Advancing LGBTQ+ Awareness and Inclusion

Dr Dario Sansone, Lecturer in Economics in the Business School, is conducting quantitative analysis to measure attitudes towards LGBTQ+ individuals, to document socio-economic and health disparities by sexual orientation and gender identity, and to estimate the economic impact of LGBTQ+ policies.

Dr Dario Sansone has explored in recent years a variety of LGBTQ+ issues in economics: he has quantified the positive effects of same-sex marriage legalisation on employment for individuals in same-sex couples (likely due to a decline in discrimination), he has documented that sexual minority men are less likely to work in STEM subjects, and he has emphasised the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth in their educational careers. More recently, he has summarised the existing disparities between heterosexual and gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals, as well as between cisgender and transgender individuals, and he has also looked at the effect of decriminalising homosexuality.

In a recent paper published in the AEA Papers and Proceedings, he and his co-authors found that, while most people are aware that women, racial minorities, and people with disability are protected against discrimination by employers, a substantial minority does not know that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer individuals have a similar level of protection.

Dr Dario Sansone said, “These results support information interventions to raise awareness among sexual minority individuals that they are protected from employment discrimination. They could also justify campaigns to make employers understand that this kind of discriminatory behaviour is no longer tolerated.”

Dr Dario Sansone is also leading efforts in increasing diversity in the economic profession. He is part of the Steering Committee in the European Committee for LGBTQ+ Economists aimed at connecting LGBTQ+ researchers across Europe. Furthermore, he is a member of the Steering Committee in the Royal Economic Society Diversity & Inclusion Network, whose goal is to connect individuals and organisations supporting women and minorities in economics and fostering diversity in the profession.