Title: A MIXED METHODS EXAMINATION OF STRUCTURAL BIGENDERISM

For years, transgender activists and their allies have spoken out about the oppression that transgender and gender non-conforming people experience in relation to societal systems and institutions, due to policies and practices that do not acknowledge non-binary experiences of gender, that do not recognize that one’s gender may change over time or may not match cultural expectations for gender expression, and that punish and discriminate against trans people (Gilbert, 2009; Lombardi & Davis, 2006; Markman, 2011; Spade, 2006; WWRC, 2010). Scholars have called for human services professionals and researchers to critique the failures of institutions in society (and the people within them) that continue to reproduce oppressive patterns related to gender (Davis, 2008; Markman, 2011; Spade, 2006; Wilchins, 2004). This dissertation examines the topic of structural bigenderism, using a mixed methods analysis of data based on the lives of transgender and gender non-conforming people in two settings of interest to social workers—social welfare settings and higher education. This study analyzes secondary data from two community-based projects: a qualitative participatory research project in Colorado of 30 transgender people’s experiences in higher education, and a national survey conducted by the National Cente