03/26/2024
By Jamie Fay

The College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, invites you to attend a Master’s thesis defense by Jamie Fay on “Experiences and Perceptions of Sexual Education: Comparing LGBTQ College Students to Their Straight Cisgender Peers.”

Candidate Name: Jamie William Fay
Degree: Master’s
Defense Date: Monday, April 8, 2024
Time: 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Location: Zoom meeting
Thesis/Dissertation Title: Experiences and Perceptions of Sexual Education: Comparing LGBTQ College Students to Their Straight Cisgender Peers

Committee:
  • Advisor Larissa Gaias, Psychology, UMass Lowell
  • Melissa Nemon, Psychology, UMass Lowell
  • Stephanie Block, Psychology, UMass Lowell

Brief Abstract:
Sexual and gender minorities are often left out of the conversation in sexual education and this can have a negative impact on these more vulnerable groups. The aim of research was to understand the differences in perceptions of LGBT+ students when compared to their cisgender straight peers. To do this both quantitative and qualitative data was examined. The Scale to Measure Sexual Minority-Inclusivity in Sex Education was used to compare the different identities of participants and how they perceived their sexual education. The biggest differences were when comparing cisgender participants to transgender and non-binary participants, showing gender minority participants scored significantly lower than their cisgender peers. We also found that responses from LGBT participants were more likely to want to see more positive sex education topics like resources, medical information, and representation while responses from straight and cisgender men being more likely to have neutral to negative responses topics like no recommendation, discuss it less, and be taught at an older age. Further research is necessary to better understand the relationships between identity and sexual education perceptions.