I love the work, but the work doesn't love me: a constructivist study on the stories and lived experiences of transgender staff of color who report discrimination in higher education
Date
2024
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Abstract
Transgender people in the United States are experiencing an unprecedented amount of anti-trans laws and rhetoric (Yurcaba, 2024). Simultaneously, there is limited research on the experiences of transgender staff of color in higher education and their experiences of reporting discrimination (Pitcher, 2017; Siegel, 2019). Therefore, a study focusing on the lived experiences of trans staff of color who report discrimination is timely and necessary to inform how colonial institutions confront discrimination reporting and processes. The centering of marginalized people is essential to understanding the experiences trans staff of color have with the processes and practices of institutions receiving discrimination reports, which not only reflect their experiences but also the experiences of other transgender people in higher education. The study uses a constructivist qualitative (Merriam, 2014) research methodology and implements the decoloniality for a trans* of color critique (Salas-SantaCruz, 2021) framework to analyze findings. The findings reveal five themes of the lived experiences of transgender staff of color and coloniality: white cissexist capitalism and normative violence, white cissexist imperialism in higher education, psychological demotion and policing of transgender bodies, inconsistency and dismissiveness of reports of discrimination, and institutional negligence and reconciling emotions after reporting discrimination. Continued research on the experiences of transgender staff of color in higher education is needed, as critiques and understandings of non-discrimination policies and practices and addressing the incompetence of administrative leaders and supervisors in higher education, inadequately meeting the needs of transgender staff of color to meet their basic position duties. Higher education institutions, administrators, and policymakers need to take immediate action to humanize, empathize, and identify the next steps in ensuring transgender staff of color are not violently dehumanized in the workplace.
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Embargo expires: 08/16/2026.
Subject
constructivism
higher education
transgender studies
discrimination reporting
colonial institutions
organizational leadership