Tracing Pathways to an Intersectional Framework for the Analysis of Social Inequalities: An Action-Research Project in Higher Education

Education And Social Justice: Discrimination Matters

The historic slogan “We’re here. We’re queer. Get used to it” is a clear example of the struggle of marginalised groups to reappropriate public spaces across different realms. This struggle also exists within educational spaces, since the tension between the reproduction of power structures and the need for social change is also present there. As explained by García & Puigvert (2003), curriculums are socially constructed and are affected by power relations, which is apparent in the so-called hidden curriculum (i.e., the set of norms and values implicit in educational practice that are generally aligned with the dominant culture). Although educators may contribute to the reproduction of the hegemonic culture by transmitting those norms, they could play an important role in overcoming the exclusionary biases of the hegemonic culture through dialogue, participation, and democratisation of the curriculum.

In consideration of the erasure and invisibility of the multiple oppressed groups in Higher Education (i.e., women, LGBT+ people, migrant people, people with disabilities, etc.), the authors of this chapter have promoted the construction of spaces for dialogue wherein we, as well as other members of the campus community, have been able to share our own experiences, as persons who face multiple types of discrimination.

We (i.e., the authors) are a group of young university professors from social disciplines, such as Psychology, Education, Sociology or Occupational Therapy. We work within the Spanish context and are well aware of the precarious situation of the Spanish University system¹ (see Martínez-Nicolás & García-Girón, 2021). We are a diverse group of people with different gender identities (men, women and non-binary people) and sexual orientations (bisexual, homosexual and heterosexual), who come from different regions of the country –with different cultures–, and have no disabilities recognised. Therefore, our life stories may differ from each other because of the various factors that have impacted our experiences (e.g., gender identity, socio-economic status, place of birth, etc.). In addition, we do research on the situation of different historically discriminated groups, (areas of research). Our own awareness of our social location as persons with marginalised identities has enabled us to reflect on how our experiences and those of others are shaped by different sources of discrimination (e.g., sexism, ableism, racism, cisheterosexism, etc.).

Through the experiences shared in our dialogue space, we found that several LGBT+ people complained about how professionals from psychosocial care services lacked both knowledge about the specific dynamics of the LGBT+ community, and the appropriate skills for providing a culturally-sensitive response to those lived experiences. Some members of the campus community also highlighted the lack of acceptance and promotion of diversity within educational spaces. Table 1 displays several quotes from participants in the dialogue space regarding their perception about the approach to sexual and gender diversity within (name of bachelor’s degree) courses, as mentioned by Llorente & Heras (2023).