Supporting Trans students – transforming outcomes?

Trans people experience roadblocks when accessing, enjoying and staying in education, with issues such as bullying, transphobia, discrimination and administration errors acting as contributing factors to these blocks. What roadblocks do your trans students face?

The LGBT Foundation’s Trans Programme report ‘Transforming Outcomes’ was published in September 2017. The report highlights a number of examples of such barriers, including

• Higher rates of mental health problems
• Isolation and lack of social support
• Lack of gender neutral toilets
• Higher rates of disability
• Binary-gendered student accommodation

The report also highlights that  educational institutions often do not have clear policies on the administrative process for changing names and/or genders on their records. This can result in trans people being asked to provide documentation (such as Gender Recognition Certificates or medical information) in contravention of the Gender Recognition Act.

You can download the report here

I have highlighted guidance to help improve the support and experiences of trans staff and students in previous equality news updates. You might find these useful - you can access these in the links provided below:

How trans-friendly is your organisation? Click here for more

Transphobic bullying – a reactive or preventative approach? Click here for more

LGB-and-T equality at work. Click here for more

Being gay in Britain, tackling homophobia and transphobia. Click here for more