The Transgender Student Experience:
Paving Pathways Toward Educational Success and Beyond
Jessica Valerio
Southeastern Oklahoma State University
The Transgender Student Experience: Paving Pathways Toward Educational Success and Beyond
Introduction
Most international research on transgender and gender diverse students has focused on
medical and psychological interventions, risk determinants, negative pathways and victimization. This
focus, and the recruitment methods associated with it reinforces negative stereotypes of transgender
people as living risky lives. However, the evidence that institutions can mistreat these young people is
strong. (Jones, Smith, Ward, Dixon, Hillier & Mitchell, 2016).
This paper will attempt to switch the focus toward trans students’ needs, and what educational
professionals can do to ease the burdens these children carry. To shed more light on the specific
roadblocks that impede the educational success of transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC)
youth, this paper analyzed studies of transgender students from different parts of America, including
California and New Mexico, as well as different countries, including Canada, Australia, The U.K. and
Norway. Although a few of the studies examined looked at trans youth in elementary school, the
majority of the studies were of high-school aged or slightly older participants. Most of the research
found was qualitative in nature, with surveys being a common tool used, although there were many
interviews found not only of gender variant youth, but of educational professionals as well.
Review of Literature
This paper is organized into three major categories; School Experiences (including teachers,
counselors, peers, curriculum, and educational outcomes), Health and Safety, and Life After School (in
which the life satisfaction of transgender young adults is analyzed to identify the ongoing impacts of
negative school experiences). The lives of transgender youth of color (YOC) will be individually
evaluated, as well as major technological impacts on the trans and gender variant communities.
School Experiences
Teachers
Educators have the potential to serve as fantastic advocates for TGNC students in schools. It is
disappointing then that research demonstrates many educational professionals reporting unawareness
of how to work with trans students. In a 2014 qualitative analysis by Payne and Smith, elementary
school teachers who have taught a trans or non-binary student participated in interviews geared to
voice their concerns. It was shown that teachers often connected their unawareness of how to educate
trans children correctly to the failure of university programs to teach about the subject. None of the
participants in Payne and Smith’s study had even heard any mention of ‘transgender’ in their
professional training programs. These participants went on to confirm that LGBTQ topics received less
attention than other areas of diversity in their coursework, if not ignored altogether. As such, Payne and
Smith deduce that future school professionals have few opportunities in their training programs to
reflect on the likelihood that at some point, they will be working with LGBTQ or gender nonconforming
children.
For most participants in this study, the initial reaction to the presence of a transgender student
was summarized as “fear.” The words that participants most frequently used to describe their own
response and/or characterize the responses of their colleagues include "freak out," "panic," "crisis,"
"fear," and "unprepared." Of the multiple fears expressed by these educators, the main ones were
“reprisals from parents” for supporting a trans student in the same class as their own child and being
seen as “endorsing” transgender identity in a community that may not. These fears have been
"influenced by the explicit notion that Transgender children introduce the body and, implicitly, sexuality
into the classroom, and schools are havens of childhood 'innocence,'" where children are "untouched"
by the "sex" and "sexuality" concerns of the adult world. (Payne & Smith, 2014)
Many transgender students wish to navigate school as stealthily as possible by specifically not
having other students know their trans status. In the same Payne and Smith study, educators
acknowledged that they had an obligation to honor transgender students' right to privacy, but their
fears about "keeping this quiet" were not totally focused on preserving confidentiality. It was implied by
some of these teachers that a transgender student's right to privacy should end at the moment when
other students may be personally affected by a peer's non-normative gender identity or expression.
This carries the implication that being too close to a transgender child could negatively affect, even
traumatize other kids, framing transgender children as dangerous and creating a boundary between
them and their peers. (Payne & Smith, 2014)
In regard to the place of teachers in the decisions of trans student’s needs, Frohard-Dourlent
performed, in 2018, qualitative interviews of 36 Canadian educators on this very topic. What often came
up doing these interactions was the ‘student in charge’ narrative, which suggests that educators should
follow the lead of the trans student themself to best support them. This idea, which places the student
in charge, was worrisome to many of the evaluated teachers of this study, with many citing a child’s
young age as often not sufficient for making decisions of gender identity. This is a very complex issue
with more and more children transitioning at young ages, but is it the job of educational professionals to
dictate what the lived experiences should be for trans youth? Frohard-Dourlent feels that educationally,
a fair approach might be creating systemic changes where educational spaces offer fewer pressures of
gender and sexual conformity. They go on to say that if educators - including teachers, administrators
and non-teaching staff want to support trans students, they must make changes to enable these
students to be recognized and integrated into established school practices.
Counselors
School social workers and other school-based counseling professionals are even more uniquely
positioned to help bridge gaps between trans students and their peers, families, and other school staff
as they offer one to one safe talk sessions with their pupils. These dialogues can only be beneficial
however if the trans student believes the counselor to be unprejudiced, and furthermore, trustworthy.
In a 2017 online interview platform with gender diverse Australian adolescents, Jones, et. al.
found that participants who attended government schools were more likely to indicate that counselling
provision was appropriate for them compared to those from religious-based schools. One trans male
participant of the Jones, et. al interview commented that religious and psychological counselling at his
Christian school were not separated out; 'the only counselling that I knew of in school was from our
school Chaplain (who was) the last person I would feel comfortable talking to about my gender identity'.
Trans youth are often all too aware of such pre-conceived notions held by adults, as it can be a lifeprotecting decision to keep their feelings to themselves. This silence is a double-edged sword however,
and often leaves trans youth left to their own devices. As such, it is critical that more training be given to
school counselors toward gaining the trust of trans youth.
Peers
As likely expected, peer victimization at school has shown itself to be one, if not the single major
source of stress on transgender and gender variant students according to most research conducted. In a
2019 California study of ethnically diverse trans adolescents, Hatchel, Valido, De Pedro, Huang &
Espelage explored the relations among peer victimization, school belonging and mental health. They
found that about 90% of transgender students heard negative remarks about their gender expression,
and more than half reported being physically harassed in the past year because of their gender
expression. When compared to their cisgender peers, transgender youth reported a lower level of
institutional support in their schools, as well as higher rates of staff perpetrated harassment. Peer
victimization is no longer solely allocated to the classroom either, with reports of text, email, app and
social media outlets being used.
Conversely, A key protective factor found for gender diverse and transgender students was
‘support from classmates.’ Participants in the 2016 Jones (et al.) online survey of Australian transgender
and gender variant High School students showed that those who had supportive classmates were shown
as less likely to experience school harassment and discrimination. The study also shows that a majority
of their survey participants without supportive classmates reported experiencing 'social exclusion,’ as
well as having rumors spread about them. Additionally, this unsupported group reported being more
likely to move schools (27% compared to 7% with supportive classmates); miss classes (47 vs. 22%); and
hide at recess/lunch (50 vs. 21%).
Accounts given in both the survey and interview data revealed that speaking out against such
incidents was more difficult for a transgender or gender diverse student to do without the aid of peers.
It should be noted however that it was not just from other students that respondents report hearing
trans-phobic remarks. Respondents in more than one study analyzed showed reports of hearing
negative remarks about gender expression from teachers or other school staff. When your caregivers
are your bullies, to whom do you turn?
Curriculum
Some subjects more than others in schools unnecessarily enforce the gender binary. According
to Jones (et al.), Sex Education and Physical Education were two courses that proved distressing for their
participants. With respect to Sex Education, two-thirds of survey participants rated their schools'
curriculum as mostly inappropriate, and less than 10% as mostly appropriate. Students at Christian
schools were most likely to indicate that their Sexuality Education was mostly inappropriate, with no
students finding it mostly appropriate. Puberty Education garnered similar results, with over half of the
participants reporting the curriculum as mostly inappropriate. One Female to Male survey participant
Nathan (21 years) explained, 'sex education class did not mention trans or intersex' and characterized
his Puberty Education teachers as “mostly intolerant staff.” Boston, a gender-questioning survey
participant (18 years), noted that curriculum for these courses in their all-girls school was very limited;
“we are told to be ‘lady-like.’ Our Sex Ed. was appalling.”
Physical Education as well still remains a largely gendered course. Besides locker rooms acting as
nightmare zones for most trans youth, the course activities themselves are those in which gender often
is used to assess ability as well as to group students. It is no wonder then that school sports, which are
usually offered as extracurricular activities, only show 12% regular participation by TGNC youth
according to a 2018 statistical analysis by Zou, Szczesniak, Teeters, Conard & Grossoehme. A further 64%
of these youth claimed to “never” participate, compared with a national average of 61% in a survey of
8th, 10th, and 12th grade students. Schools continuing to utilize trans-exclusive or overly binary
curriculum can only serve to further marginalize trans and gender-variant students.
Educational Outcomes
In the same Zou (et. al.) study, it was discovered that nearly 18% of their LGBT youth
participants missed one or more school days (in the month prior to the study) due to feeling unsafe or
uncomfortable, with many reporting low school functioning while attending. Clearly, a major hurdle in
the educational success of trans youth is the removal of the causes of these fears. But what are these
fears exactly? Of these same (Zou, et.al) participants, it was shown that nearly 22% reported verbal
harassment related to gender expression. Social isolation and marginalization are two other possible
reasons for this absenteeism, according to (Ullman, 2017). In their online qualitative study of Australian
gender diverse secondary students, they found that this poor treatment was perpetrated not only by
peers, but staff as well. Ullman goes on to claim that these experiences are not only linked to a lowered
sense of school belonging and connection to school, but also to diminished educational outcomes,
including difficulty concentrating, lower academic self-concept, and lower academic achievement.
In a 2019 phenomenological study of a school system in Albuquerque, Goodrich and Barnard
agree that there appear to be academic effects to the mistreatment of TGNC students. They cite gradepoint averages reporting at least one half point lower for those students facing harassment than not,
and those who had been harassed were half as likely to plan to pursue post-secondary education. This
clearly indicates a systemic issue in which negative schooling experiences for trans individuals can
directly lead to lowered future life success.
Health and Safety Concerns
Health
Many do not think about the health factors related to being trans. In 2018, using statistical
analysis, Zou (et. al) sought to quantify the health-related quality of life (HRLOQ) of transgender and
gender non-conforming youth (TNG) and compare these participants with physically healthy children as
well as those with varying physical illnesses. Many of their findings were astonishing; They showed that
TGN youth reported significantly lower physical health, psychosocial health, emotional functioning, and
social functioning in comparison not only to healthy gender normative children, but to children with
illnesses such as diabetes, gastrointestinal conditions, cardiac and psychiatric disorders.
Although no other studies were found that examine the issue of trans youth’s physical health,
the lowered psychosocial, emotional, and social functioning found by Zou, et. al. is in complete
congruence with other studies reviewed in this paper.
Safety
As mentioned earlier, fear of safety has caused trans and gender-variant youth to take days off
of school. In a 2019 case study by Goodrich and Barnard, students of one Albuquerque school district
were surveyed. It found that a vast number of students reported missing a day at school specifically due
to concerns of school safety. They went on to find that harassment and assault were commonly
reported by gender diverse students, with 54.5% reporting hearing verbal insults, 20.3% having been
physically harassed (pushed or shoved), and 9.4% reporting physical assault (punched, kicked, or injured
with a weapon). Additionally, a majority of students reported choosing to avoid school functions or
extracurricular activities because of these same feelings. The Jones et. al. 2016 Australian survey agreed
with Goodrich and Barnard’s information, finding similar numbers in their study. Jones et. al. went on to
add that the most common location where the actual abuse took place for their participants was on the
street (40%), closely followed by school (38%).
It cannot be ignored the connection between these forms of harassment and suicidality.
According to Zou et. al., TGN persons reporting gender-based violence at school were almost four times
as likely to report a suicide attempt as those not experiencing gender-based violence; numbers that are
mirrored in the Jones et. al study. This evidence should make it glaringly obvious then that lack of
personal safety is indeed a major roadblock in educational success of our trans youth.
Life After School
More recently, research has shown what all of us whom have been bullied have always known,
which is that the impacts of bullying are not only immediate to students but can last a lifetime. In a 2020
Norwegian Study by Anderssen, Sivertsen, Lønning and Malterud, the ‘life satisfaction’ of TGNC graduate
students was compared with their cisgender counterparts (all with a median age around 24). Perhaps
unsurprisingly, Anderssen et.al. found that the transgender individuals in their study reported
significantly lower life satisfaction than did the cisgender individuals. Results showed that a majority of
both binary and non-binary transgender individuals reported life dissatisfaction, with high accounts of
loneliness, lack of companionship and isolation compared with cisgender males and females.
Mental health problems were significantly more frequently reported among these TGNC young
adults compared with their cisgender counterparts. According to the Norwegian study, binary and nonbinary transgender individuals showed approximately triple the levels of reported anxiety, depression
symptoms, self-harm and suicidal ideation compared to their cisgender counterparts.
In America, the first national report to specifically address transgender persons, ‘Injustice at
Every Turn’ (2011) showed that transgender persons were twice as likely to be unemployed and almost
four times more likely to live below the poverty line when compared to their cisgender peers. In
agreeance with the Norwegians, these respondents listed a host of psychological risk factors including
risk or history of suicide attempts (Goodrich & Barnard, 2019).
Over in the UK, a survey of 889 transgender adults also showed similar experiences, with 84%
reported having considered suicide, with 35% attempting it. Additionally, these participants reported
higher rates of discrimination in mental health and general health services. (Jones, et al, 2016).
These numbers highlight the need for education of not trans people, but the cisgender
community, in who and what trans people are, and what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate
interaction. None of the studies analyzed in this paper mention murder, but this section would be remiss
in ignoring the astronomical rates that exist around the world in the murder of transgender individuals,
particularly of trans women of color. As such, the yearly Transgender Day of Remembrance was created
in 1999 to honor those whose lives were taken that year.
Implications for Diverse Populations
Trans Youth of Color
Research assessing trans youth of color (YOC) as well as other trans diversities are in their very
early stages. Of the findings we do have, it has been suggested that transgender YOC lack connection to
peers, adults, and teacher support, while also being exposed to heteronormative, cisnormative, and
white European ethnocentric school culture and curriculum. (Hatchel, Valido, De Pedro, Huang &
Espelage, 2019). Moreover, transgender YOC may feel uncomfortable seeking support. For instance,
qualitative research has found that gender non-conforming YOC may not join LGBT empowerment
groups at school (i.e., GSAs), because they may define their gender identities differently from their white
peers. In addition, school safety and anti-bullying programs aimed at gender inclusion may fail to
address the intersections of an LGBT identity with racial and ethnic identity (Hatchel et. al. 2019).
This evidence is further highlighted by Craig, McInroy & Austin’s 2018 study in which they agree that
school-based services for LGBT youths such as GSAs poorly serve ethnoracial minority, transgender and
gender nonconforming students.
In Hatchel (et. al)’s study, it was found that victimization may exert a greater impact on mental
health among transgender YOC when compared to white peers because they may lack key protective
factors in the school environment. Understanding minority stress among transgender YOC has been
difficult to achieve in past studies, with researchers noting the challenge of generating sufficiently large
samples of ethnic minority transgender youth. As such, Hatchel (et. al) claims more research
systematically examining victimization and mental health among transgender YOC is needed.
LGBT Youth of Lower Socio-Economic Status
On the topic of socio-economic status, it likely that hostile school environments (e.g. bullying,
unsafe regulations, peer exclusion and lack of support) discourage further education for TGNC students,
helping facilitate systemic poverty.
Craig McInroy & Austin’s study found that LGBT students residing in "higher poverty
communities report[ed] more victimization in school as did those residing in less educated and rural
communities.” They discovered these communities often provide less access to resources and targeted
support, as well as more hostile community attitudes toward LGBT populations. Students in schools in
the southern region of the United States were also shown to experience greater victimization and
additionally less likely to access these resources. McInroy and Austin deduce that students struggling to
deal with such significant concerns cannot be expected to excel academically. More statistical analysis
however connecting the negative schooling experiences of trans youth to lowered socio-economic
status is still needed for more conclusive results.
Implications for Technology
The internet has become by all accounts the biggest haven for the trans community. From
resources on self-discovery, physical transition, legal resources and just simply knowing that you are not
alone, the internet has radicalized trans life by creating a community where a physical one often does
not exist. The internet offers a safe space from those whom instill fear in the ‘real world.’ Millions of
people are educated about trans issues everyday thanks to the internet. Trans youth in particular have
taken to the internet, not only to educate themselves, but others as well. They have created content for
social media, universities, healthcare organizations, and scholarly websites.
The transgender community has an extensive history in the field of technology according to
(Erlick 2018). The explosion of digital industries in the 1990s gave way to the proliferation of
transgender people, particularly young trans female programmers, entering these communities and
influencing digital media. Today, this history continues with trans youth and trans of color in particular
leading the way in educating the world on “the most critical issues the community still faces; visibility,
awareness, and tolerance.” (Erlick 2018)
With all this online content, school systems have little justification for not get involved with
transmedia, easing the burden on gender variant students to look out for their own needs. The bigger
hurdle may lie in school’s taking the risk to include this content in their coursework and not ‘fear’ the
ramifications of the unknown.
Summary
As described throughout this review, numerous studies from the past decade have highlighted
multiple areas of mistreatment toward transgender and gender variant students, both in this country
and others around the world. These mistreatments range from lack of teacher support, lack of adult
guidance, inappropriate and/or trans exclusive curriculum, peer victimization, and perhaps more than
anything, neglect. The results of these mistreatments have been demonstrated as ranging from lowered
school attendance, lowered grades, poor physical health, poor psychological health, poor emotional
health, and ultimately self-harming thoughts and/or actions.
Worst yet, this epidemic of mistreatment may even be worsening, with rates of reported
harassment on the rise. Perhaps more than ever the call for supportive school staff and administrators is
crucial to the well-being of trans folk, not just in their youths, but throughout their lives.
It seems today that schooling often still operates on a model of gender segregation and norm
enforcement, seeing itself as ‘pure’ and trans identities as a ‘threat’ to an increasingly outdated system.
That being said, there are many things that can be done to help empower the growing number of trans
and gender non-conforming pupils in classrooms across the world. We have noted the need for training
on transgender lives in Professional Educator Programs. We have noted the tremendous amount of
transgender educational content that exists online that can be added into classrooms. We have also
noted the basic need of emotional support to empower trans voices to continue speaking on their own
behalf. Remember, what we know about trans youth only exists because the brave souls who chose to
participate in these studies were supported enough to do so. We all know there are even more
underrepresented voices out there, and support will continue to be a major factor in helping this inneed group. Trans people as more than just their victimization. They have a varied set of life experiences
and contribute a great deal of important work to society. It is in opinion of this author that trans folk
are, as a result of these experiences, fantastic sources of compassion, strength, and resilience.
References
Anderssen, Norman, et al. “Life Satisfaction and Mental Health among Transgender Students in
Norway.” BMC Public Health, vol. 20, no. 1, Jan. 2020, pp. 1–11.
Erlick E. Trans Youth Activism on the Internet. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies.
2018;39(1):73-92. doi:10.5250/fronjwomestud.39.1.0073
Frohard-Dourlent, Hélène. “‘The Student Drives the Car, Right?’: Trans Students and Narratives of
Decision-Making in Schools.” Sex Education, vol. 18, no. 4, July 2018, pp. 328–344.
Goodrich, Kristopher, and Janalee Barnard. “Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students in
Schools: One School District’s Approach for Creating Safety and Respect.” Sex Education, vol. 19,
no. 2, Mar. 2019, pp. 212–225.
Hatchel, Tyler, et al. “Minority Stress Among Transgender Adolescents: The Role of Peer Victimization,
School Belonging, and Ethnicity.” Journal of Child & Family Studies, vol. 28, no. 9, Sept. 2019,
pp.2467–2476.
Jones, Tiffany, et al. “School Experiences of Transgender and Gender Diverse Students in Australia.” Sex
Education, vol. 16, no. 2, Mar. 2016, pp. 156–171.
Payne, Elizabeth, and Melissa Smith. “The Big Freak Out: Educator Fear in Response to the Presence of
Transgender Elementary School Students.” Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 61, no. 3, Mar. 2014,
pp. 399–418.
Shelley L Craig, Lauren B McInroy, Ashley Austin, “Someone to Have My Back”: Exploring the Needs
of Racially and Ethnically Diverse Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender High School
Students, Children & Schools, Volume 40, Issue 4, October 2018, Pages 231–239
Ullman, Jacqueline. “Teacher Positivity towards Gender Diversity: Exploring Relationships and School
Outcomes for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Students.” Sex Education, vol. 17, no. 3, May
2017, pp.276–289.
Zou, Yuanshu, et al. “Documenting an Epidemic of Suffering: Low Health-Related Quality of Life among
Transgender Youth.” Quality of Life Research, vol. 27, no. 8, Aug. 2018, pp. 2107–2115.