Over half of transgender teachers experience harassment in the workplace, study finds
Over half, 56 percent, of transgender teachers have experienced harassment in the workplace, a study carried out by the National Public Radio (NPR) has found.
The American publication surveyed 79 teachers who identify as transgender or non-binary.
They found that harassment or discrimination experienced by trans and non-binary teachers came either from administration or colleagues, but not from students.
Two of the people who were surveyed said that they had been fired because of their gender identity.
Teacher in school
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17 percent who were out in the workplace reported being asked to change their presentation in order to correspond with the gender printed on their birth certificate.
A fifth said that they had experienced verbal harassment.
Of those surveyed, not everyone was out in the workplace, with 29 percent concealing their gender identity from their employers.
Lauren Heckathorne of Evanston, Ill., who identifies as non-binary, told NPR that they were “horribly harassed by a coworker and very little was done about it.”
“The focus was on making [the harasser] more comfortable,” they added.
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The sample is admittedly small but probably considerably representative of the number of trans/non-binary teacher.
However, the number is skewed as 56 percent taught in high schools, which is higher than the general population.
Nearly two-fifths of respondents had been teaching less than five years, and 38 percent were under the age of 30.
Over half, 53 percent, identified as male.
Non-binary or gender fluid people made up 21 percent of the sample and 15 percent identified as female, femme or as a woman.
NPR notes that this is an interesting figure about the sample because traditionally women dominate the teaching profession.
