Abstract
There are significant challenges for trans and gender diverse people in higher education, both as learners and as members of staff. Our TransEDU research found that 86% of research participants had encountered barriers to their learning or work which they directly attributed to their trans or gender diverse status (Lawrence & Mckendry, Supporting transgender and non-binary students and staff in further and higher education: Practical advice for colleges and universities. Jessica Kingsley, 2019; Mckendry and Lawrence, TransEDU Scotland: Researching the experience of trans and gender diverse applicants, students and staff in Scotland’s colleges and universities. Research report, 2017a). This chapter will therefore explore two strategies, as case studies. Both have the potential to subvert current patterns of isolation, raise awareness and empower students and staff to be allies: the creation of champion groups or networks to advance and implement inclusion work; and the designation of a trained and well-publicised named contact for trans people within institutions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
This of course applies only to students and staff who wish to be allies; a proportion are disengaged from many forms of ‘equalities’ and ‘diversity’ work, such as gender equality, ethnicity equality, etc.
References
Ahmed, S. (2012). On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Ahmed, S. (2017). Living a feminist life. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Beemyn, G. (Ed.). (2019). Trans people in higher education. New York, NY: State University of New York Press.
Buttle UK. (2019). Quality Mark for care leavers. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.buttleuk.org/about-us/quality-mark-for-care-leavers
City of Glasgow College. (2017). Support for transgender students at super college. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk/news-events/news/support-transgender-students-super-college
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). (2014). Equality Act 2010 technical guidance on further and higher education. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/equalityact2010-technicalguidance-feandhe-2015.pdf
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). (2018). Effectiveness of the PSED specific duties in Scotland. Research report. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/effectiveness-of-psed-specific-duties-scotland.pdf
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). (2019). Overview of the public sector equality duty. Retrieved February 2020, from https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/corporate-reporting/public-sector-equality-duty
Equality Challenge Unit (ECU). (2009). The experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans staff and students in higher education: Research report 2009. AdvanceHE. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/lgbt-staff-and-students-in-he
Government Equalities Office (GEO). (2018). LGBT action plan: Improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Policy paper. London: Government Equalities Office. Retrieved December 2019, from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/721367/GEO-LGBT-Action-Plan.pdf
Harrison, N. (2019a). Patterns of participation in higher education for care-experienced students in England: Why has there not been more progress? Studies in Higher Education. Retrieved December 2019, from https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1582014
Harrison, N. (2019b, August 14). Are care leavers really more likely to go to prison than university? ExChange Wales. Retrieved December 2019, from http://www.exchangewales.org/single-post/2019/08/14/Are-care-leavers-really-more-likely-to-go-to-prison-than-university
Hines, S. (2010). Recognising diversity? The gender recognition act and transgender citizenship. In S. Hines & T. Sanger (Eds.), Transgender identities: Towards a social analysis of gender diversity (pp. 87–105). New York, NY: Routledge.
Hochschild, A. (2003). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. London: University of California Press.
Lave, J. (1991). Situating learning in communities of practice. Perspectives on Socially Shared Cognition, 2, 63–82.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lawrence, M., & Mckendry, S. (2019). Supporting transgender and non-binary students and staff in further and higher education: Practical advice for colleges and universities. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Lawrence, M., & Taylor, Y. (2019). The UK government LGBT action plan: Discourses of progress, enduring stasis, and LGBTQI+ lives ‘getting better’. Critical Social Policy. Retrieved December 2019, from https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018319877284
Mckendry, S., & Lawrence, M. (2017a). TransEDU Scotland: Researching the experience of trans and gender diverse applicants, students and staff in Scotland’s colleges and universities. Research report. Glasgow, Scotland: University of Strathclyde. Retrieved December 2019, from https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/files-asset/69432011/Mckendry_Lawrence_TransEDU_2017_TransEdu_Scotland_Researching_the_experience_of_trans_and_gender.pdf
Mckendry, S., & Lawrence, M. (2017b). Case study: Named contact for trans students. TransEDU. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.trans.ac.uk/CaseStudies/NamedContactforTransStudents/tabid/7378/Default.aspx
Mckendry, S., & Lawrence, M. (2018). Empowering leadership to support transgender students and staff within higher education: What works to raise awareness and effect change? AdvanceHE. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.strath.ac.uk/media/ps/sees/wideningaccess/research/SDP-empowering-leadership-to-support-staff-students-in-he.pdf
National Union of Students (NUS). (2015). Education beyond the straight and narrow: LGBT students’ experience in higher education. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.nus.org.uk/global/lgbt-research.pdf
Nicolazzo, Z. (2017). Trans in college: Transgender students’ strategies for navigating campus life and the institutional politics of inclusion. Sterling, VA: Stylus Press.
O’Neill, L., Harrison, N., Fowler, N., & Connelly, G. (2019). ‘Being a student with care experience is very daunting’: Findings from a survey of care experienced students in Scottish colleges and universities. Glasgow: Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.celcis.org/files/9115/6147/3751/SFC_Report_FINAL_for_web_and_print.docx.pdf
Scottish Funding Council (SFC). (2018a). SFC guidance: Guidance for the development of University Outcome Agreements: 2019–20 to 2021–22. Ref.: SFC/GD/21/2018. Retrieved December 2019, from http://www.sfc.ac.uk/web/FILES/guidance_sfcgd212018/SFCGD212018_University_Outcome_Agreement_Guidance_2019-20.pdf
Scottish Funding Council (SFC). (2018b). Guidance for the development of College Outcome Agreements: 2019–20 to 2021–22. Ref.: SFC/GD/22/2018. Retrieved December 2019, from http://www.sfc.ac.uk/web/FILES/guidance_sfcgd222018/SFCGD222018_College_Outcome_Agreement_Guidance_2019-20.pdf
Scottish Government. (2018). Review of the Gender Recognition Act 2004: Consultation analysis. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.gov.scot/publications/review-gender-recognition-act-2004-analysis-responses-public-consultation-exercise-report/pages/3/
Stonewall. (2018). LGBT in Britain – University report. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.stonewall.org.uk/sites/default/files/lgbt_in_britain_universities_report.pdf
Stonewall. (2019). Setting up an LGBT employee network group. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.stonewall.org.uk/setting-up-an-LGBT-employee-network-group
Taylor, Y. (2013). Queer encounters of sexuality and class: Navigating emotional landscapes of academia. Emotion, Space and Society, 8, 51–58.
Taylor, Y. (2018). Navigating the emotional landscapes of academia: Queer encounters. In Y. Taylor & K. Lahad (Eds.), Feeling academic in the neoliberal university: Feminist flights, fights and failures (Palgrave studies in gender and education series) (pp. 61–86). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Tzanakou, C., & Pearce, R. (2019). Moderate feminism within or against the neoliberal university? The example of Athena SWAN. Gender, Work and Organization, 26(8), 1191–1211.
Universities and College Admissions Service (UCAS). (2017). End of cycle report. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/ucas-undergraduate-releases/ucas-undergraduate-analysis-reports/2017-end-cycle-report
University of Bristol LGBT+ Staff Network. (2019). LGBT+ staff network – March 2019. Retrieved December 2019, from https://mailchi.mp/c64523e14044/staff-lgbt-network-newsletter-march-2019?e=b4ac99bd04
University of Bristol Students’ Union (Bristol SU). (2016). Trans students network. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.bristolsu.org.uk/groups/bristol-su-trans-students-network
University of Glasgow. (2019). LGBT+ network for staff and postgraduate students. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/lgbtnetwork/
Wenger-Trayner, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015). Introduction to communities of practice: A brief overview of the concept and its uses. Retrieved December 2019, from http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mckendry, S., Lawrence, M. (2020). Trans Inclusive Higher Education: Strategies to Support Trans, Non-Binary and Gender Diverse Students and Staff. In: Crimmins, G. (eds) Strategies for Supporting Inclusion and Diversity in the Academy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43593-6_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43593-6_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-43592-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-43593-6
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)