A member of Kent staff talks about their research on the experiences of transgender students and how they can be better supported at University<\/p>\n
My name is Lynne and I work in Student Support and Wellbeing at the Medway campus. I have recently completed doctoral research looking at the experiences of transgender students in Higher Education in the UK.<\/p>\n
Negotiating the university environment can be difficult for many students but for trans\/non-binary students there can be additional hurdles. With university often being the first experience of real independence for young people it may also be a place where young trans people feel they can be themselves for the first time, as they navigate an environment away from family and friendship ties from the past.<\/p>\n
My study used an online survey of 164 trans student participants to investigate the breadth of experiences across 60 different higher education institutions (HEIs), and remote one-to-one interviews with seven participants allowed for in-depth exploration of trans students’ perspectives and voices. The study explored the challenges that these students faced around themes of harassment, bullying and transphobia; inclusion\/exclusion; representation in the curriculum; and institutional facilities and administration. The study also investigated eight HEI transgender student policies to identify how\/whether the needs of this student group are being met.<\/p>\n
As part of a programme of celebrating LGBT History Month at Kent<\/a>, I am presenting my research, looking at the potential difficulties that trans\/non-binary students might face, and what the University can do to help overcome these, you can join either in person or online:<\/p>\n If you are staff, you will learn about how you can better support trans students, or as a student, you can find out what support is available at Kent. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions and discuss the findings during the session. I hope to see some of you there!<\/p>\n Written by Lynne Regan, Student Support and Wellbeing, 08.02.22<\/p>\n Support at Kent<\/strong><\/p>\n Student Support and Wellbeing<\/a> offer mental health support, disability support, counselling and peer support groups to all students. You could also check out our LGBTQ+ self-help resource section online.<\/a> Student Support and Wellbeing are running a therapeutic ‘Reflect, Recover and Empower ‘ workshop explicitly for LGBTQ+ students<\/a> on 21 February, 7-8.30pm with a particular focus on the personal impact of Covid-19 and coping with future change.<\/p>\n Check out further articles on <\/span>Community Life<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Disability and Inclusion<\/span><\/a> and\u00a0<\/span>Support and Wellbeing<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n