Secrets Are Out
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender engineers are no longer willing to hide their true selves.
http://www.prism-magazine.org/oct11/feature_03.cfmLittle intimidates Lynn Conway, professor emerita of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. At 73, the former motocross racer still enjoys white-water canoeing with her husband, Charlie. Yet for decades she hid a very personal detail from colleagues. If they found out, she feared, "my career would have been over—absolutely over." Only after retiring did Conway reveal her transgender past—a physical transition from male to female completed a lifetime ago in 1968.
When engineering educators talk about promoting diversity, chances are transgender individuals like Conway don't figure prominently in their policies. Nor do too many think immediately of gays and lesbians when discussing underrepresented minorities.
