Attitudes of Students Toward LGBTQ Community in College

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Attitudes of Students toward LGBTQ Community in College
Attitudes toward gender, race, religion, and politics are some of the most common ideologies examined, expanded and often altered in college years. For students with little or no prior experience of interacting with diverse groups, much of this adjustment may be achieved through a close association with their colleagues in the academic community who are different from themselves (Lehman and Thornwall 118). Besides, for some, close association with members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Community (LGBTQ) is first experienced in college campuses. Therefore, using empirical research, this study will try to answer the question: What are the social attitudes of college students toward the LGBTQ Community in higher education?
Students may come into contact with LGBTQ community in colleges through socialization or interpersonal contact. Socialization may occur in many ways. Historically colleges have played a vital role in promoting change and enhancing diversity. According to Colin greater exposure to diverse information in institutions of higher learning plays a pivotal role in increasing diversity-related activities beyond the classroom (1209). Interpersonal contacts between college students and the LGBTQ Community may be viewed in two ways- greater acceptance may lead to greater interpersonal contacts whereas intolerance may reduce the level of contact. The attitudes of people toward the LGBTQ community may also be discussed about the feminist theory, which posits that males and females must adhere to specific gender roles.

In an empirical study conducted by Lehman and Thornwall, to examine the attitudes of college students toward the LGBTQ community, Data were collected from 1768 students at Southeastern University using electronic survey equipment (118). Reliability and Chi-square analysis were then conducted, and the results depicted that there was a significant relationship (at the <0.05 level) between tolerance-condemnation attitudes and class standing toward LGBTQ community with upper-level students demonstrating more tolerance than the lower-level students. Also, students from the faculty of sciences and Arts showed more support to the LGBT community than students in the faculty of Business and Education.
In a nutshell, from the research findings, it is apparent that increased social interactions and interpersonal contacts lead to an increased level of tolerance and acceptance of the LGBTQ Community in colleges. Such is because as students interact, they get to appreciate diversity. Therefore, learning institutions should admit students from diverse social backgrounds to encourage social tolerance and acceptance.

Works Cited
Colin, Olivier. “Acceptance of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People.” JAMA Neurology 72.10 (2015): 1209-1209.
Lehman, Meghan, and Megan Thornwall. “College Students’ Attitudes toward Homosexuality.” Journal of Student (2010): 118.