Tr

ansi
ti
onsI
nto,
andThr
ough,
Higher

Educat
ion:TheLi
vedExper
iencesofSt
udent
sWhoI
dent
if
yasLGBTQ+
Jonat
hanGl
azzar
d1*
,Di
vyaJi
ndal
-Snape2andSamuel
Stones1

Fr
ont
ier
s

www.
fr
ont
ier
sin.
org

Uni v
er sit
yofDundee,Dundee,Uni tedKi ngdom Thi sst udyexpl orest hel iv
edexper i
encesof
student swhoi dent ifyasl esbian,gay ,bisexual ,
trans, orqueer( LGBTQ+)dur i
ngt hei rtransi ti
ons
i
nt o,andt hrough,hi ghereducat i
on.Exi stinglit
er aturepr esent stragicnar r
at i
vesofst udent s
withLGBTQ+i dent i
tieswhi chposi ti
ont hem asv ictims.Thi sst udyconcept ualizest ransitionsas
compl ex,mul ti
ple, andmul ti
-dimensi onalr atherthanl inear.Theobj ecti
v esoft hest udywer et o
explore:t helivedexper i
encesofst udent swhoi dent if
yasLGBTQ+i nhighereducat ion;t her ole
thatsexual i
tyand/ orgenderi dentitypl ayi nthei rlivesov ert hecour seoft heirst udiesand
LGBTQ+st udent s’exper i
encesoft ransi ti
onsi nto,andt hrough,hi ghereducat i
on.Thest udyi s
l
ongi tudinalindesi gnanddr awsont heexper i
encesoff ivepar ti
cipantsov ert hedur ationofa3-
yearsunder graduat ecour sei nauni versityintheUK.Met hodsusedi ncludesemi -structur ed
i
nt ervi
ews,audi odiar i
esandv i
sualmet hodst oexpl or epar t
ici
pant s’exper i
encesoft r
ansi tions.
Dat awer ecodedandanal yzedt hemat i
cally.Thisst udyuni quelyf oundt hatt hepar t
icipant s
exper i
encedMul ti
pleandMul ti
-di
mensi onalTr ansi t
ionsdur ingt heirti
meatuni versityandt hat
theset ransit
ionswer el argelyposi ti
vei ncont rastt ot hemai nl
yt ragicnar rati
v est hatar e
domi nantwi t
hi nt hepr eviousl it
erature.I naddi t
ion,t hisist hef i
rststudyt ohav eexpl oredt he
exper i
encesof LGBTQ+st udent susingal ongit
udi nalstudydesi gn.Asf araswear eawar e,no
existi
ngst udiesappl yMul t
ipleandMul ti
-dimensi onalTr ansiti
onsTheor y(MMT)t ost udent si n
highereducat ionwhoi dentif
yasLGBTQ+.
 Under
standi
ngt
heExper
iencesof

LGBTQSt
udent
sinCal
if
orni
a
ThomasHanson,
Gar
yZhang,
RebecaCer
na,
Alexi
sSt
ern,
GregAust
in

Oct
ober2019•Pr
epar
edf
orTheCal
i
for
niaEndowment

ht
tps:
//er
ic.
ed.
gov
/?i
d=ED601909

Execut
iveSummar
y

Resear chshowst hatl esbi an,gay ,bisexual ,t ransgender ,andquest ioni ngorqueer( LGBTQ)
yout har eathi ghr iskf orbul lyi
ngandv iol
encev icti
mi zat ion,poorment alheal th,alcoholand
otherdr uguse,andpooracademi cper for mance.I nCal i
f orni a,theav ailabi l
it
yofdat af rom the
Cal i
for nia Heal thy Ki ds Sur vey (CHKS) of f
er s educat or s,schooladmi nistr
ator s,and st ate
officialsani mpor tantoppor tunit
yt oexpl orehow LGBTQst udent s— andot herpopul ations—
per ceivet hei rschoolcl imat eandhowt hoseper cept i
onsr el atet ot hei racademi csuccessand
emot ional wel l-
bei ng.Pr evi
ousr esear chusi ngdat af r
om CHKShaspr oducedi mpor t
antf indings
regar dingt heexper iencesofLGBTQst udent si nCal ifor niami ddleandhi ghschool s( West Ed,
2018) .Thepr esentst udybui ldsont hisr esear chbyusi ngt woy earsofCHKSdat afrom gr ades
7,9,and 11 i n Cal i
for ni
a school st o expl or et he r elat i
onshi ps bet ween st udent s’sexual
orient ation,genderi dent i
ty,exper i
encesofbul l
y i
ngandhar assment ,emot ionalwel l-being,and
schoolcl i
mat e.Resul tsar epr esentedf ort hr eegenderi dent i
tycat egor ies( transgender ,not
transgender ,and“ notsur e” )andf orf ivesexualor i
ent at i
oncat egor ies( str
aight ,gay /lesbian,
bisexual ,“
notsur ey et,”and“ somet hi
ngel se”).Inpr eviousr esear ch, mul tiplegenderi dent ityand
sexualor ientat i
oncat egor ieshav et ypicall
ybeenaggr egat edi nt oasi ngleLGBTQ sampl e,
maki ngi tdi f
ficultt odr awconcl usionsr egardi ngdi ff
er encesi nst udent s’exper iencesbasedon
theset woaspect soft heirident i
ties.Thi srepor tdi saggr egat esdat aongenderi dent it
yand
sexualor i
ent ationi nor dert opr ovideamor ecompl eteandnuancedpi ct ureofLGBTQst udent s’
exper iencesi nschool .
 TheExper
iencesofLesbi
an,

GayandBi
sexualSt
affandSt
udent
sinHi
gherEducat
ion
Gi
l
lVal
ent
ineandNi
chol
aWood

©Equal
i
tyandHumanRi
ght
sCommi
ssi
onPubl
i
shedOct
ober2009

I
SBN9781842062197Equal
i
ty

ht
tps:
//www.
equal
i
tyhumanr
ight
s.com ›..
.PDFTheexper
iencesofl
esbi
an,
gayandbi
sexual
staffandstudent
sin..
.

 StudiesofLGBpeopl e’sexper i
encesi nschool ssuggestt hathomophobi ai sst i
l
lrifein
theseeducat ionalenv ir
onment s( St onewal l,2007;NASUWT,2003)andt hatLGBpeopl e
sti
llexpectt oexper iencedi scr i
mi nat ioni nmanywor kpl aces( Stonewal l,2008a,2008b) .
UntiltheECUr esear chonwhi cht hispaperi sbased,l i
ttlei nvest igati
onhasbeenmade
ast owhet herequal itylegi slationhasal teredLGBst af fandst udent s’exper iencesof ,or
percept ions of ,bar riers/oppor tuni ti
es wi t
hint he hi ghereducat i
on ( HE)sect orat
anational lev el (thoughseeDTIWomenandEqual it
yUni tandLGBTYout hScot land2006) .
Despi teanumberofi nitiativest ot acklei nequali
tywi thini ndiv i
dualHEI s,notoneHi gher
Educat i
onI nst itution( HEI )f eatur esi nt het op100or gani sat ionsi nSt onewal l'
sequal it
y
i
ndex ( http:// www. stonewal l.org.uk/ wor kplace/1477.asp) .Thi s suggest st hatHi gher
Educat i
on coul dl ag behi nd ot hersect orsi n proact ivelyt ackl i
ng equal i
tyf orLGB
peopl e.Gil
lVal ent i
neandNi chol aWoodwer ecommi ssi onedbyt heEqual it
yandHuman
RightsCommi ssion ( the Commi ssion)t o writ
et hissemi narsummar ypaper ,af t
er
present ingf indi ngsf rom t heEqual ityChal l
engeUni t( ECU)f undedr esear chi ntot he
exper i
encesofl esbian,gay ,bisexualandt r
ans( LGBT)st affandst udent si nHEata
semi nari nApr il2009.TheECUr esear chaboutLGBTst affandst udent s’ exper i
encesof
HEIs( ECU,2009) ,dr ew f rom anev idencebaseof4, 205r esponsesf rom t woonl ine
survey s:asur veyof2, 704LGBTst udent sandasur veyof1, 501LGBTst aff.Thispaper
focusesont hef indingsf rom t heLGBr espondent s.TheECUsur veywasdesi gnedbyt he
resear cht eam ( Prof essorGi llVal ent i
ne,Pr ofessorPaulPl ummerandDrNi cholaWood)
i
ncol labor ationwi thanECUst eer inggr oup.Itwasdi ssemi natedbyt heECUt hr
ough
equalityuni t
swi thinHEI sinEngl and, Wal esandNor ther nI reland( Scot tishHEI swerenot
 i
ncludedi nt hisst udybecauseScot landhasi t
sowni ndependentaut hori
tyf orthe
promot ionofequal i
ty)andbyt her esearchteam andst eeri
nggroupmember sthrough
unionmai lingl i
sts,academi cdi sci
pli
nemai li
ngl i
stsandt hr
oughwi derLGBTnet works.
Surveyr esponseswer er eceivedf rom 134outof149HEI sinEngl and,Wal esand
NorthernI r el
and.Ahandf ulofHEI srefusedt oci r
culateanemai laboutt hesur veyto
theirstaffandst udents.Ast heLGBTpopul ati
onoft heHEsect orisunknowni tisnot
possiblet oassesshow r epresentati
v ether espondent sareoft hispopul ati
on.The
qualit
ativeel ementoft hisr esearchincluded12f ocusgr oupsheldinsixdi f
ferentHEI s
and18i nt erviewswi thi ndividuals.Thei nst
itut
ionswher etheresearchwasconduct ed
weresampl edt oinclude: t
r adit
ionaluniversi
ti
es,post -1992univer
sit
iesandspeci ali
st.

Fi
li
pinoUni
ver
sit
ySt
udent
s’At
ti
tudeTowar
dSexualMi
nor
it
ies:I
mpl
icat
ionsf
or

I
nter
nat
ionalSt
udent
s

Kol
awol
eSamuel
Adey
emoUni
ver
sit
yofPr
etor
ia,
Sout
hAf
ri
ca

©Jour
nal
ofI
nter
nat
ional
Student
sVol
ume10,
Issue1(
2020)
,pp.203-
219

ht
tps:
//www.
ojed.
org/
index.
php/
ji
s/ar
ti
cle/
view/
1030

ABSTRACT

Whet herornotsexualmi nori

ti
esi nt he Phi l
ippineshi ghereducat i
on sy st
em ar e soci all
y
accept ableisnotcl ear.Thisar ti
clespecifi
callyinvest i
gat est heaccept anceofgayandl esbian
universit
yst udentsi nthePhi li
ppinesandi mpl i
cationsf orinter nati
onalgayorl esbi anst udent s’
socioculturaltransit
ion.Wesampl edopinionsofbot hlocalandi nternat i
onalst udent sinal lthe
academi cdepar tmentsofapr i
vateuniversityint hepr ovinceofCav i
te.Thepar ticipant swer e
selectedusi ngapr oportionatest r
ati
fi
edconv eniencesampl i
ngt echni queaccor dingt owhi ch
theywer egroupedbyacademi cdepar t
mentandchosenbasedont heirav ail
abili
ty,pr oximity,
andconv enience.Weadmi nist
eredsur vey sto368r egist eredst udent sin2011.Oft he368
questionnairesdi str
ibuted,358r esponseswer er ecei ved,whi chconst itut
esa97. 3% r esponse
rate.Usingt ransiti
ont heory,thear t
icl
ear guest hatt heat ti
tudet owar dsexualor i
ent ationhad
somenegat iveimpl i
cationsf orgayandl esbiani nternat i
onalst udent st ransiti
oni ngi ntot he
socioculturalenv i
ronmentoft hePhili
ppines.Key wor ds:highereducat ion, i
nternationalst udent s,
Phi
l
ippi
nes,
sexual
minor
it
ies,
tr
ansi
ti
on

I
NTRODUCTI
ON

Thenumberofi nternat ionalst udent si nt hePhi l

ippi neshasmor et handoubl edf r
om 26, 000i n
2011t o33, 561i n2017andi sst il
li ncr easing( At eneoDeMani laUni versity ,2013;Bur eauof
Immi grat ion,2018) .In2017,i nt ernationalst udent sconst i
tutedonl y1. 0695% oft he3, 589, 484
studentpopul at i
oni nFi li
pinohi ghereducat i
on,t hemaj ori
tyoriginat i
ngf r om Sout hKor eaand
Associ ation ofSout heastAsi an Nat ions ( ASEAN)count ri
es incl uding Thai land,Vi et nam,
Indonesi a,Mal aysia,Si ngapor e,My anmar ,andCambodi a( Commi ssiononHi gherEducat ion,
2017) .Howev er ,
ther at eofi ncr easei sst i
llqui tel owcompar edtoot herAsi ancount ri
es( Br i
ti
sh
Counci l,2015) .Thei ncr easei spossi blyduet oar isei nt henumberofaccr edi teduni v ersiti
es
and col leges per mi tted t o accepti nt ernat i
onalst udent s by t he Phi l
ippi nes Bur eau of
Immi grat ion.Thesei nst it
utionshav ei ncr easedf rom 1, 252i n2009t o2, 396i n2017,wi t
ht he
l
ar gestnumberofi nternat i
onalst udent sor i
ginat ingf rom I r
anat21. 44%.Sout hKor eanst udent s
compr i
sed19. 62%ofi nt ernationalst udent sfol lowedbyt hosefrom Chi naandASEANcount ri
es
at18. 39% and10. 97%,r espect ively;meanwhi le,23. 58% camef rom ot herpar t soft hewor ld
(AteneoDeMani laUni v ersit
y ,2013) .Asar esul t,ASEAN i snow adv ancingal ongt hepat hof
i
nt egrationofhi ghereducat ion( Hong& Songan,2011) .ASEAN i sgr adual l
ypr oceedi ngat
maki ngpossi blet hepl an“ OneVi si
on,OneI dent i
ty ,OneCommuni ty”by2015( Moeni r,2014) .
Thought heAssoci ationhasmadepr ogr essi ndr af tingpol i
cydocument sandst rategi cpl ansf or
i
mpl ement ati
on, thesegoal shav enotbeenf ullyachi eved.I nthear eaofeducat ion, fori nst ance,
acompr ehensi vest rategyi sinpl acet oachi ev ei ntegr at i
oninst udentmobi li
ty ,cr edi ttransf er,
andr ecogni ti
onofacademi cqual i
ficat i
onsby2020.Thechal l
engei st hatt hesegoal shav e
i
gnor edt hatASEANhi ghereducat i
onsy stemsv aryi nt ermsofnat ionalpol icyandal soi nt heir
l
ev elofr esour cest oi mpl ementt hesett arget s.Onecr iti
calfactort hathasal sobeeni gnor edi s
thesoci ocul tur alenvironmentoft heASEANhi gheri nst ituti
onsandi tsimpactonachi evingt hese
goalsi n2020.Thesef act orsar esoci al,t echni cal,anddeepl ypol iti
cal.Essent ially,itwi l
lmake
i
mpl ement ati
onofgoal smor ecompl exsi mpl ybecauseoft hesheerhet er ogenei tyoft he
ASEANhi ghereducat ionsy stems.I not herwor ds,

whilekeepinginmi ndthatoneoft heASEANobj ecti

vesi sthecreati
onofaSout heastAsi an
i
dent i
ty,i
tmeanst hereisalsothefearofsociocult
uralchall
engesforinternati
onalstudentsin
some i nsti
tut
ions (Adeyemo,2019) .The aspirati
on ist o underpint he incorporat
ion of
univer
siti
esacrossSout heastAsi
atoeasest udentmobi l
ityamongot herthings,whichisseen
asamaj orpri
ori
tytounitetheASEANhighereducationsystem.Fil
ipi
noy outhhav ealwaysbeen
atthef oref
rontofsocialmov ementsandt hebellwethersofsocialchangei nt hePhi l
i
ppines
(Jacob,2002).Wher easuniver
sit
ystudent
scompr i
seal argenumberofy outh( wi
thamedi an
ageofj ustover23y ear
s),peopl
eofgenderandsexualmi nori
ti
eshaveof tenfoundt hemselves
theobj ectofscruti
nywi thar el
ati
velydiff
erentlevelofaccept anceandr ecognition( Human
RightsWat ch,2016).Manyst udiesony outh,especiall
ythosedealingwithsexual i
ty,tendtobe
mor ali
sti
candemot ional;oftent hesestudiessubor di
nateempi r
icalfi
ndingsf orpol i
cyanal ysi
s
eit
herf orpoli
ti
calorr eli
giousends( Lanuza,2003) .Manyhi ghereducat i
oni nstit
utionsi nthe
Phil
ippinesar eunli
kelyt o pr edictthecompl exityof“ homonegat i
vit
y”ont hesoci ocul
tural
experiencesofinter
nationalst udents.Homonegat ivi
tysimplymeansi ntell
ectualdi sapprovalof
thel i
festyl
esofgenderandsexualmi nori
ti
es( Blaauw,2012) .Thisisasi tuati
onwher eby
i
ndiv i
dualswithsexualor i
entat i
onandgenderdi versi
tyencounterbarri
ersofpeopl eaccept i
ng
thei
rown.

Quest
ions:

1.Whatarethel
i
vedexper
iencesoft
heLGBTQ+st
udent
swhot
ransi
ti
oni
ngt
hroughhi
gher
educat
ioni
nTUPV?

2.Doy ouagreethatt
heatt
it
udetowardsexualor
ient
ati
onhadsomenegativ
ei mpl
i
cati
onsf
or
gay and lesbi
an TUPV st
udent
st ransi
ti
oni
ng intothe soci
ocul
tur
alenvi
ronmentofthe
Phi
li
ppines?

Bat
erna,
JohnRVG.

Camal
on,
Set
hD.

Cuzon,
JobenKy
leA.

Fr
anci
sco,
JhonMar
cQ.

Odenci
o,Cl
arkVi
ncentD.

Pagunsan,
Denj
i
eL.

BET1-
B

03/
10/
23