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Practices to Best Serve Trans and Non-Binary Students in Higher Education

Emma Stubbe

Department of Higher Education and Student Affairs, Western Carolina University

HESA 530: Diversity in Higher Education

Dr. Needham Yancey Gulley

March 23, 2022

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Practices to Best Serve Trans and Non-Binary Students in Higher Education

The current state of higher education and student affairs functions around the concept of

cisnormativity, defined as “the belief that there are only two genders and that bodies define

gender, such that persons assigned female at birth will identify as girls/women, and those

assigned male at birth will identify as boys/men” (Goldberg et al, 2019, p. 1). Because this is the

ideology that is ingrained in systems of higher education, trans and non-binary faculty, staff, and

students are not only not getting the support they need, they can also be harmed. According to

Goldberg (2019, p.3) and Nowicki (2019, p.7) trans students have higher exposure to harassment

and discrimination on campus, leading them to feel emotionally threatened, and sometimes

concealing their gender identity to avoid such harm. Nonbinary identifying students may

experience resistance to their identity and gender expression, causing a similar emotional harm

(Goldberg, 2019, p.3). In 2017, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)

found that “20% of millennials survey identified as something other than cisgender,” and the

percentage is predicted to be even higher for Gen Z, in which “exploration of gender is seen as a

standard expression of self” (Nowicki, 2019, p.2). Higher education and student affairs

professionals should be consistently educated to adapt to the continuous change that is the

college student body, as well as help to create larger change within the systems within higher

education institutions. To achieve this, institutions can take to and enforce practices such as

acknowledging cisgender privilege and understanding cisgender impact in institutions, offer

programing and policies that foster inclusivity of students who identify outside the gender

binary, and consistently recruit transgender and non-binary faculty and staff.
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Practices

Higher education institutions need to thoroughly acknowledge the privilege of cisgender

administrators, faculty, staff, and students that are a part of their campuses. Higher education

institutions were built for cisgender students and are still centering and serving cisgender

students, despite using progressive and inclusive language within creeds and mission statements.

(Goldberg et al., 2020, p.1). Faculty and staff need to be actively combating and critiquing

practices that fuel cisnormativity to help prevent the harm of trans and non-binary identifying

students. According to Goldberg (2018), “an authentic critique of cisnormativity not only

considers gender but its intersection with social class and race, whereby cisgender identities are

especially privileged when “accompanied by the appearance of normative race, class, ability, and

nationality”” (p.2). Catering to and centering white, upper-class, cisgender students in higher

education settings can be problematic, especially when “transgender, gender-nonconforming, and

gender-nonbinary college students suffer two to four times more than their cisgender classmates

from mental-health problems, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-injury, and

suicidality” (Kafka, 2019, p.1). When trans, non-binary, and gender nonconforming students are

at a higher risk for mental-health related issues, professionals need to offer resources and support

to help combat that issue.

While discussing recommendations for accommodating trans and non-binary students in

the future, Goldberg writes about changes and implementation within policies, procedures, and

programs. Regarding policy, Goldberg (2018) suggests that “colleges and universities should

explicitly include gender identity and expression in their nondiscrimination policies” (p.13).

Goldberg (2018) also states that higher education institutions should create curriculum and

trainings that are specifically geared toward trans and non-binary students and should clearly
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address and center trans and non-binary identities and experiences (p.13). Goldberg (2018) also

writes how it is important that students, faculty, and staff have the ability to not only use their

chosen name and pronouns, but they are able to use it on any records or documents including,

but not limited to, their school ID cards, and class rosters (p.14) (Beemyn, 2015, p.1). Trans and

non-binary students should also be provided and have access to spaces specifically catered to

them to help ensure their safety and comfortability. These spaces can include trans and non-

binary accommodating residence halls, gender neutral bathrooms, and spaces where they know

they can access resources, such as LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer,

intersex, asexual) centers on campus (Goldberg, 2018, pp.14-15)(Beemyn, 2015, p.1). Finally,

Goldberg (2018) states that it is also important that higher education institutions are providing

counseling and health services staff that are properly trained and prepared with trans and non-

binary inclusive practices (p.15).

It is important that higher education institutions are making an effort to combat

cisnormativity by actively recruiting trans and non-binary identifying faculty and staff.

According to an article by Garvey and Rankin (2016):

A diverse faculty… enhances the educational quality and outcomes for all students, not

just those who are underrepresented or underserved… most college and university

diversity plans call for a strengthening of faculty search procedures to increase the hiring

of individuals from underrepresented groups. (p.1)

Although Garvey and Rankin emphasize the importance of hiring trans and non-binary faculty

and staff in their article, their study argues that trans and non-binary faculty and staff are more

likely than their cisgender counterparts to leave their positions due to their own experiences of

hostility and discrimination on college campuses. They state that “colleges and universities
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remain largely unsupportive environments for queer/trans-spectrum people because of climates

that are of homophobic, transphobic, heterosexist, and genderist” (Garvey & Rankin, 2016, p.2).

Campus climates are able to host homophobia and transphobia when they are not actively

combating cisnormativity and are not taking active measures to ensure the comfort and safety of

LGBTQIA+ students, staff, and faculty. Although higher educations must recruit trans and non-

binary students, the problem arises that they may be recruiting people who may be unwelcomed

by coworkers and students they may work with. However, this probable issue solidifies the

importance to increase inclusive hiring efforts and provide representative faculty and staff that

students can confide in when facing issues of hate and discrimination of their own. Garvey and

Rankin’s study found that “faculty considered leaving because of oppressive workplace

environments that reinforced genderism and transphobia,” (2016, p.10) so it is important that

higher education institutions look inward to change policies that systemically cater to

heterosexual, cisgender faculty, staff, and students.

Conclusion

Literature and research have shown that contemporary higher education institutions still

perpetuate cisnormativity, which can harm trans and non-binary students that these institutions

are attempting to serve. By acknowledging cisgender privilege, offering programing and policies

that foster inclusivity of students who identify outside the gender binary, and consistently

recruiting transgender and non-binary faculty and staff, higher education institutions can begin to

move in the right direction and help to eliminate the current inevitable harm that trans and non-

binary students face. There are many institutions that actively choose to remain ignorant on trans

and non-binary related issues and by doing so are limiting the success of trans and non-binary

students on their campuses. By taking these articles and studies into consideration, current and
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future higher education and student affairs practitioners can utilize practices that will help trans

and non-binary students maintain happiness, feel safe, and achieve academic success.
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References

Beemyn, G. (2015, October 23). Leaving No Trans College Student Behind. Chronicle of Higher

Education, 62(8), 1.

https://login.proxy195.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=aph&AN=110524193&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Garvey, J. C., & Rankin, S. (2018). The Influence of Campus Climate and Urbanization on

Queer-Spectrum and Trans-Spectrum Faculty Intent to Leave. Journal of Diversity in

Higher Education, 11(1), 67–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000035

Goldberg, A. E., Kuvalanka, K., & dickey, lore. (2019). Transgender Graduate Students’

Experiences in Higher Education: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Study. Journal of

Diversity in Higher Education, 12(1), 38–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000074

Goldberg, A. E., Smith, J. Z., & Beemyn, G. (2020). Trans activism and advocacy among

transgender students in higher education: A mixed methods study. Journal of Diversity in

Higher Education, 13(1), 66–84. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000125

Kafka, A. C. (2019, August 23). Trans Students Are Found Far More Likely Than Others to

Suffer From a Host of Psychological Problems. Chronicle of Higher Education, 65(40),

103. https://login.proxy195.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/

login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=139028369&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Nowicki, E. (2019). Supporting Trans and Nonbinary Community Success in Higher Education:

A New Paradigm. College and University, 94(1), 2–9. https://www.aacrao.org/research-

publications/quarterly-journals/college-university-journal/issue/c-u-vol.-94-no.-1-winter-

2019
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UCLA School of Law Williams Institute. (2018, August). Transgender Students in Higher

Education. Abbie E. Goldberg. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/trans-

students-higher-education/