Educational Attainment of Transgender Adults: Does the Timing of Transgender Identity Development Matter?

• In Event: 523 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 18. Social Class, Sexuality, and Education: Session I

Abstract

Adolescence is a particularly difficult time to navigate a non-normative gender identity, yet transgender individuals are identifying and living as transgender for the first time in adolescence at higher rates today than in the past. While gender-related stigma and victimization against transgender students within schools persists, the social and cultural climate in which transgender adolescents navigate their identity has changed dramatically over the years. Using data from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, we address the following research questions: 1) Is experiencing trans identity milestones in adolescence as opposed to adulthood (including first recognizing oneself as different due to gender, first identifying as trans, and first living part-time as trans) associated with educational attainment?; 2) Does the association between experiencing adolescent transgender identity milestones and educational attainment vary across birth cohort?; and 3) Does this association vary by gender? Results confirm that younger birth cohorts are more likely than older cohorts to first identify as transgender and to first live part-time as transgender in adolescence. We also find that those who reported recognizing a transgender identity or living part-time as transgender in adolescence, relative to adulthood, reported lower levels of educational attainment, yet this finding was stronger among younger cohorts and among female to different gender respondents. These findings point to the adolescent years as a particularly difficult time to navigate a transgender identity, even in the midst of increased transgender awareness and resources within schools and society. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

Authors

• Lindsey Wilkinson, Portland State University

• Jennifer Pearson, Wichita State University

• Hui Liu, Michigan State University