Transgender and Gender Diverse Youths' Self-Empowering Practices in Secondary Education (and Beyond)


Jaeden Wilson, McGill University

Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth are more than the risk they face and the environments they inhabit. This study looks past victimizing and passivizing factors to contribute to an emergent body of work which explores how TGD students exercise agency within oppressive environments – particularly in secondary schools. So, this research asks: how do TGD youth foster their self-empowerment during their secondary schooling? What does this illuminate about how schools can better support TGD students? To answer these questions, TGD participants engaged in a digital focus group or one-on-one interview (n=5). These semi-structured discussions were based on exploring a reframing of the concept of ‘self-empowerment’ in high schools, but conversations sometimes strayed beyond that setting. Analysis and member checking identified three avenues to self-empowerment travelled by these youths. Participants described engaging in practices during and after secondary schooling which contributed to 1) re-learning gender and their identities, 2) crafting their social environments, and 3) taking control over how they present themselves. These avenues provide tangible examples of TGD students empowering themselves which participants linked to their well-being, feelings of belonging, self-understanding, and perceived ability to make change. Identifying obstacles along these avenues enabled an additional exploration of how educators can support the agency and wellbeing of gender diverse learners. Altogether, findings show that TGD youth use their voices and agency to empower themselves wherever possible. As such, the avenues showcase the value of educational practices which give these youths space and opportunities to shape their secondary schools for equity.

Non-presenting author: Aliya Khalid, University of Oxford

This paper will be presented at the following session: