“It’s Not Worth Me Being Who I Am”: Exploring How Trans* Collegians Navigate Classroom Experiences through a Funds of Identity Lens

Abstract

The creation and enforcement of a cisgender binary throughout the history of the United States has led to the establishment of trans* identities as “deviant” or “deficient” others—mentalities that bleed into the policies, practices, and pedagogical environments of higher education institutions. Often, these understandings lead researchers, practitioners, and pedagogues alike to understand trans* students as being at an innate deficit when entering higher education based on their gender identities, and seek one-size-fits-all solutions to work with these students without critiquing their complicity in the systems of power that create trans*-exclusive environments. In order to transform institutions and subvert trans* oppressive practices, it is necessary to view trans* collegians as assets to their educational environments. Using a queered funds of identity approach, this qualitative study explores the ways of knowing trans* collegians develop throughout their lives as well as how students employ these world views in navigating often oppressive classroom environments. Findings from this study contribute to a growing body of literature centering the voices of trans* collegians in research on their collegiate experiences through a critical, asset-based lens. Presenting narrative profiles of three participants holding a wide range of gender, racial, ethnic, class, ability, and other social identities, this article dispels understandings that all trans* collegians experience gender, the classroom, and higher education identically. Findings also inform future research and pedagogical practice by postulating funds of identity as an ideal framework for engaging trans* students at the collegiate level.