Transphobia Among Students Majoring in the Helping Professions

ABSTRACT

The study was designed to further the understanding of transphobia among students majoring in the helping professions including social work, occupational therapy, and nursing. The study’s hypotheses examined the effects of transgender content in education (e.g., textbooks and lectures), religiosity, contact with transgender people, and several sociodemographic variables with transphobia. Differences in transphobia levels between social work students and those in aligned professions were also explored. The sample consisted of 600 students of a public, urban university in New York City who participated in an online survey. Measures included transphobia and transgender content scales. Students reported (75%) a deficient amount of transgender content in education, and almost one half of the sample reported moderate to high levels of transphobia. Other findings showed that transgender content in education was positively correlated with transphobia, and 1-way ANOVA showed that transphobia differed significantly across the majors. The author suggestions included increasing transgender content in textbooks, lectures, and class discussions as well as developing field sites that provide students with opportunities to serve this population.

KEYWORDS:

• Helping professions
• nursing
• occupational therapy
• social services
• social work
• transgender
• transphobia