Beyond pioneering: An introduction to the special issue on the vocational issues of lesbian women and gay men

The existing career literature on the concerns of lesbian and gay people has served the crucial function of defining lesbian and gay people as a distinct nonethnic cultural group (Elliot, 1993) facing discrimination and having unique work-related concerns. Most existing literature has focused on providing suggestions for counselors in working with this population. Thus, this special issue makes a unique contribution by focusing on building theoretical or empirical understandings of the vocational psychology of lesbian women and gay men. We discuss the development and content of the special issue. Next, we reflect on the relative lack of diversity of peoples with a minority sexual orientation discussed in the issue. We conclude with a discussion on how this special issue can help move the vocational literature in this area "beyond pioneering" and toward the systematic building of theoretical and empirical knowledge.