Career Services Holds Panel-Discussion on LBG Workplace Issues
On February 20, the Center for Career Services held a panel-discussion on lesbian, bisexual, and gay (lbg) issues in the workplace. The event was organized by Career Services placement officer Heather Holtman, and featured representatives from seven University academic and administrative departments. Attended by a small but interested number students, the panelists discussed issues involved in declaring one's sexual orientation on a résumé, telling colleagues and/or employer of one's sexual orientation, to researching the personnel policies of prospective employer-companies. Other issues discussed included civil rights protections for lbg employees (only seven states, New York excluded, have lbg civil rights protections New York City has anti-discrimination protections), domestic partner benefits, and the workplace climate for lesbians, bisexuals, and gays in both the public and private sector, including the professions of business, law, and medicine. The climate for lesbians, bisexuals, gays, and transgendered persons within academe was also discussed. The panel-members also shared some of their own prior and current professional experiences in confronting lbg workplace-issues. Each of the panelists felt that Columbia is a welcoming place for lbg persons.
The panel-members and their department affiliation were:
Scott Cagenello, Columbia Business School; Jim Hoover, Columbia Law School; Robert Kertzner, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Dept. of Psychiatry; Irwin Kroot, Human Resources; Maggie Sale, Institute for Research on Women and Gender; Jane Simoni, School of Social Work; Michael Susi, Office of the Vice President for Arts and Sciences.
The panel-members are also members of GABLES-CU (Gay, Bisexual, and Lesbian Employees and Supporters at Columbia University), a faculty-staff group.