Editors’ Introduction: Introducing a Methodological Research Collection on Pressing Issues for LGBTQ Students

Abstract

This special issue of Educational Researcher focuses on pressing issues for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students from a variety of methodological perspectives. Here, we introduce the articles, which cover a broad range of topics, including homeless LGBTQ youth, student-led groups known as Gay-Straight Alliances, classification bias, power, and intersectionality. In addition to the overarching theme of pressing issues and methodology that all of the authors were expressly asked to address, we discuss two organically arising common themes across the papers: The first theme of “space” explores how LGBTQ youth navigate through educational spaces and create communal spaces while also acknowledging that not all LGBTQ youth may feel welcomed in these various spaces. The second theme of “categorization” problematizes the ways in which research defines groups for study—raising concerns about methodological preferences and biases within specific approaches—and challenges how we assess and describe heterogeneity of experiences within broader categories. In total, this special issue raises fundamental questions about the current state of educational contexts and supports for LGBTQ youth as well as the current state of research methods and the politics around methodology.