School Psychologists’ Attitudes Toward Transgender Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the current attitudes and beliefs held by practicing school psychologists toward individuals who identify as transgender. A review of literature revealed a lack of information about the needs of transgender students in schools. The authors of this study created a ten-question survey that was distributed to practicing school psychologists across the United States. The authors found that school psychologists with more experience working with transgender students are more comfortable addressing the needs of those students; that persons who are more confident in their ability to work with transgender students have more positive attitudes toward this population; and that the majority of school psychologists who participated in this study were willing or more than willing to work with transgender students. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to school psychology graduate education and the needs for future research.