Problematizing the Measurement of Gender Identity in K-12 Education Survey Research: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The increase in youth’s self-identification as trans in the United States and Canada has created new urgency in schools to meet the needs of these students, yet education survey researchers have yet to find ways to assess their educational outcomes based on sex and gender. In this critical systematic review, I provide an overview of surveys from 2009–2019 that have been utilized to assess the sex and gender identity of trans youth. Findings suggest a range of measurement approaches and types of research interests, as well as important aspects that were absent from the surveys. Recommendations for those who currently or plan to engage with survey research that includes gender identity are included.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Methodological note: Google Scholar and Google were the starting point for this search, as both of these databases produced results that were peer-reviewed and non peer-reviewed.

2 Demographers and research leaders familiar with measurement of gender and sexuality with youth and adults were emailed and consulted with, as a way to identify any potential surveys not located in the original search, as well as to obtain specific wording used. For example, GLSEN does not publish their survey publicly in their report even though it is widely used and known as a large-scale survey in education research. After an email from Joseph Kosciw, he graciously responded with the wording of the items used in the 2019 NCSS survey.

3 The 2020–21 CHKS survey, in asking about gender, provided the following responses: male, female, nonbinary, something else.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Spencer Foundation [202000013].