Volunteers Needed for a Study to Learn About Elementary Transgender Students’ Experiences of School

Greetings! As some of you are aware, I am a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The focus of my doctoral research is on elementary students who identify as transgender, non-binary, or gender non-conforming and how they experience school. As such, I am seeking participants for a study that will focus on hearing from the voices of the students themselves to inform future policy, practice, and guidelines. The research is voluntary and requires parent or guardian consent and involvement.


This study may be a good fit for a student if:

• 
  They attend school in the United States
• Are in either 4th or 5th grade
• Identify as transgender or non-binary

If parents or guardians and the student volunteer:

• They will be offered an opportunity to interview with a researcher for between 30 minutes to 1 hour about their experiences with school
• Please note that the parent or guardian will also be interviewed for this study for an additional 30 minutes
• They may be invited for a potential follow-up interview to ensure that their perspective is clearly reflected in the research
• Personally identifiable information about the student, family, or school will be stored securely and will not be shared outside of the research team. Pseudonyms will be used in any published research.
• There is no cost to the student or family
• The research team will make a donation to GLSEN, The Trevor Project, or the National Center for Transgender Equality based on the family’s preference as a “thank you” for their participation

Where will the research take place?

• The interviews will take place online using the Zoom platform
• Parents or guardians may be present to support their student

The principal investigator is Dr. Yoon Pak, College of Education, University of Illinois, 1310 S. 6th St., Champaign, IL, 61874. IRB# 21237

To learn more or to volunteer, please contact me at darrell5@illinois.edu or 703-951-3126‬. I am happy to answer any questions you might have.

Research Study Flyer

Darrell Sampson (he/him/his), Doctoral Candidate
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
darrell5@illinois.edu
703-951-3126

This post was edited to reflect a change in focus from Virginia to the entire United States.