Queering Tourism Curriculum in Higher Education: A Research Proposal

Queer pedagogy aims to disrupt curricula of heteronormativity and to develop classroom environments and experiences that create safety for queer participants across intersectionalities of race, gender, and sexuality (Chapman & Gedro, 2009).

 

Extant research suggests that diversity within the curriculum may promote a wide range of educational outcomes, such as the development of critical and active thinking skills, intellectual engagement, and citizenship engagement (Gurin & Nagda, 2006; Graham & MacFarlane, 2021). As such, planning, designing, and implementing a curriculum that is inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI+) people has the potential to enable an inclusive and equitable learning environment. Furthermore, the inclusion of queer curriculum may lead to improved perceptions of future employment (Baquet, Marasco, & Hill, 2021).

 

The proposed research project is built around three overarching questions:

To what degree does current curriculum within higher education integrate the perspectives, experiences and knowledge of LGBTQI+ people? What is the need and the perceived benefit of queer curriculum within higher education from the perspective of LGBTQI+ students? Do LGBTQI+ students foresee that their gender/sexual identity will impact their future employment in the tourism, hospitality, and events industry?

 

This research aims to adopt a multiple-case study approach. It will explore the research questions in the context of the tourism, hospitality, and events programmes offered at Australian Universities. Data will be gathered from LGBTQI+ identifying students currently enrolled within the aforementioned study programmes or who completed their studies in the past 12 months.