Do LGBT Students Get More (Education)?

According to a post on Inside Higher Ed:

A new study published in the journal Economics of Education Review explores how students of different sexual orientations have different academic and extracurricular experiences in college. The study, based on surveys involving more than 40,000 students, was conducted by Christopher S. Carpenter, an assistant professor of economics and public policy at the University of California at Irvine. Among the findings about sexual orientation are the following comparisons of gay to straight students:

* Gay male students have higher college grade point averages and perceive their academic work as more important.
* Gay and bisexual males are more likely to report the presence of a faculty member or administrator with whom they could discuss a problem.
* Gay and bisexual males place more importance on participating in student organizations, volunteer   activities, the arts, and politics.
* Bisexual females are less satisfied with the education they are receiving and spend less time studying.
* Lesbian and bisexual females place more importance on participation in the arts and politics.

U of Miss Improves Campus LGBT Relationships

The University of Mississippi has greatly changed its attitude towards members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) community over the past ten years, Allies administrator and Gay-Straight Alliance advisor Kevin Cozart said.

“There is still a lot of work to do as far as the LGBT community being included in things,” Cozart said. “But it’s better than it used to be.”

Cozart said the South’s cultural heritage might have contributed to this situation.

“In the South there’s the tradition that as long as you are not public about it, then we really don’t care,” Cozart said. “And that also extends to other things, such as drunk people in the southern Baptist church. As long as they get drunk in their own houses and stay there, nobody says anything about it.”

Get the rest of the story here.