Advocating for transgender and nonbinary affirmative spaces in graduate education

Knutson, Douglas; Matsuno, Em; Goldbach, Chloe; Hashtpari, Halleh; Smith, Nathan Grant

doi:10.1007/s10734-020-00673-5

Published: 11 February 2021

Advocating for transgender and nonbinary affirmative spaces in graduate education

Higher Education volume 83, pages 461–479 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Nearly 50% of graduate students report experiencing emotional or psychological distress during their enrollment in graduate school. Levels of distress are particularly high for transgender and nonbinary graduate students who experience daily discrimination and marginalization. Universities and colleges have yet to address and accommodate the needs and experiences of transgender and nonbinary graduate students. Given the multitude of challenges these students may face, educational settings should not present additional barriers to educational success and well-being. In an effort to improve graduate education for transgender and nonbinary students, we add to the existing scholarship on affirming work with transgender undergraduate students by addressing the unique concerns of graduate students. We use a social-ecological model to identify sources of discrimination in post-secondary education and to provide transgender- and nonbinary-affirming recommendations at structural, interpersonal, and individual levels. For practitioners who wish to do personal work, we provide guidance for multicultural identity exploration. A table of recommendations and discussion of ways to implement our recommendations are provided.

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Notes

Transgender is an umbrella term that refers to individuals whose gender identity is not fully aligned with the sex they were assigned at birth (American Psychological Association 2015). Nonbinary people, individuals who identify somewhere between or entirely outside of the male/female gender binary, may or may not also identify as transgender (Matsuno & Budge, 2017; Richards et al., 2016). We use TNB (transgender and nonbinary) throughout this article to include a broad range of gender diverse identities, both binary and nonbinary.

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Authors and Affiliations

School of Community Health Sciences, Counseling and Counseling Psychology, Oklahoma State University, 445 Willard Hall, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA
Douglas Knutson
Sexual and Gender Identities Clinic, Palo Alto University, CA, USA
Em Matsuno
Department of Psychology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 1125 Lincoln Drive, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA
Chloe Goldbach
Department of Educational Psychology, The University of Utah, Utah, USA
Halleh Hashtpari
Department of Psychological, Health, & Learning Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, USA
Nathan Grant Smith

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Douglas Knutson
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Em Matsuno
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Chloe Goldbach
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Halleh Hashtpari
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Nathan Grant Smith
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Knutson, D., Matsuno, E., Goldbach, C. et al. Advocating for transgender and nonbinary affirmative spaces in graduate education. High Educ 83, 461–479 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00673-5

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Accepted: 25 December 2020
Published: 11 February 2021
Issue Date: February 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00673-5

Keywords

Graduate student
Transgender
Nonbinary
Interdisciplinary
Affirmative