Student's Prejudice Against Transgender Instructors

C158

Transgender adults experience more difficulties in mental health, disability status, and health care access. Compared to cisgender adults, transgender adults are more than 3 to 6 times more likely to contemplate about suicide, attempt suicide, experience serious psychological distress, and have emotions that interfere with their daily lives. The present study examined whether the likelihood of community college students to enroll in a class was affected by an instructor’s gender identity. Specifically, this study sought to investigate whether bias and/or prejudice against transgender identity might influence the perception community college students have when evaluating an instructor's qualifications. 73 participants (31 females, 41 males, and 1 identified as other) first read a scenario in which Marie was either a transgender or cisgender woman. Participants were then asked whether Marie was qualified to be a teacher at a local community college, whether they perceived Marie to be a great teacher, and whether they would enroll in Marie’s English class. Contrary to the hypothesis, results suggest that the instructor’s gender identity had no significant effect on students’ perception of the instructor nor did it affect their willingness to enroll in her class. Some factors that may have contributed towards these findings include participants’ age (54.79% were 18 to 22 years old), self-report bias, as well as higher levels of acceptance among this particular sample. Results suggest that societal acceptance may be increasing and that transgender instructors may be less likely to experience discrimination and prejudice.