Article examines transgender students experiences on college campuses.
Michelle Kusel, assistant director of the Center for Leadership, co-authored a study on transgender college students entitled, “Transgender College Students: An Exploratory Study of Perceptions, Engagement, and Educational Outcomes” in the latest edition of the Journal of College Student Development. This study is the first-ever quantitative study on this specific population of college students. The Journal of College Student Development is one of the most prestigious scholarly journals in higher education, where only 7-10% of articles submitted for publication are accepted. The article was originally accepted two years ago and was published in the September-October 2012 edition. Transgender individuals include people whose gender identities do not comply with binary assumptions (only male, only female) and whose birth sex deviates from their internal identification.
There is a lack of studies on transgender college students. This quantitative study explored transgender students’ perceptions, engagement, and educational outcomes across 17 dimensions of the collegiate experience. The national study identified 91 transgender students and compared the population to heterosexual students and non-transgender lesbian, gay, and bisexual students. Results suggest some significant differences in the experience for transgender students.
The Center for Leadership provides students opportunities for leadership development, including the Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program and the Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows. You can find more information at http://www.elon.edu/leadership.