Paige Altman (Information Science)

Zoom Link: https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/91428680141?pwd=VnhRU1g2aGZjU1pSUS9Fc096V2VSUT09

Microaggressions are subtle, degrading actions against individuals in marginalized communities. These actions sometimes occur without the actor’s knowledge, but aggressions place chronic stress on their victims which can lead to physical and mental health issues. Studying these actions and how they affect the daily lives of minority groups is crucial to creating awareness and stopping microaggressions completely. Transgender and nonbinary individuals have been neglected in research until recently, and even now there is not enough known about how their experiences with microaggressions differ from other groups. To understand the effects of microaggressions on transgender and/or nonbinary undergraduate student performance, this study will address Microaggression Theory, particularly the Gender Minority Stress and Resilience Model, to analyze microaggressions against transgender and nonbinary students. This study will hypothesize that microaggressions against transgender and nonbinary students cause decreased academic performance resulting in lower grades and a reduced ability to learn, a greater likelihood of dropping out, and poor mental health. Data will be collected using survey research and semistructured interviews of transgender and nonbinary college and university students and analyzed using a mixed-methods approach. Participants will be recruited through purposive and convenience sampling due to the nature of the special population. The survey will include the Anxiety Subscale and Depression Scale through the Brief Symptom Inventory as well as the Gender Minority Stress and Resilience Measure which asks questions about microaggressions targeted specifically toward transgender and nonbinary individuals. Schools will be asked to distribute this anonymous online survey through email, links posted on their LGBTQIA+ organization’s/resource’s website, as well as flyers posted throughout campus. This will be a cross-sectional study conducted over one semester. Once the initial data is collected and analyzed, researchers will determine if the findings are successful. If successful, researchers will conduct longitudinal prospective repeated cross-sectional studies to gather more information and increase the validity and generalizability of the study. This study will be adding to existing theory by addressing the experiences of transgender and nonbinary students in contrast to many previously conducted studies that have limited their research to the experiences of gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals. Addressing the experiences of transgender and nonbinary students gives this group a voice which may also contribute additional microaggressions that could be added to previous theories and used in future research.