Can you see me? : black trans women and femmes experiences in higher education

While social attitudes towards trans* people may be improving in some instances (Schilt & Westbrook, 2009), in others continued structural and social barriers remain in place that ultimately limit life chances for trans* people in general (Schilt & Westbrook, 2009; Spade, 2011). There are a great many topics and characteristics to consider when investigating equity and social justice for transgender people on college and university campuses. Though the research into transgender college contexts is in its emergent stage, a flurry of recent academic work is being produced on the topic (Beemyn & Rankin, 2011; Jourian, 2015; Nicolazzo, 2016a; Renn, 2010).The lack of sustained attention on transgender women of color is a noticeable feature of the current state of higher education research. This study is primarily concerned with noting the absence of Black transgender women in the higher education body of literature and explicating the need to attend to this crucial gap.