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1 – 7 of 7Multiple research studies show a positive correlation between library usage and student retention. At the same time, no formal research studies focusing on the effect of library…
Abstract
Purpose
Multiple research studies show a positive correlation between library usage and student retention. At the same time, no formal research studies focusing on the effect of library usage on LGBT student persistence and retention exist. The purpose of this paper is to provide information about today’s LGBT undergraduates, their personal and academic needs, and how academic libraries may meet those needs.
Design/methodology/approach
The author will challenge the grand narrative perpetuated by LGBT librarians that “libraries save [LGBT] lives” through a review of existing research literature on LGBT undergraduates and their personal and academic needs, where libraries play a role in LGBT undergraduate life, and whether or not academic libraries actually meet those needs.
Findings
No formal research studies on how libraries play a role in the retention of LGBT undergraduates exist. While LGBT undergraduates share many similarities with their peers, they seek out resources and spaces that the library may be able to provide independently or through collaborations with other units on campus. The existence of campus LGBT resource centers may impact LGBT undergraduate use of libraries.
Practical implications
The author will provide suggestions for academic libraries to create appropriate resources, services, and spaces for LGBT undergraduates so that they persist at their institutions and graduate.
Originality/value
This is the first research paper to address the role that academic libraries play in LGBT student retention.
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This paper aims to challenge the cisnormative and binary assumptions that underpin the management and gender scholarship. Introducing and contextualising the contributions that…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to challenge the cisnormative and binary assumptions that underpin the management and gender scholarship. Introducing and contextualising the contributions that comprise this special issue, this paper critically reflects on some of the principal developments in management research on trans* and intersex people in the workplace and anticipates what future scholarship in this area might entail.
Design/methodology/approach
A critical approach is adopted to interrogate the prevailing cisnormative and binary approach adopted by management and gender scholars.
Findings
The key finding is the persistence of cisnormativity and normative gender and sex binarism in academic knowledge production and in society more widely, which appear to have hindered how management and gender scholars have routinely failed to conceptualise and foreground the array of diverse genders and sexes.
Originality/value
This paper foregrounds the workplace experiences of trans* and intersex people, which have been neglected by management researchers. By positioning intersexuality as an important topic of management research, this paper breaks the silence that has enwrapped intersex issues in gender and management scholarship. There are still unanswered questions and issues that demand future research from academics who are interested in addressing cisnormativity in the workplace and problematising the sex and gender binaries that sustain it.
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Sebastian Krutkowski, Sarah Taylor-Harman and Kat Gupta
The purpose of this study is to highlight that in today’s polarised information environment, freedom of speech should not be conflated with a freedom to spread demonstrable lies…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to highlight that in today’s polarised information environment, freedom of speech should not be conflated with a freedom to spread demonstrable lies unchallenged. The authors argue for a review of information literacy instruction to focus on social justice and help participants understand the implications of the views they may hold on vulnerable minority groups.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors review and reflect upon the delivery of staff development training on the facts and myths surrounding transgender issues. The authors also encourage other library and information professionals to expand their information literacy instruction into polarised issues that are marked by considerable amounts of misinformation.
Findings
Training participants reported that being more aware of transphobic media coverage will help them reduce bias and better support trans students and staff. It also enabled further opportunities for colleagues across teams and a variety of roles to incorporate the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion into their practice. The success of the sessions also contributed to wider institutional change.
Originality/value
Trans people are a vulnerable minority facing severe, persistent harassment and discrimination both in everyday life and potentially in educational settings. Offering staff effective tools to educate themselves about media transphobia is a step towards creating an environment where trans students and staff can flourish. The authors explore how the media coverage of trans issues allows misinformation to stick and spread. Through applying the concepts of critical thinking and information literacy to trans issues, the authors explain how unconscious bias towards the trans community can be challenged.
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Mario I. Suárez, Guadalupe Marquez-Velarde, Christy Glass and Gabe H. Miller
This study aims to examine how gender variation in trans identities shape exposure to bias and discrimination. The authors then examine how trans identities intersect with…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how gender variation in trans identities shape exposure to bias and discrimination. The authors then examine how trans identities intersect with race/ethnicity, education and social class to shape exposure risk to bias, discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey with 24,391 trans-identified respondents. To account for the nested nature of trans people in state contexts, the authors use two-level logistic multilevel models. The authors are guided by Puwar’s bodies out of place as the theoretical grounding for this study.
Findings
The authors find significant differences in how trans women and men experience discrimination. The authors also find differences in race, education and social class. Finally, the presence of anti-discrimination policies presents mixed results.
Originality/value
The authors’ analysis reveals important differences in trans workers’ exposure to discrimination based on gender identity, social class, race/ethnicity and policy context, and draws upon a rich and large data set.
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Joel Rudin, Tejinder Billing, Andrea Farro and Yang Yang
This paper aims to test penis panic theory, which predicts that trans women will face more discrimination than trans men in some but not all situations.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to test penis panic theory, which predicts that trans women will face more discrimination than trans men in some but not all situations.
Design/methodology/approach
Respondents were 262 American college students who were all enrolled in the same undergraduate course. They were presented with a case about coworker resistance to transgender employees' use of the workplace restrooms of their choice. Four versions of a case were randomly distributed as follows: trans woman, restroom with one toilet; trans woman, restroom with three toilets; trans man, restroom with one toilet and trans man, restroom with three toilets.
Findings
The authors observed greater discrimination against trans women compared to trans men when there was one toilet but not when there were three toilets. This supports penis panic theory.
Research limitations/implications
The chief limitation was the use of American college students as respondents. The results may not generalize to practicing managers especially in other countries. Future researchers should develop a scale to measure situational discrimination against trans women. This study should be replicated in other contexts to deepen the understanding of discrimination against trans men and trans women with disabilities, as well as discrimination against nonbinary individuals who identify as neither trans men nor trans women.
Practical implications
Employers need to search for situations in which trans women face greater discrimination than trans men, because they can be resolved in ways that protect the rights of transgender employees no matter how transphobic their coworkers may be. Also, employers need a nuanced approach to combat discrimination that recognizes the unique perspectives of trans men, trans women and other members of the transgender community.
Originality/value
This is the first quantitative study of penis panic theory, and it illuminates the understanding of discrimination against transgender individuals.
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The purpose of this paper is to establish a conceptual connection between gender-based violence (GBV) and genocide. Victims of gendercide, such as femicide and transicide, should…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish a conceptual connection between gender-based violence (GBV) and genocide. Victims of gendercide, such as femicide and transicide, should be eligible for protections assigned to victims of genocide, including the Responsibility to Protect (R2P).
Design/methodology/approach
This study examines genocide, gendercide, femicide, transicide and the R2P doctrine to formulate a platform of engagement from which to argue the alignment and congruence of genocide with gendercide. Using a content analysis of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees definition of GBV, and Article II of the Genocide Convention (GC) five “directive” facets are examined, namely, identity, physical violence, psychological violence, oppressive violence and repressive violence.
Findings
Expressions of physical violence, psychological violence, oppressive violence and repressive violence reflected similarity, whereas the GCs omit sex and gender as facets of identity group inclusion. The only variation is the encapsulation of identity factors included in the acts of harm.
Practical implications
The elevation of gendercide to the status of genocide would permit us the leverage to make it not only illegal to permit gendercide – internationally or in-country – but make it illegal not to intervene, too.
Social implications
Deliberate harm based on sex and gender are crimes against people because of their real or perceived group membership, and as such, should be included in genocide theory and prevention.
Originality/value
This study explores a new conceptual basis for addressing gendercidal violence nationally to include sex and gender victim groups typically excluded from formal parameters of inclusion and address due to limitations in Article II. The analysis of genocide alongside GBV may inform scholars and activists in the aim to end gendered violence.
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Recent library and information science literature suggests transgender and nonbinary populations are not treated, served and represented on an equal or equitable basis as…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent library and information science literature suggests transgender and nonbinary populations are not treated, served and represented on an equal or equitable basis as cisgender populations are in libraries. This article aims to assess the prevalence of bias and inclusion efforts in Illinois libraries.
Design/methodology/approach
This quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive study utilizes a critical queer theory lens and includes a Likert scale survey with a demographic question on gender identity to measure four constructs and determine if there is a relationship between gender identity and bias, inclusion efforts, and knowledge of transgender and nonbinary user needs.
Findings
Results suggest respondents' biases reinforce structural cisgenderism in Illinois libraries and may account for the unequal conditions trans and nonbinary populations experience. Additionally, there is a correlation between cisgender-identifying Illinois LIS professionals and biased attitudes and behaviors, use of inclusive practices, and knowledge of transgender and nonbinary user needs.
Originality/value
This study contributes quantitative data, analysis and practical implications to a body of predominantly qualitative library literature on transgender and gender diverse experiences in libraries.
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