Browsing by Author "Ovink, Sarah"

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    Best Practices: Mentoring from a Distance
    Ovink, Sarah (2020)
    If your mentor-mentee relationship is thriving, congratulations, and keep up the good work! If you’re feeling, however, like you and your mentee aren’t connecting as well as you were in the beginning, or that your rapport has stalled, don’t worry—you are not alone! Even in the best of times, it’s common for mentors and mentees to hit roadblocks. In pandemic times, the challenges for forging strong connections are greater than usual. The silver lining is that most of us have strengthened our skills for staying socially connected while physically distant. This brief handout contains four quick tips for assessing your mentor-mentee relationship and/or jump-starting a stalled exchange. The references at the end contain a few links for more in-depth reading.
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    Bodies in Contempt: A Mixed Methods Study of Federal ADA Employment Cases
    Dick-Mosher, Jennifer (Virginia Tech, 2013-12-10)
    This paper draws on theories of gendered organizations to examine discrimination against people with disabilities in the workplace. A sample of 200 cases which document disability discrimination lawsuits was drawn from the Westlaw legal database. Each case was coded for gender, job, disability and discrimination type and analyzed using multinomial logistic models. Of those 200 cases, 34 were selected for in depth qualitative analysis. This study finds that disability type and gender do have an influence on the type of discrimination someone is likely to experience. In addition, the qualitative analysis finds that the social processes of discrimination differ based on job type and gender pointing to intersections of disability and class as well as gender and disability.
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    College Match and Undermatch: Assessing Student Preferences, College Proximity, and Inequality in Post-College Outcomes
    Ovink, Sarah; Kalogrides, D.; Nanney, Megan Paige; Delaney, Patrick Prescott (2018-08)
    Recently, multiple studies have focused on the phenomenon of “undermatching”—when students attend a college for which they are overqualified, as measured by test scores and grades. The extant literature suggests that students who undermatch fail to maximize their potential. However, gaps remain in our knowledge about how student preferences—such as a desire to attend college close to home—influence differential rates of undermatching. Moreover, previous research has not directly tested whether and to what extent students who undermatch experience more negative post-college outcomes than otherwise similar students who attend “match” colleges. Using ELS:2002, we find that student preferences for low-cost, nearby colleges, particularly among low-income students, are associated with higher rates of undermatching even among students who are qualified to attend a “very selective” institution. However, this relationship is weakened when students live within 50 miles of a match college, demonstrating that proximity matters. Our results show that attending a selective postsecondary institution does influence post-college employment and earnings, with less positive results for students who undermatch as compared with peers who do not. Our findings demonstrate the importance of non-academic factors in shaping college decisions and post-college outcomes, particularly for low-income students.
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    A Critical Analysis of Family Leave Policies Across U.S. Universities
    Myers, Faith L. (Virginia Tech, 2023-06-01)
    The purpose of this study is to critically examine family leave policies across universities in the United States to determine whether and to what degree they rely on traditional notions of motherhood and family. Conversations surrounding the lack of equitable and adequate family leave should be continued by researchers, advocates, and policymakers, but the inclusivity of current family leave policies warrants critical attention. The reliance on reproduction to define motherhood excludes individuals who cannot or choose not to give birth. This reliance also attaches mothering behaviors and norms to feminine bodies which works to reify gender inequalities. This project utilizes a mixed methods approach. Using a qualitative content analysis of family leave policies from different universities, I examine if and how they rely on aspects of physical birth, heteronormativity, and gendered language. I compare family leave policies across states that are (and are not) considered LGBTQ+ friendly. Secondly, I used a binary logistic regression analysis to test institutional isomorphism, specifically examining to what extent coercive and mimetic pressures affect family leave policy inclusiveness. I found that most policies are gender neutral and do not rely heavily on reproduction, but the implications of those that are highly gendered and rely on reproduction are enlightening. I found that only 8% of policies included LGBTQ+ specific protections. The regression model revealed that isomorphism is not the greatest predictor of policy inclusiveness, and that universities in less progressive states are more likely to have inclusive policies
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    Enactment of LGBTQ Health in Medical Curriculum
    Herling, Jessica Lauren (Virginia Tech, 2022-01-13)
    This dissertation examined the extent to which medical educational institutions adapt their curriculum to meet the needs of a marginalized patient population, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities. Because LGBTQ populations experience significant health and health care disparities in comparison to heterosexual and cisgender populations, medical education and medical curriculum about LGBTQ health has been described as a key area of intervention for improving doctor-patient interactions and health system structures to better accommodate these populations. Through a 10-month long ethnography of a medical school, I examined the formal, informal, and hidden curricula surrounding LGBTQ health to explore how medical schools train and thus adequately prepare medical students to provide care to these patients. To investigate these issues, I conducted over 100 hours of participant observation of medical classes and clinical rotations, with particular attention to clinical case studies and online learning modules that are relevant to LGBTQ health, and LGBTQ health initiatives on the academic medical center campus. I also conducted 46 semi-structured interviews with faculty, students, administrators, LGBTQ Health Center employees, and LGBTQ patients about LGBTQ health care at the medical school and about how these groups define and implement LGBTQ health at the institution. Findings suggest that the content, placement, and delivery of LGBTQ health in the curriculum influence how medical students learn to see themselves as capable of providing care to these patients. In particular, the nebulous nature of LGBTQ health makes it difficult for students to learn to enact it in practice. This research asserts that to create medical curriculum about LGBTQ health that will help alleviate health care disparities, medical schools cannot simply add LGBTQ health into their curriculum without fundamentally changing how they teach sex/gender and sexuality to their students as well as centering intersecting inequalities in their teaching. As such, this dissertation calls for a shift to queer health to decentralize sex/gender and sexuality binaries and focus on the practice of learning about LGBTQ health rather than fulfilling a competency. Ultimately, this research theorizes medical education as a space for the enactment of LGBTQ health whereby the complexity of sex, gender, sexuality, and identity gets negotiated by medical faculty, students, administrators, and LGBTQ community members.
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    Examining the Effects of Victimization on the lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Questioning Youth
    Kahle, Lindsay Leann (Virginia Tech, 2017-05-31)
    Youth violence has garnered the attention of researchers and policy makers alike, because of the unique risk factors associated with victimization and the poor physical, mental, and educational outcomes that stem from such experiences. In particular, sexual minority youth--those who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual or who have sexual contact with persons of the same or both sexes (CDC, 2016)--are among those most at risk for victimization. Research that highlights and addresses these issues is crucial. This study utilizes the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) data in order to investigate different forms of victimization and their consequences in lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning (LGBQ) youth. Drawing from a sample of 12,642 9th-12th grade youth, this study investigates the prevalence of bullying, homophobic bullying, dating violence and sexual assault, as well their effects on school avoidance, poor mental health, and substance use outcomes. Results reveal that differences do, in fact, exist between sexual minority and heterosexual youth, where LGBQ youth experience higher rates of every type of victimization, and are more likely to report school avoidance, depression, suicidality, and substance use. Furthermore, this study also investigates the intersections of sexual orientation and gender, and finds that females who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning are most at risk for every type of victimization. Findings highlight the need for recognition of the importance of sexual orientation and gender in youth victimization, and the need for policy that explicitly outlines protections for sexual minority youth within the school environment, as well as services extended to victims of IPV.
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    Examining the Impact of Indigenous Cultural Centers on Native Student Experience
    Faircloth, Melissa (Virginia Tech, 2022-05-17)
    Research has noted the persistence of hostile campus environments for underrepresented college students. However, Native and Indigenous students continue to be one of the most understudied populations within higher education, particularly as it relates to their campus experience and ways in which they navigate institutional climates. In addition to illuminating the campus climates Native students face at predominantly White institutions, this dissertation examines the impact that Indigenous cultural centers have on their overall campus experience and persistence. As the primary method, it draws on 12 semi-structured interviews with Indigenous students at a predominately White institution within the Southeast United States. Findings from this study demonstrate the systemic colonization which exists in higher education through the analysis of microaggressions students regularly face. Unique to Native students, these were most often laden with narratives of erasure. However, in the face of less-than-ideal climates, participants in the study also derived a sense of community, affirmation, and support from the existence of a Native student center. Though participants derived many benefits from having such a space, they also indicated that the Native center was not always immune to the climate issues faced within the larger campus. These accounts contrast existing research on cultural centers. Findings from this study suggests that the narrow understanding of Indigenous identity as an exclusively racialized one, functions as a powerful tool in advancing erasure narratives within the space itself.
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    Exploring the Interpersonal Relationships of Black Men in Undergraduate Engineering Programs
    Boyd-Sinkler, Karis Elisabeth (Virginia Tech, 2021-06-08)
    The dilemma of making education an equitable system, especially for minoritized groups, has persisted for centuries. While there have been efforts aimed at decreasing disparities, there is still more work that needs to be done. An often-overlooked population in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is Black men—a group at the nexus of being a gender majority and racial minority. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory research study is to understand how Black men experience interpersonal relationships in undergraduate engineering programs. The overarching research question that guides this study is: What are the qualitatively different aspects of interpersonal relationships experienced by Black men in undergraduate engineering programs? Using Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory as a lens and a quasi-phenomenography methodology to understand the variance of the students' relationships, I conducted 14 semi-structured interviews with students who identified as a Black man and were a second-year or higher in their undergraduate engineering program. By examining interpersonal relationships, I clarify the meaningfulness of relationships at one historically Black college and university (N=1) and two historically white institutions (N=13). A total of seven relationship types and ten different ways students described their relationships were identified in the data. Each of the ways students described their relationship was organized on the emergent domains of academic, emotional/mental, financial, professional, social, and spiritual. Students also mentioned five environmental influences that impacted their experiences in engineering. My results indicate that students find value in relationships with people who were relatable, people who could provide insight or knowledge, and people who showed a sense of care or concern for the student. Students also mentioned how environmental influences bear significance on their over experience in engineering. The present study lays the groundwork for holistically examining the interpersonal relationships of Black men in undergraduate engineering programs.
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    “Figuring Out Your Place at a School Like This:” Intersectionality and Sense of Belonging in College
    Ovink, Sarah; Byrd, Carson; Nanney, Megan Paige; Wilson, Abigail (2022-01-25)
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    “Figuring out your place at a school like this:” Intersectionality and sense of belonging among STEM and non-STEM college students
    Ovink, Sarah; Byrd, W. Carson; Nanney, Megan; Wilson, Abigail (Public Library of Science, 2024-01-10)
    Background Students’ sense of belonging in college—an individual’s feelings of contentment, mattering, importance, and “finding one’s place” in a social setting—can influence choice of major and career trajectory. We contribute to the belongingness literature through a mixed methods intersectional study of students attending a STEM-focused public university we call Meadow State University (MSU). We assess the potential for students’ intersecting social identities to differentially influence their experiences with intersectional oppression—subjection to multiple systems of oppression due to simultaneous membership in more than one marginalized group—that, in turn, may influence their college pathways. In addition, we explore whether intersectional differences affect sense of belonging differently in STEM and non-STEM majors. We employ a mixed-methods approach, informed by critical quantitative methods and in-depth interviews. We utilize quantitative institutional data measuring college satisfaction, expressed as “willingness to return” to the same university, for over 3,000 students during two academic years (2013–14 and 2016–17). Survey data explores college satisfaction as an indicator of intersectional differences in student experiences. Then, we analyze 37 in-depth interviews, collected between 2014–2016 at the same institution, to further contextualize the intersectional variation suggested by survey results. Results Willingness to return is influenced by major, as well as academic, social, and campus belonging. Moreover, the extent to which these factors affected outcomes additionally varied by race/ethnicity, gender, family income, other background factors, and the ways these factors may intersect. Important components of academic belonging included faculty-student interactions, perceptions of academic support, and a privileging of STEM degree programs and students over non-STEM students and their degree programs at MSU. Faculty responsiveness and high impact practices like internships played an important role, particularly in STEM programs. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that, particularly for students of color and those subject to intersectional oppression due to multiple marginalized identities, satisfaction with academics did not always outweigh deficiencies in other areas of campus life shaping belongingness. Conclusions Our mixed-methods approach contributes insights into how and why students’ background, individual choices, and institutional practices concurrently—and intersectionally—influence their ability to form a sense of belonging on campus. Structural changes are required to end practices that support intersecting systems of oppression by favoring White, upper-income men as the “default” STEM students in the U.S. Our research supports growing evidence that institutions must actively build models of inclusion for underrepresented and marginalized groups that address inequitable and unjust practices, providing transformative mentoring and educational guidance that attends to intersectional oppression, in order to effectively support the next generation of women and scholars of color.
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    A Framework for Black Girl Transitions Across Space and Time: Sint Maarten as a Case Study
    Murrell, Ocqua Gerlyn (Virginia Tech, 2023-06-22)
    The purpose of this project was to examine whether there is a transitional period between Afro-Caribbean girlhood and woman/adulthood that is distinctly different from girlhood and from woman/adulthood. Herein I examine at what point in the lives of Afro-Caribbean girls, do they feel like they have entered adulthood. I also examine what kinds of media the girls find representative of this current stage of their lives. This dissertation is an extension of my master's thesis, which explored the ways in which Afro-Caribbean girls from the island of Sint Maarten narrate, navigate, and negotiate their girlhood experiences. Speaking as a Black woman from Sint Maarten, I affirm that this project is important due to the lack of sociological scholarship surrounding Black girls in the Dutch West Indies. This project utilized a qualitative approach that involved self-selected research participant media and semi-structured audio and video recorded in-depth interviews with 5 out of the 9 girls who originally participated in the master's project. At the time of the interviews presented in this dissertation, the participants were 19 and 20 years old. I developed a transnational Black girlhood feminist framework which I use to analyze and interpret the interview data. This framework draws from and builds upon Black feminist theorizing, girlhood studies, and transnational feminisms. It demonstrates how traditional sociological theory such as life course theory, and studies on emerging adulthood and development do not account for the lives of Black girls from the Caribbean. The data reveal that there is a transitional period between girlhood and womanhood and adulthood, and how the girls experience this period is particular to their own lived experiences. The findings reveal that the overarching themes of this period are "it's complicated," and that the girls are claiming their agency. The research participant media indicate the overarching theme of this period of the girls' lives is what we are coming to know as a "soft girl era". Other primary themes which emerged from this study include attention to and prioritization of self-care, love, and self-affirmations. These data serve as a starting point and experiential reference to understand transitions of Afro-Caribbean girlhood in the Caribbean broadly, and specifically in the Dutch West Indies. Much is left to be explored regarding the life course and transitions Afro-Caribbean girls experience. This research will continue as a longitudinal study where I will continue to engage with the framework I have developed and re-engage with the girls as they continue along their life transitions.
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    Gays Going Global: Institutional Scripting and Inclusion of Homonationalist Student Identities in Study Abroad
    Nanney, Megan Paige (Virginia Tech, 2015-06-16)
    Previous research has discussed the extension of social, economic, and political rights, including same-sex marriage, to the lesbian, gay, and bisexual communities. Yet, as Duggan (2002, 2003) and other argue, these sexual rights are extended only to individuals on the condition that they conform to the pre-existing heteronormative framework. Puar (2007) argues that this new normativity, called homonormativity, is part of a larger nationalist project that constructs and defines the terms of national belonging by extending sexual citizenship to the "good gay citizen." One way that individuals can work towards their inclusion is through consuming homonationalist "prepackaged experiences" that spread American ideals through travel. One example of this includes study abroad programs, where students serve as representatives of the home nation by spreading skills, culture, and ideologies to the international real through subtle actions. Preparatory orientation programs serve as a sight where students are instructed on how to be responsible representative citizens of the their nation (Virginia Tech Global Education Office 2014). Utilizing analysis of a study abroad website, participant observation of an orientation program, and eight interviews with study abroad staff and lesbian, bay, and bisexual identified students, this study examines how study abroad perpetuates homonationalist motives and ideals through the construction and inclusion of the "good representative student." I find that by privatizing and excluding sexuality from the study abroad experience as a "non-factor"--claiming that is it a matter of what students do, not who they are--homonationalism can be considered a consequence of current orientation practices.
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    Giles High School Graduates at Virginia Tech: Investigating the Relationship between Appalachian Identity and the College Experience
    Stallings, Sara Woodruff (Virginia Tech, 2016-01-10)
    The purpose of this study was to conduct a qualitative exploration of the relationship between Appalachian identity and the college experience among Giles High School graduates who attend Virginia Tech. The population for this study was Giles High School graduates who attend Virginia Tech. The sample size included ten volunteers who graduated from Giles High School in Pearisburg, Virginia, and have attended Virginia Tech in the past three years. Data collection was obtained from the sample by conducting semi-structured interviews. Coding occurred in two phases using thematic coding. The first phase consisted of an initial coding to establish an understanding of the responses and develop codes to fit the responses for analysis. The second phase of coding consolidated, re-affirmed, compared, and contrasted categories created in the first phase using matrices. The results revealed that the interviewees did communicate an Appalachian identity. When describing Appalachia, the interviewees communicated both positive and negative perceptions of their hometown. Attending college did result in a change in their Appalachian identity. Common changes were in their willingness to accept people different from themselves, their perceptions of Giles County in comparison to more diverse and urban areas, and their appreciation for the natural beauty of Giles. Compared to previous research, I found that Giles High School students seem to have less of a disrupting experience when attending college; however, dominant cultural messages still influence the identity of Appalachian students. Further research should be conducted to confirm the results and analysis.
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    The Impact of cultural and social capital on FTIC student persistence
    Still, George Robert (Virginia Tech, 2023-05-15)
    Both cultural and social capital have been used in the existing literature to understand the differences in student persistence. Bourdieu's theories (1986, 1993, 1973), through their various applications, have provided evidence that the influence of social and cultural capital on student achievement varies based on the context of the study (Sternberg et al. 2011; Farruggia et al. 2018; Grodsky 2007). This research will build on the existing research and expand the focus of the research to a broader application of both cultural and social capital together. Through this method, this dissertation examines differences in college readiness students possess when they enter Urban Center University. This research also examines differences in the type and level of social capital students report activating in their first semester of college, primarily measured through students' sense of belonging. Finally, it will examine differences in support for students' cultural communities as measured by academic/social support for their cultural community and strain with family and friends from home. A binary logistic regression operationalizes all three components of cultural and social capital to investigate the likelihood of the following: persistence to year two and year three, on-time graduation, and attainment of satisfactory academic performance (SAP) toward degree completion. Finally, high degrees of belonging for Latino/a students, men, and first-generation students are compared to overall persistence rates for these populations to examine how belonging impacts persistence for students who identify as members of these groups.
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    In Their Own Words: Faculty/Staff and Student Accounts of Stress at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007
    McLeese, Michelle Frances (Virginia Tech, 2017-09-05)
    This study examines the stressful responses of faculty/staff and students after experiencing the April 16, 2007 school shootings at Virginia Tech. Understanding people's responses to trauma not only assists in more knowledge about what is stressful after a traumatic event but also may facilitate the finessing of tools and strategies for resilience and recovery in the aftermath of trauma. After investigating stressful responses to the April 16, 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech, and in particular those with probable PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder), I found it was not always necessary to meet the "stressor" A criterion of PTSD. This is crucial because the "stressor" criterion A of PTSD is required to receive the diagnosis of PTSD. Although I found subtle stress differences for women compared to men, and faculty/staff compared to students, none of the differences were statistically significant. This research additionally contributes to the literature by detailing a profile of stressors for both faculty/staff and students in the aftermath of the worst college campus shooting in U.S. history to date. Findings suggest future research should examine the "stressor" criterion A of PTSD as well as the full spectrum of stressful responses both in the "immediate" and "delayed" aftermath of trauma(s).
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    Lesbi Honest: Barriers to Identifying and Actualizing Sexuality as a "Later in Life Lesbian"
    Graves, Alayna Louann (Virginia Tech, 2023-05-30)
    The growth of Queer Sociology has produced a body of research focused on LGBTQ identity formation, while less has been discovered about subsets of this community, including later-life lesbians who were previously partnered in long-term heterosexual relationships with cisgender men. Several theories, including the Cass Theory of Sexual Orientation Identity Formation and Fassinger's Theory, provide a model which LGBTQ people may progress through as they develop their sexual orientation identity. These models provide insight towards the development of a lesbian identification later in life. Through sixteen in-depth interviews with lesbians in the United States who did not identify as lesbian until after age thirty-five, I examine the social barriers that impact these women's identity formation processes, and examine how sexual orientation identity development theories help us understand this process. My findings reveal that heteronormativity, compulsory heterosexuality, lack of representation, gendered expectations, and the pursuit of success all acted as societal barriers that delayed these women in their sexual orientation identity development. Thus, we see that Cass' recognition of the importance of the sociocultural environment is vital. However, the theory's commitment to linearity is still questionable, and her theory may not provide enough flexibility for the fluidity of sexual orientation. Alternatively, Fassinger's theory provides more space for sexual orientation to exist as a process of continuous development.
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    Liberating Our Writing: Critical Narratives and Systemic Changes in Education and the Social Sciences
    Perez-Felkner, Lara; Gast, Melanie Jones; Ovink, Sarah (Taylor & Francis, 2022-11)
    We outline our evolution as Latina, Asian, and White women sociologists using a social justice lens while studying transitions to college among youth of color. During our graduate training and early academic careers, we felt pushed to center “mainstream” theories, which often failed to account for the power struggles and intersectional oppression our reading and empirical investigations uncovered. Guidance from mentors, peer reviewers, and senior scholars in our fields often left us feeling our ideas were invalid and marginalized. We detail our shared experiences in developing our critical lenses, and we present practical advice for early-career scholars navigating academic pressures while seeking to advance their academic writing for social justice. Our narratives represent a call to action for academics to center critical approaches that push our students and ourselves to speak truth to power.
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    More Than "Getting Us Through:" A Case Study in Cultural Capital Enrichment of Underrepresented Minority Undergraduates.
    Ovink, Sarah; Veazey, B. D. (2011)
    Minority students continue to be underrepresented among those who seek graduate and professional degrees in the sciences. Much previous research has focused on academic preparation. Equally important, however, are the psychological-social barriers and lack of institutional support encountered by many minority students. We present a case study of a university-sponsored intervention program for minority science majors that addresses not only academics, but also socialization into the academic community, networking, and the ability to practice newfound skills and dispositions through undergraduate research. In examining this case, we suggest that concerted, formal efforts toward expanding habitus and thereby augmenting cultural and social capital may have positive effects for underrepresented minority (URM) college students' academic and career prospects. Moreover, we argue that these differences complement the gains program participants make in academic preparedness, showing that attention to academics alone may be insufficient for addressing longstanding inequities in science career attainment among URM students.
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    Newsletters may threaten the mainstream media, but they also build communities
    Ovink, Sarah (Washington Post, 2021-07-08)
    This Washington Post article contributes a perspective on newsletters over the 20th century, and was published as part of the "Made by History" series.
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    Open Gates, Broken Promises: Inclusion Policies and Transgender Student Experiences at Gender-Selective Women's Colleges
    Nanney, Megan Paige (Virginia Tech, 2020-06-04)
    Since 2013, over half of all gender-selective women's colleges in the United States have adopted admission policies that outline varying biological, social, and legal criteria for who may apply to their institution. In effect, these policies opened the gates to admission, driven by the goal to be more inclusive to transgender applicants, especially trans* women. This dissertation examines if and how these policies enact missions of social justice, diversity, and inclusion through the informal practices, production, and regulation of gender on campus. How do gender-selective women's colleges go from trans* admitting to trans* serving? Through a nine-month ethnography of trans* admission policies at two gender-selective women's colleges, including 126 interviews with students, alumni, faculty, staff, and administrators; archival document analysis regarding trans* and queer history on campus; and participant observation of events and spaces on campus with trans* students, my objective is to describe the world that takes shape when gender and feminism become institutionalized, routine, and used as descriptions to both include and exclude. I contend that the impact of these admission policies is not limited to the application process, but rather the experiences of matriculated students are shaped by the gendered norms and discourses structured within the policies themselves. Findings suggest that despite the fact that these policies, formally, allow for transgender students to apply and enroll to gender-selective women's colleges, institutionalized commitments to inclusion obscure and even intensify existing gender inequality, particularly for students who do not fit within normative ideals of the "right way to be trans*" including those who are low-income, non-white, and trans* men. Because the feminist missions of these colleges continue to reaffirm an ideal of cisgender womanhood on campus, the extent to which these inclusion policies were able to make fundamental structural changes in how gendered power, resources, and opportunities are distributed was limited at best. As such, this dissertation is a call to think about gender as an institutional product; not simply in terms of the politics that are attached to the experiences, bodies, and identities, but in the very constitution of gender as a social category. As an ethnography of how these categories become comprehensible, admissible, and livable, this dissertation complicates our understanding of how policies work, how gender is reinforced in the women's college setting, and how to transform institutional practices through a trans* justice framework.