company.”

Several engineers felt their careers had been hindered due to the public perception of the traditional engineer, saying the main barrier to promotion was that they didn’t fit the archetypal engineering manager mould: “A straight man, married to a wife who is happy to look after the children while you travel.” Another, working in the defence industry, was told during an appraisal that he needed to be “more alpha-male to succeed in the UK defence industry”. Some even feel they have lost their jobs due to discrimination at managerial level.

Home and away
Engineering is a global industry and, as a result, engineers in certain sectors such as oil and gas are able to undertake contracts to work on projects abroad. Many engineers feel homophobic law in regions such as Africa or the Middle East prevents them from undertaking these projects and hinders their career choices. One says: “My company has a lot of overseas opportunities; some of these are in countries where I wouldn’t be comfortable being a gay person. This barrier to taking opportunities could potentially hinder my career progression.”

Gender diversity
Worryingly, some of the 34 lesbian respondents still experience gender discrimination at work, with one participant saying: “I don’t necessarily feel there is any explicit discrimination in terms of being lesbian. I think there are far more issues/discrimination purely related to being a woman.”

Of the 17 transgender participants in the survey, many felt it was “not appropriate to be out”, regarding their transsexuality.  Many have experienced discrimination at work, with one citing archaic mindsets of senior management as the reason for hiding their transsexuality: “If I come out at work, what will that do to my prospects? I hear the sexist remarks from senior management. How much more will that affect a transgendered person who they have seen as male but wants to identify as female?”

Some have even had to leave the engineering profession altogether due to negative reactions at work: “People struggling with me being transgender have made it impossible for me to return to my previous occupation since I came out,” comments one respondent.

Direct discrimination
Only 7.7 per cent of respondents felt they’d been discriminated against work, and were subjected to “slurs”, “mocking” and “homophobia”, with some questioning whether they’d picked the right career.

Despite respondents’ fears that their sexuality could hinder their career progression, 76.6 per cent have not experienced direct homophobic or gender discrimination from their peers. “I’ve not experienced any homophobic comments made to me about my sexual orientation,” says one. “I’ve experienced no hint of being treated differently to anyone else.”

Dickon Ross, E&T Editor-in-Chief, said: “The LGBT survey, which was run through E&T magazine, is an example of our commitment to promoting diversity within engineering. If we can understand to what, if any extent discrimination on the grounds of sexuality takes place in the engineering community, we will be in a stronger position to address any issues.”

The survey results are revealed in the August 2014 edition of E&T magazine, published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Notes to editors: