Investigating Cisgender and Gender Minoritized College Students’ Academic and Peer Social Engagement Experiences

The inclusion of gender identities beyond presumed male/masculine or female/feminine characteristics and behaviors is relatively new in qualitative research and virtually non-existent in quantitative practice, creating extreme barriers for accurate representation. Despite the higher visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students in higher education, empirical research regarding the experiences of gender variant students is lacking and is often inaccurate and non-representative. Using a social constructionist lens to challenge the production and reproduction through unequal systems of power, this study explored the differences in student engagement of cisgender and gender minoritized communities. The researcher completed a quantitative study using an ex post facto research design. Results from data analysis of this quantitative study confirm that gender identity does influence the outcomes of academic and peer social engagement experiences of college students. The interactive effect of gender identity and racial identity and gender identity and institutional regionality contribute to differences in experiences of cisgender and gender minoritized students. These outcomes can benefit both scholars and practitioners in better supporting their campuses by addressing policies and practices that erase the experiences of gender minoritized communities