An Untapped Resource: Campus Chaplains as Partners in Improving Attrition Rates of Transgender College Students
Prior to COVID-19, suicide was the second leading cause of death for college students for over a decade. Within this group, transgender college students were ten times more likely to attempt suicide than their cisgender peers. Fortunately, suicidality for this subset appears to decrease with education level. While it is not clear if an undergraduate education alone or an undergraduate education in conjunction with access to support systems on campus that creates a moderating effect, it is clear that obtaining a bachelor’s degree may be an important mitigating factor for suicide in this population. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative phenomenological Dissertation in Practice was to understand what barriers to graduation exist for traditional college-aged undergraduate transgender students. The aim of this research was to develop advocacy recommendations that may help campus chaplains use their roles to assist in removing or mitigating any barriers to graduation for the transgender college student community. Using semistructured interviews to gather data, it was found that some barriers identified in the review of the literature still exist, such as thwarted belongingness, victimization, outmoded policies, identifying forms and documents, and microaggressions. However, a new barrier surfaced: parents. The research also found the barriers to graduation differ by where students are in the transition process. Two evidence-based solutions were proposed to help mitigate the effects of these barriers to graduation: a campus climate survey or implementation of listed best practices and a chaplain-led program encompassing identity work and spiritual direction.Keywords: transgender college students, suicide prevention, campus chaplain, qualitative, advocacy
Advocacy, Chaplain, College, Student, Suicide, Transgender
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