NERA_2013 Is the grass greener on the other side

NERA 2013 Is the grass greener on the other side? Adolescents and their satisfaction with school and residency in relation to gender and sexual orientation Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason University of Akureyri, Iceland; University of New England, NSW, Australia University of New England, NSW, Australia

PROGRESS • Iceland progressive as compared with many other countries – E.g. gay marriage, adoption – Gay pride from 1999 • Ever growing – tens of thousands participated 2012

Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason

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SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND YOUTH • Information from LGBT people needed from general population: – School based – Community based – Based on national populations


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HBSC • Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) is a cross-national research study conducted in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Europe. • www.hbsc.org


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HBSC – SCOPE • 40 participating countries • Participants: Year 6, 8 and 10 students • Data collection every four years – Last 2010


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HBSC – SETUP • Same questions for all countries • Country specific questions • The data presented here derives from Icelandic year 10 students only


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HBSC 2006 AND 2010 IN ICELAND • 2006 – Sexual orientation questions for the first time for half of the population

• 2010 – Sexual orientation questions for the whole population


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SEXUAL ORIENTATION – SENSITIVE QUESTIONS • Two sexual orientation questions – Have you ever had romantic/erotic feelings towards somebody? • Three alternative answers

– Have you ever had sex? • Three alternative answers


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2006 (SPLIT HALF)

2010

Gay Boys 38 (3.78%), Girls 24 (2.43%)

Gay Boys 84 (4.40%), Girls 53 (2.84%)

Non-gay Boys 913 (90.76%), Girls 941 (95.24%)

Non-gay Boys 1,736 (90.84%), Girls 1,74 (93.51%)

Unknown Boys 55 (5.47%) Girls 23 (2.33%)

Unknown Boys 91 (4.76%) Girls 68 (3.65)


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RESEARCH QUESTIONS • Satisfaction with school • 4-point Likert scale

• Satisfaction with current residency • 5-point Likert scale

• Likelihood of leaving current residency permanently • 5-point Likert scale

• Likelihood of leaving the country permanently • 5-point Likert scale


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GIRLS SATISFACTION WITH SCHOOL 60.0 50.0

Percentage

40.0 Unknown

30.0

Gay Non-gay

20.0 10.0 0.0 Not at all satisfied in school

Not satisfied in school

Rather satisfied in school Very satisfied in school


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BOYS SATISFACTION WITH SCHOOL 60.0 50.0

Percentage

40.0 Unknown

30.0

Gay Non-gay

20.0 10.0 0.0 Not at all satisfied in school

Not satisfied in school

Rather satisfied in school Very satisfied in school


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GIRLS SATISFACTION WITH CURRENT RESIDENCY 45 40 35

Percentage

30 25

Unknown

20

Gay Non-gay

15 10 5 0 Very unhappy

Rather unhappy

Neither or

Rather happy

Very happy


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BOYS SATISFACTION WITH CURRENT RESIDENCY 60 50

Percentage

40 Unknown

30

Gay Non-gay

20 10 0 Very unhappy

Rather unhappy

Neither or

Rather happy

Very happy


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GIRLS WISHES TO PERMANENTLY LEAVE PLACE OF RESIDENCY 35 30

Percentage

25 20

Unknown Gay

15

Non-gay

10 5 0 Very unlikely

Unlikely

Neither or

Likely

Very likely


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BOYS WISHES TO PERMANENTLY LEAVE PLACE OF RESIDENCY 40 35

Percentage

30 25 Unknown

20

Gay Non-gay

15 10 5 0 Very unlikely

Unlikely

Neither or

Likely

Very likely


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GIRLS WISHES TO PERMANENTLY LEAVE THE COUNTRY 35 30

Percentage

25 20 Unknown

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Gay Non-gay

10 5 0 Very unlikely

Unlikely Neither or Likely Girls leaving for overseas permanently

Very likely


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BOYS WISHES TO PERMANENTLY LEAVE THE COUNTRY 50 45 40

Percentage

35 30 Unknown

25

Gay

20

Non-gay

15 10 5 0 Very unlikely

Unlikely

Neither or

Likely

Very likely


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MAIN FINDINGS

LGBT youth (boys and girls) were unhappier with school and current place of residency than non - LGBT youth GBT boys want to move permanently from their current place of residency and from the country LBT girls were not more likely than non – LBT girls to want to move permanently from either their current place of residency or from the country No difference between boys and girls Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason

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CONCLUSIONS LGBT YOUTH AT RISK – HARMING LGBT‘S IDENTITY FORMATION

LGBT INCOMPETENCY (E.G. INSTITUTIONALIZED HETERONORMATIVITY) IN SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES

FURTHER RESEARCH ON MINORITY STRESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT (E.G. INSTITUTIONALIZED HETERONORMATIVITY) FACED BY LGBT YOUTH Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason

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