New insights are being anonymously gathered from technical professionals who identify as LGBTQIA+ in the UK to advance sector knowledge and inform future recommendations for institutions.
The UK Institute for Technical Skills & Strategy (UK ITSS) has commissioned a survey to better understand how many of the UK’s technical community identify as being part of the LGBTQIA+ community, their experiences and potential barriers in the workplace.
An anonymous survey has launched to gather information from UK technicians who identify as LGBTQIA+ on comfort and inclusion at work, career progression, bullying and harassment and support at work.
The data will build on existing research on representation in higher education and experiences of people studying or working in STEM, providing a broader picture of the technical workforce demographic, previously published in the TALENT Commission (2022).
Dr Ryan Bates, Research Associate from the UK ITSS Research and Policy Group said:
“This survey aims to understand the scale of the technical workforce who identify as LGBTQIA+ and, more importantly, identify any specific barriers they may face and how we can consider ways to counteract them. We’re collecting information on both positive and negative interventions and interactions so we can produce guidance for institutions to offer additional support.
“We strongly encourage anyone in the technical community who identifies as LGBTQIA+ to complete the survey, there are 28 questions and it will take no more than 10 minutes to complete. We can reassure respondents that all answers submitted are anonymous and participants will have the option to share experiences further in interviews in early 2026. Final results will be made public and we intend to publish results and recommendations at a later date.”
Dr Kelly Vere MBE Director of the UK Institute for Technical Skills & Strategy and the Technician Commitment also commented.
“This research will help to plug a knowledge gap in our understanding of the technical workforce demographic within higher education and research. The insights gathered will help us to consider how institutions and teams can implement new ways of working to support technical staff at work, improving overall staff retention and building diverse and inclusive teams, which are vital for world-class education, research and innovation,” she said.
The data gathered by the UK ITSS Research and Policy Group is treated as strictly confidential and will be pseudonymised ahead of analysis. Once the survey sample has been collected, further qualitative data will be gathered from interviews.
The survey will be open for four weeks, closing on Tuesday 30 September at 9am. Respondents who complete the survey will have three chances to win £100.