I was privileged to be asked to attend this year’s Out for Undergrad recruiting event again as a mentor and recruiter for my company. This is the second year we have attended the event, coordinated to bring LGBTQ+ students together with companies that embrace the diverse viewpoints and culture that employees from the LBGTQ+ experience can bring to a company. As always, the students taught me, as their mentor, far more than I feel I could have imparted, and one of these lessons I want to share with you.
Prior to the career fair, each sponsoring company is asked to provide a mentor, someone from the LBGTQ+ experience who has navigated the waters of working in a professional capacity and maintaining what the organizers of the event call an “authentic experience.” Authenticity doesn’t necessarily mean being “out” with our LBGTQ+ identities, but rather working those identities into a professional career that is fulfilling not only for the work we do, but the people we are.
During our mentorship program, mentors (in teams of two or three) are teamed with groups of 10 students where we discuss base-level career objectives in our industry, as well as deeper dives into what it means to be working as an LBGTQ+ individual, in companies who range from those with diversity and outreach programs to those that may be less progressive in their views.
In our second session, the one I led as the lead mentor, the topic of being your “authentic self” in the workplace was discussed. While I don’t feel comfortable disclosing the gender or sexual orientation of the student who shared a story with us, or identifying details, the emotional pain this student suffered led them to reject an entire industry as a career path, all within the span of two meetings with senior management.
This student, a boisterous, intelligent, outgoing individual, was called into two separate meetings with senior management because of personal mannerisms that are often shared with people who identify as LBGTQ+. For example, a more masculine-presenting woman wearing men’s tailored clothing or a more feminine-presenting man speaking with sibilant “s” sounds would be on the level of the small, innocuous details that were brought up as being considered “unprofessional” by the executives of this well-known, Fortune 500 company in the location this student was an intern, and the student was told to adjust the behavior to something “more professional.”
The student reported that, in those moments, they reached a decision to reject the industry in its entirety, change their career aspirations, and choose an entirely new industry to focus on, all because of mannerisms that are entirely valid and, in fact, are core parts of personal expression. It’s akin to deciding to leave the medical profession because one has been told that an accent from your country of origin is “untrustworthy,” or the holidays one celebrates in one’s religion being considered “controversial” to discuss in the office.
This student, I can report, is a smart, capable, accomplished and interesting candidate, and the industry that was rejected will suffer a loss for not having embraced them. While diversity and outreach programs are often considered “extras” and part of soft metrics such as “company culture,” do keep in mind that slighting those who don’t fit what you may consider to be the norm or the baseline may cause your company, or even your entire industry to be rejected by those who could contribute so much, and will reject you for making them feel unwelcome.
This moment was difficult to hear about, but the fact that the student felt comfortable enough to share it underscores, to me, the power of the Out for Undergrad program, and the power of my workplace for embracing diversity and outreach, through our Diversity and Outreach Council. The weekend, to me, was illuminating and inspiring, and I hope that the experience I reported can be a lesson to those who, perhaps, don’t yet have diversity and outreach programs in your own companies or organizations, and to see a value that can directly affect your bottom line, in terms of employee recruitment and retention.
