Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationU.S. colleges and universities are sites where cultural norms such as genderism and transphobia are reified through institutional policies and practices. Any place on the college campus that segregates students by sex and gender can serve to limit access and success of trans* students. In order to gain insight into how key institutional agents (i.e., academic advisors, admissions counselors, career counselors, housing staff, financial aid advisors, and registrar's office staff) perceive and interact with trans* students, this study uses scale development and predictive statistics to measure levels of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors that predict how individuals in higher education work with trans* students. The instrument informs an understanding of how trans* students might experience campus, as well as predict what might contribute to more trans* inclusive behaviors among key institutional agents in higher education. The Trans* Inclusivity Scale for Higher Education (TISHE) was developed through a survey administered to key institutional agents at 4-year public institutions across the U.S. I used scale development and factor analysis to test the psychometric properties of the TISHE, and then used regression models to understand what predicts trans* inclusivity of key institutional agents towards trans* students. These methods provide a confirmed 25-item instrument that allows for the measurement of trans* inclusive attitudes, knowledge, and behavior. Knowing someone who is transgender or nonbinary, attending Safe Zone trainings or Trans* 101 trainings, and how staff define iv gender were predictors of all three scales within trans* inclusivity. Further, trans* inclusive attitudes and knowledge both emerged as significant predictors of trans* inclusive behaviors. Methodological explorations of gender, and the trans* student experience can provide strategies to imagine to possibilities for trans* students to not just exist on the college campus, but to be visible in ways that make sense for them and on their terms. Higher education is place where all students should be able to determine their own identities and make their own paths in pursuit of their education, and the TISHE is one strategy to help make higher education more accessible to trans* students by focusing on the staff who interact with all students on campus