Ryan Pierce believes that mentors can offer invaluable supports for students who could face additional complexities and challenges in the workplace (and life, and career aspirations) due to their gender and sexual identification. As a person who identifies with the LGBTQ2S+ community, that kind of guidance is something he felt he could give back to UTSC students. So, shortly after his graduation, he volunteered to be a mentor in the Partners in Leadership Program. Here is his story.
You graduated in June 2020, during the pandemic. What was that like?
It was definitely a bit isolating. I moved back in with my parents in Guelph. I didn’t have to commute to campus, but I definitely didn’t get as much out of the final years of my education as I could have.
After graduation, I had job interviews lined up. Then COVID hit and everything was cancelled. I did a remote urban research position with Simon Fraser University. The idea was to hire a bunch of youth across Canada. We were working on an index of how COVID-19 has impacted cities thus far.
You started in the Partners in Leadership program as a mentee. What was that like?
I was in the program in early 2019. My mentor and I corresponded over email. They were very detailed and I really appreciated it. We met once, in person at their workplace – just in the lobby – and they gave me a rundown on their government policy job, and that was great.
I didn’t really have the time for it. Things were getting a little complicated in my life. Also, I just knew that wasn’t the kind of job I was looking for. They were very nice, I just thought maybe I’m not going to get as much out of it, and maybe they’re not, as well, if I continued. So I bowed out.
"Your orientation shouldn’t be a barrier, but in the society we live in, it can be."
What made you decide to get involved in the Partners in Mentor Leadership Program again this year, this time as a mentor?
As an LGBTQ2S+ individual, I find that adds another level of complexity to things. At work, for example, people talk about their partners and their lives. And you have to navigate that in a different way, because you don’t know how people think. Everyone can sign an anti-discrimination document, but that just means they’ve agreed to the training, because it’s their job. When you’re at small talk, people do things differently. People say, keep your personal lives at home. But that’s not how life is.
I could give a mentee some advice on how to deal with that kind of thing.
Does being Black add a layer of complication to coming out in the workplace? Does that add complication to living in the world?
My background is Jamaican, Canadian, Lebanese. People have different moral views on life and especially with LGBTQ2S+ it’s not very positive sometimes – and I find that spans the generations. It’s not just the older it’s also the younger – my generation – as well. It is getting better with my generation, but it’s not improving as quickly as it probably could.
I feel that with the BIPIOC / LGBTQ2S+ communities, that intersectional approach is more underrepresented. Being Black and gay does add a bit of complexity. We are visible, we are here, living normal lives. I’m still learning how to navigate that space. I feel that it’s still a new space for me, as well. As a mentor who is a member of those communities, I can relate to it a bit more, experiential-wise.
Why is it important to have LGBQT2S+ mentors? What do students who identify as LGBQT2S+ gain from the experience?
Having to navigate another “something” in society, along with trying to be a regular student and do well in school, and have an intimate relationship and friendships, and trying to get a job. …This is what everybody does, but it’s a little more complex, I’d say, for members of the LGBQT2S+ community – I would say, personally. It’s important just to get some guidance, and to hear from someone who may have gone through something similar that things will be okay.
Your orientation shouldn’t be a barrier, but in the society we live in, it can be. As a member of that community, I find that I had more stress in school. I think that may be something I can relate to with a mentee that is perhaps going through that themselves and doesn’t realize it.
I think having LGBTQ2S+ mentors shows that you can be who you want to be. Whatever career you want, you are not limited by your orientation. I don’t know if that’s how people feel, but I kind of felt that a little bit in certain work spaces — that I had to think a certain way, I can’t be like this or I can’t say this …. I don’t think it should be like that. You should be able to be yourself. You shouldn’t have to change anything.
"Being Black and gay does add a bit of complexity."
What can people do to support others with complex identities?
What I appreciated about my friends is that they didn’t assume anything about me. When we met they asked, “Are you seeing anyone? Guy, girl?” They never made assumptions about me.
That’s a pretty easy thing to do. Listen to someone and see them from their point of view instead of from your point of view.
Do you have any words of advice for the new grads?
We all have a movie playing in our head of how things are going to be, or how we want them to be. Be open to them being a little bit different, and do some reflecting on what you want. You don’t have to graduate and run to climb the corporate ladder. Try to focus on what you want to do, what you value. I had to do that, and I’m in a better place now that I did take some time to slow down.
What are you doing now?
I am working full-time for the summer, but I will be returning to school part-time for the fall. I’m going to be starting a Natural Systems Restoration program at the University of Victoria – hybrid, where some courses are online, and field courses are in person for about a week at a time. It will be a great experience studying British Columbia and immersing myself in how things work out west before I officially move to B.C. I’m hoping to work towards my Ecological Practitioner designation. A dream career for me would be working with the government or a consulting firm as a stream or marine restoration specialist.
Photo: Ryan Pierce (courtesy Ryan Pierce)