Browsing by Author "Catalano, D. Chase J."

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    Beyond Virtual Equality: Liberatory Consciousness as a Path to Achieve Trans* Inclusion in Higher Education
    Catalano, D. Chase J. (Routledge, 2015-07-03)
    Trans∗ men have not, as yet, received specific research attention in higher education. Based on intensive interviews with 25 trans∗ men enrolled in colleges or universities in New England, I explore their experiences in higher education. I analyze participants’ descriptions of supports and challenges in their collegiate environments, as well as advice they offer to other trans∗ men in college. I offer liberatory consciousness as a model that higher education staff and faculty can use to attend to the needs for trans∗ men’s inclusion in higher education.
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    Identity, Role, and Oppression: Experiences of LGBTQ Resource Center Graduate Assistants
    Catalano, D. Chase J.; Tillapaugh, Daniel (Routledge, 2020-01-06)
    Utilizing oppression as a conceptual framework, this article explores themes that emerged from qualitative research using epistemological bricolage on data from five graduate assistants who served as the sole institutional contact for LGBTQ+ student services. Of particular attention was the influence of these students’ multiple social identities on their 10 direct work experiences, the graduate assistant role itself, perceptions of institutional visibility of LGBTQ work, and implications of oppression on practice.
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    Resisting coherence: trans men’s experiences and the use of grounded theory methods
    Catalano, D. Chase J. (Routledge, 2017-03-16)
    In this methodological reflective manuscript, I explore my decision to use a grounded theoretical approach to my dissertation study on trans* men in higher education. Specifically, I question whether grounded theory as a methodology is capable of capturing the complexity and capaciousness of trans*-masculine experiences. Through the lenses of social justice and Critical Trans Politics I question whether theory generation with so little published about trans* men in research puts limitations on the possibilities of liberation for trans* men. I suggest researchers consider utilizing exploratory research to understand the experiences of trans* men instead of theorizing about their lived experiences.
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    Structural challenges affecting the experiences of public university LGBT services graduate assistants
    Tillapaugh, Daniel; Catalano, D. Chase J. (American Psychological Association, 2018-07-23)
    In this narrative inquiry study, we interviewed 5 graduate assistants who served as the primary point of contact for their public university’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) student services. We were interested in understanding the structural challenges that affected these employees’ experiences in their roles. Participants were interviewed 3 times over 1 academic year to better understand their job roles and expectations in-depth. From the data, 1 major theme experienced across the participants was a feeling of being set up to fail within their positions. The participants also discussed 4 subthemes that focused on external structural challenges; these included (a) the institutional geography of the LGBT center; (b) inconsistent supervisor support and content knowledge; (c) lack of formal training and professional development; and (d) limited resources of time and money.
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    “Trans Enough?” The Pressures Trans Men Negotiate in Higher Education
    Catalano, D. Chase J. (Duke University Press, 2015-08)
    Despite increasing attention on issues raised by trans students in higher education, almost no empirical research has examined the identities and experiences of trans students as a group, or of specific subsets of trans students. In this article, I draw on interviews with twenty-five trans-male undergraduate students to explore how their experiences of coming to understand their gender identities are shaped by their experiences in higher education. I show how participants’ concerns about being “trans enough” highlight contradictions within identity discourses of and about trans men, and how their narratives often rely on a medical model or “wrong body” discourse, even while students critique that model. Participants described expending significant energy navigating conflicting demands from other trans men, from other peers, and from their undergraduate institutions, in ways that often overshadowed their own desires and internal senses of identity. Institutions should support further research to explore the experiences and needs of trans men and other trans students, while implementing known best practices to become more trans-inclusive campuses.