Gender x Culture: A pilot project exploring the study abroad experiences of trans and gender expansive students

Abstract

As gender is socially constructed, gender a ttitudes, expressions, expectations and identities may differ based on their sociocultural contexts. This project sought to understand interactions between gender and culture through the experiences of three undergraduate study abroad students who are tra ns and/or gender expansive. Utilizing the thematic analysis method, data from a focus group and individual follow up interviews were analyzed ; seven themes emerged from the data collected. As study abroad has become an increasingly normalized aspect of the American undergraduate experience, institutions must consider the ways study abroad may uniquely affect certain student populations. This project explored some of the unique joys (community building, self exploration, cultural insights) and hardships (ge nder policing, isolation, sexual violence) of study abroad for trans and gender expansive students, identified areas for further research and suggested specific methods through which institutions can provide support to these students.

A Systematic Literature Review on LGBT+ U.S. Students Studying Abroad

“…Articles Eight articles in the StAR Database met inclusion criteria, of which seven were new and one (Michl et al, 2019) had already been identified through the focused electronic search. At this point, 10 articles met inclusion criteria between the two searches.…”

“…LGBT+ identity, but not necessarily a direct focus on LGBT+ participants. Five of the thirteen studies directly focused on LGBT+ as the central component (Brown, 2014;Bryant & Soria, 2015;Michl et al, 2019;Mnouer, 2020;Donahue & Wise, 2021). Six studies had LGBT+ participants but did not focus directly on LGBT+ identity as their main findings (Kimble et studies' foci and/or how the academic content relates to health and identity issues surrounding queer communities speaks to how the scholars centralize notions of LGBT+ identity.…”

“…For each of these studies, sexual orientation, particularly lesbian and gay identities, warranted homophobic responses from the local culture (Willis, 2015) or required the student to remain closeted due to safety concerns and the illegality of being gay (Mnouer, 2020). Destination and host culture language also made the notion of gender identity more challenging, as the local language is innately gendered (grammatical gender), which rendered more fluid identities challenging to discuss (Michl et al, 2019). Gender expression and sexual orientation identity markers (represented through dress and physical presentation, such as shorter hair or androgynous clothing) presented challenges for Julie in Brown (2014, p. 10): "before arriving in Seoul, Julie made the decision to feminize her appearance by wearing more feminine-looking clothes and by shaving her legs."…”

Mapping the Knowledge Base in Study Abroad from the United States: A Scoping Review from 2001-2021

“…Commonly studied wellbeing outcomes included psychological health, wellbeing, and adaptation (e.g., Fanari & Segrin, 2021;Thomas & Waugh, 2020); emotional resilience and grit (e.g., Harrison & Voelker, 2008;Zayac et al, 2021); sense of belonging (e.g., Teranishi & Hannigan, 2008); and alcohol use, risk behavior, and sexual violence (e.g., Pedersen et al, 2009;Pedersen et al, 2020). More recently published studies have explored aspects of identity beyond cultural identity, including trans and gender expansive identity (Michl et al, 2019) and masculinity (Simpson & Bailey, 2021).…”

“…LGBT+ Results from the current synthesis warrant further investigation of study abroad participants who self-identify within the broad spectrum of queer (queer functioning here as an umbrella category that is inclusive of the multiplicity of LGBT+ identities contained therein, but disparate from Queer as a recognized self-identification; Jagose & Genschel, 1996). Of the included studies, Michl et al (2019) was the primary article that focused on trans (i.e., queer, gender-non-conforming, non-binary, and transgender) identification in study abroad and the sole article in the AREA Database that touches on the wider LGBT+ experience, while others either represented an LGBT identity in some capacity or focused on a social topic relevant to the queer community (e.g., HIV/AIDS; Diesel et al, 2013). Without a base of research on LGBT+ study abroad participants, practitioners are lacking evidence-based programs to enhance LGBT+ students' experiences and outcomes, especially given the unique needs of these students; thus, we recommend experts conduct a focused literature review on LGBT+ students abroad to catalyze further research.…”