Poster Session 4: LGBTQ+ Individuals, Parents, and Families

Presenters: Haylie Virginia, Abbie Goldberg

Summary
Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) students in graduate programs are exposed to unique challenges and stressors, such as navigating social and physical gender transition in addition to traversing the pervasive binary of higher education institutions, thus rendering them vulnerable to microaggressions and discrimination (Goldberg, Kuvalanka, & Black, 2019). This qualitative study explored 30 TGNC students' experiences navigating graduate school, with particular attention to their experiences of family support and financial burden and how these domains intersect to shape TGNC students' mental health and academic experiences. Preliminary findings suggest that family and financial support varied significantly among participants. Many participants reported strained relationships with their family, which exacerbated transition and graduate program-related emotional and financial stressors. Findings hold implications for practitioners and higher education institutions.

Objectives
-- Attendees will learn about the specific challenges TGNC students face in the highly gendered and often cisnormative setting of higher education, rendering them vulnerable to microaggressions and explicit discrimination.
-- Attendees will learn about the additional gender transition-related expenses that can exacerbate the financial stressors already present in graduate school.
-- Attendees will learn about the influence that family support can have on the experiences among TGNC students.

Subject Codes: education, gender identity, family functioning
Population Codes: transgender, trans*, non-binary, graduate students
Method and Approach Codes: qualitative methodology, thematic analysis