Poster #80 - Dismantling Discrimination: A Qualitative Assessment of Transgender and Nonbinary Youth’s Interpersonal and Institutional School-Based Discrimination

• In Event: Poster Session 03

Abstract

Transgender and gender nonbinary (TNB) youth experience discrimination, bullying, and exclusion in their schools at astounding rates. This victimization leaves a vast majority of transgender youth (65-69%) feeling unsafe in school because of their gender expression, which translates into poorer physical and psychological health, lower academic performance, and higher rates of absenteeism, school transfer, and drop-out (Kosciw et al., 2019).
Early literature on TNB school-based discrimination (SBD) focused primarily on interpersonal bullying/victimization in schools, often neglecting systemic attributes (e.g., bathroom/locker room victimization). Progress has been made towards an inclusive understanding of TNB SBD, yet measures utilized in the field are not specific to the school environment, are merely adapted/applied from measures not created for the TNB community (e.g., Aragon et al., 2014; Fahs, 2021), or haven't been psychometrically assessed. GLSEN’s (2019) National School Climate Survey—the most comprehensive measure of SBD specific to the TNB population, is not widely used and its psychometric properties are not presented.
An accurate representation of the school environment is necessary to determine if current measures of discrimination are adequately reflective of TNB lived experiences–information that can only be obtained from the TNB population. To date, there is no qualitative assessment of the complex interpersonal and institutional domains of TNB SBD, so it is unknown if even the most comprehensive measure fully captures the extent of TNB SBD. This study prioritizes TNB counter-narratives as the primary source in our understanding of the unique lived experiences of institutional and interpersonal TNB SBD.
13 TNB participants, over the age of 18, who attended a U.S. high school, were recruited for the study through in-person and online communities that provide support and representation to TNB people. Participants identified as 1 nonbinary woman, 2 transgender men, 4 trans-masculine nonbinary, 5 nonbinary, and 1 genderqueer individuals (Mage=22.77). 11 participants identified as White, 1 Hispanic/White, and 1 Black/South-Asian. Focus groups included 3-4 participants, lasted 1.5-2 hours, and comprised 4 open-ended questions exploring being TNB in school, experiences of SBD and support, and potential items evaluating SBD (Table 1).
Focus groups were transcribed for thematic analysis (NVivo). Themes were categorized into interpersonal and institutional discrimination domains. Findings highlight TNB exclusion or othering in LGBTQ spaces. Additional themes emerged not found in previous measures. In the interpersonal domain this included student’s experiences with imposter syndrome and their experience being closeted and suppressing their identities in romantic relationships. In the institutional domain this included issues in sports participation, family-school interactions, and feeling unrepresented by school faculty and curricula (Table 2).
These qualitative findings demonstrate the necessity of the TNB voice to guide the literature to redesign SBD assessment and ensure the collection of valid, comprehensive, and accurate responses. With this knowledge, we are better able to inform how individuals with institutional and interpersonal power can alter TNB experiences in school through identifying and deconstructing SBD. This will lead to improvements in safety, support, and resource availability, ensuring positive development for all students.

Authors

• Liam Cohen, University of Connecticut
  Presenting Author

• Ankita Karna, University of Connecticut

• Arianna Trahiotis, University of Connecticut

• Grace Goldberg

• Alexa Udell

• Alaina Brenick, University of Connecticut