Sexual Prejudice Against Lesbian Women and Gay Men Among Students Entering a BSW Program in Switzerland

Background and purpose

Social workers are not merely supposed to provide equitable service to oppressed and vulnerable populations, including sexual minority groups. They are also expected to interact appropriately with lesbian, gay and bisexual clients and to empower them. As antigay bias continues to be documented among students of helping professions and social work professionals, social work education has to address sexual prejudice. Against this background, the aim of the present study is to assess entering BSW students’ attitudes towards lesbian women and gay men.

Methods

In 2015 and 2016, we surveyed two cohorts of entering students enrolled on a BSW program in a major school of social work in Switzerland. For our data collection, we used an online questionnaire launched during the introduction event for entering students. To measure heterosexist attitudes we used the ‘Multidimensional Scale of Attitudes towards Lesbians and Gay Men’ (MSALG) including 30 items with a 6-point Likert response scale, which had been developed in Portugal. We developed a German version by means of translation and back translation, and analyzed the data using descriptive statistics. Analysis confirmed the scale’s validity.

Results

In total, 396 entering students participated (response rate=92%). Respondents’ ages ranged from 19 to 50 years with a mean age of 25.4 years (SD=5.93) and a median age of 23 years; 287 (72.5%) identified as female, 106 (26.8%) as male and 3 (0.8%) as intersexual.

Respondents’ scores on the MSALG ranged from 1 to 4.63; mean=1.95 (SD=0.61), median=1.8. A proportion of 61.1% attained scores lower than 2. Their responses express disagreement with heterosexist statements. In contrast, 36.6% of the respondents attained scores ranging from 2 to 3.5, expressing an ambivalence and attitudinal uncertainty, while 2.3% scored 3.5 and higher, expressing heterosexist attitudes.

The item with the highest mean score referred to participants’ tendency to assume ‘that the partners are of the opposite sex’ when they ‘hear about a romantic relationship’ (mean=4.02). Other high-scoring items referred to the assumption that ‘being raised in a homosexual home is quite different from being raised in a heterosexual one’ (mean=3.41) and that ‘lesbians and gay men who are out of the closet’ should not be admired for their courage (mean=2.6). Other high scoring statements were, for example, that it mattered to the respondents ‘whether their friends were gay or straight’ (mean=2.53), that lesbians and gay men did not need ‘to protest for equal rights’ (mean=2.42), that lesbians and gay men ‘should stop shoving their lifestyle down other people’s throats’ (mean=2.42), or that the gay movement was not ‘a positive thing’ (mean=2.27).

Conclusions and implications

Although we might expect a social desirability effect, entering students report remarkably high scores on the MSALG. About one third of the students evidence ambivalence and attitudinal uncertainty. This confirms the need to address sexual prejudice in the BSW curriculum. The proportion of students with scores that we consider to evidence overt heterosexism draws our attention to the admission criteria in use.