Fixing blind spots in advancing the STEM workforce


Growing evidence points to alarming disparities based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in U.S. STEM fields, including career barriers and workplace harassment, which not only raise issues of equal opportunity but represent a waste of STEM talent that hinders scientific progress. SOGI minorities who are multiply marginalized by race, socioeconomic background, or disability status may face the most challenges. A major barrier to resolving these disparities is the widespread lack of SOGI demographic data on the STEM workforce that prevents policymakers and researchers from understanding and addressing the problems at play. Most notably, SOGI data are still not comprehensively collected on the U.S. government’s national STEM workforce surveys, which are used to track the demographic composition of the STEM workforce, ensure equal opportunity, and develop strategies that can better engage the nation’s talent. A key example is the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED), an annual census of all newly minted PhDs that is required before receiving a U.S. PhD. STEM institutions including universities, funding agencies, scientific societies, and private STEM employers also are in need of SOGI data collection, as they may aim to prevent discrimination, resolve educational and career challenges, and retain talent.

Freeman's work is focused on resolving such blind spots in advancing the STEM workforce. Since 2018, he has been working to have SOGI demographics incorporated into the government’s national data collection and reporting systems for the U.S. STEM enterprise. Due to these efforts, the SED began collecting SOGI data in 2024, and other surveys of the U.S. PhD- and college-educated populations are currently being piloted. By catalyzing SOGI data infrastructures at the national level while maintaining rigorous privacy and confidentiality standards, this work seeks to create transformative change through data-driven policies and solutions that can better enable the success of all people in STEM.

Publications

Freeman JB (2024). US agency obstructs LGBTQ+ equity in science. Science, 384, 169. | Supplementary Materials
Freeman JB (2023). NSF’s Progress With LGBTQ+ Data Opens Doors for More Inclusive STEM Fields. Columbia News.
Freeman JB (2022). To fix LGBTQ+ disparities in science, we need the data. Nature, 612, 191.
Freeman JB (2021). STEM disparities we must measure. Science, 374, 1333-1334.
Freeman JB (2020). Measuring and resolving LGBTQ disparities in STEM. Policy Insights from the Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 7, 141-148.
Freeman JB (2018). LGBTQ scientists are still left out. Nature, 559, 27-28.

News

LGBTQ Ph.D. graduates will soon be counted in key U.S. survey. Science, May 14, 2024.
Report Offers Guidance for Educational Institutions on Collecting SOGI Data. AAAS, April 12, 2024.
Counted at last: US federal agency to pilot PhD survey with questions on LGBT+ scientists. Nature. May 12, 2023.
‘Great news.’ Survey will test counting LGBTQ Ph.D. recipients. Science. March 24, 2023.
18 U.S. Senators Call on NSF to Collect LGBTQI+ Data in its National Workforce Surveys. U.S. Senate. February 1, 2023. [Read Letter]
Researchers blast US agency’s decision not to collect LGBT+ data. Nature. January 13, 2023.
NSF still won’t track sexual orientation among scientific workforce, prompting frustration. Science. January 13, 2023.
AAAS Awarded Nearly $20M to Establish Three Distinct Initiatives Supporting Representation in STEM Fields. AAAS, November 16, 2022.
LGBTQ researchers say they want to be counted: Scientists call for NSF’s workforce surveys to tally sexual and gender minorities. Science, 370, 1391.
NSF moves to pilot LGBT questions on national workforce surveys. Science. November 7, 2018.

Public Letters

Talks/Panels

Measuring and Resolving LGBTQ+ Disparities in STEM (May 30, 2023). Symposium on Inclusion & Advancement of LGBTQ+ People in STEM, AAAS, Washington DC.