High Impact of [Whiteness] on Trans* Students in Postsecondary Education

This article asserts whiteness as an ideology that reaches beyond race/racism to shape and reproduce other interlocking oppressive systems. In higher education, this notion of whiteness permeates commonly celebrated “high impact practices” (HIPs) to undermine the success of trans* students in US postsecondary education. Through an intersectional approach, we illustrate how HIPs lead to jeopardizing trans* students’ success in higher education and advance a different approach that we have coined “trickle up high impact practices” (TUHIPs). TUHIPs prioritize the needs of those students who are most vulnerable and incorporate an acknowledgement of the oppressive contexts within which students with multiple minoritized identities must navigate higher education. We discuss the implications of this approach and offer five recommendations to move higher education institutions toward policies, practices, and systems that support the college success of trans* students. Dafina-Lazarus Stewart is a professor in the School of Education, co-coordinator of Student Affairs in Higher Education, and faculty affiliate in the Center for Women's and Gender Studies at Colorado State University. Z Nicolazzo is an assistant professor of Trans* Studies in Education and the Center for the Study of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Practice at the University of Arizona.