Abstract: The purpose of this study was to provide data on what role organizations for homosexual teachers play in the lives of lesbian, gay and bisexual teachers and to provide these organizations with information on how to strengthen their memberships. Thirteen lesbian and/or gay male teacher organizations assisted by distributing a survey on openness, job stress, and job satisfaction to their members (N=611), who in turn passed surveys along to an additional 289 homosexual or bisexual teachers who were not members of such organizations. Results found that members were more likely to be male, more confident of their civil rights, more likely to be involved in gay civil rights organizations, and less likely to be married or parents. Organization members displayed no significant differences from nonmembers on scales of job satisfaction, but reported significantly less stress at work related to their sexuality. Organization members had somewhat higher scores on measures of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, which, combined with lower scores for sense of personal accomplishment, put them at high risk for teacher burnout. Members were significantly more likely to say they would choose the teaching profession. Results suggest that participation in such organizations helped prevent teacher burnout. Contains 3 tables of data. (PB)

Title: Joining Gay and Lesbian Teacher Organizations: A Study of Members and Non- Members.
Author: Juul, Thomas P.
Note: 16p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (New York, NY, April 8-12, 1996).
Publication Year: Apr 1996
Document Type: Research Report (143); Conference Paper (150)
Target Audience: Teachers and Practitioners
ERIC Identifier: ED397022
Clearinghouse Identifier: SP036738
This document is available from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service.

Descriptors: Career Development; College Faculty; Elementary School Teachers; Elementary Secondary Education; Higher Education; * Homosexuality; Job Satisfaction; * Lesbianism; Quality of Working Life; Secondary School Teachers; Social Support Groups; Surveys; Teacher Administrator Relationship; * Teacher Associations; * Teacher Attitudes; * Teacher Burnout; Teacher Characteristics; Teacher Morale

Identifiers: *Bisexuality; *Homosexual Teachers