2026 Theses Doctoral

What do NGOs working with LGBTI youth and education do around the world? An examination of the types, inclusive educational efforts, and relationality of organizational operation

Lee, Hyungoo

Using a three-article format, this dissertation probes the following overarching questions: What do youth- and education-related LGBTI nongovernmental organizations (LGBTI-YE NGOs) do around the world, and what contextual factors explain their operation and collaborative ties with other entities? The global rise of illiberalism renders LGBTI youth, who are more prone to bullying, discrimination, physical and psychological violence, and stigmatization than their non-LGBTI counterparts, even more vulnerable. Despite the importance of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in increasing global consciousness about LGBTI rights through advocacy and providing services to local constituencies, not much is known about the NGOs that specifically work with LGBTI youth and education. Using data from The Survey of LGTBQ+ Youth-Serving NGOs, the three articles in this dissertation respectively examine the types, inclusive educational efforts, and relationality of LGBTI-YE NGOs’ operation and their organizational, local, regional, and global determinants.

Using latent class analysis and multinomial logistic regression analysis, the first article shows that mainly national contextual factors and, to a lesser degree, organizational and global factors predict which of the three types of operation—identified as community and activism, institutional knowledge production, and comprehensive services—LGBTI-YE NGOs engage in.

Using principal component factor analysis and logistic regression analysis, the second article reveals that national and organizational factors, with the former more uniformly, predict the likelihood that LGBTI-YE NGOs engage in various endeavors to make education LGBTI inclusive.

The third article, using network analysis, reveals that intrastate and (sub)regional connections primarily characterize the transnational LGBTI-YE network, formed through collaborative relationships among NGOs, international organizations, and states. Compared to other contextual determinants, global factors have reduced salience for LGBTI-YE NGO operation.