University, post-graduate education and professional training may become problematic environments for transgender people, especially for those who are on a path of gender affirmation. A person undergoing gender affirmation may find him/herself in such difficulty and discomfort that they may drop out of study or training activities, thus compromising their work and career paths. Here are some small and large recommendations to prevent educational dropouts.
- Always allow those in transition to use their chosen name during activities, to spare them the embarrassment and psychological and physical discomfort of having to continually expose such a personal, complex event as a gender transition.
- Provide the possibility for university students in transition to obtain an identification badge with their chosen name so that they can avoid embarrassment and the need to continually expose their condition in the classroom or when dealing with administrative issues (The Chosen Name and Pronoun Initiative).
- Hold training courses for teaching and non-teaching staff. Knowledge of the transgender condition is, in fact, the necessary step to break the invisibility that often surrounds it, and to forestall stereotypes and prejudices.