“I Need This Person’s Support to Have a Career”:

The Material and Emotional Impacts of Neoliberalism on Trans Collegians’ Classroom Experiences at a Public University

Authors

  • Justin Gutzwa Michigan State Univeristy
  • Robert Marx San Jose State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v16i1.186961

Keywords:

transgender college students, neoliberalism, curriculum & instruction, qualitative research, public postsecondary education

Abstract

Neoliberal capitalism has undoubtedly impacted every sphere of public education in the United States. With an increased push towards identity-neutral modalities of instruction, students who identify as transgender, non-binary, or other expansive gender identities (trans) are forced to reckon with implicit and explicit power dynamics in classrooms that prioritize white, cisheteropatriarchal modes of knowledge production in nuanced ways. This qualitative study explores the ways neoliberal capitalism impacts the curricular experiences of trans students by centering the power dynamics they encounter through interactions with their professors and their peers. Findings underscore the pernicious nature of the neoliberalization of higher education in advancing trans exclusion from collegiate classrooms as a hindrance towards equity in public postsecondary education. Implications for transforming curricular instruction and policy to subvert the tensions of neoliberalism are also provided.

Author Biographies

Justin Gutzwa, Michigan State Univeristy

Dr. Justin A. Gutzwa (they/them) is an Assistant Professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education at Michigan State University. Shaped by their experiences as a queer, nonbinary, trans scholar, they employ critical theories and qualitative methods to dismantle deficit-based understandings of queer and trans communities in postsecondary education, particularly trans Communities of Color. Dr. Gutzwa’s research also interrogates systemic raced, gendered, and other identity-based minoritization in postsecondary STEM education. Their work in higher education began as a student affairs practitioner, over which time they worked in undergraduate admissions and international student services. Prior to their current role, they served as a Postdoctoral Scholar with the Physics Education Research at the University of Utah (PERU) Group and the School of Social & Cultural Transformation at the University of Utah.

Robert Marx, San Jose State University

Dr. Robert A. Marx (they/he) is an Associate Professor of Child and Adolescent Development at San José State University. They are an interdisciplinary scholar, and their community-engaged research and practice focus on reframing dominant visions of queer young people, so that they are no longer viewed as deviant, damaged, or at-risk, but rather as the gifted, complex people they are. They deploy a variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including critical youth participatory action research and meta-analysis, to better understand and promote marginalized youth’s development. As a former high school English teacher, they approach this work from the intersection of educational studies, developmental psychology, and critical pedagogy, and their work encourages young people to see themselves as producers of knowledge and as change agents.

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Published

2025-01-31

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2025)

Section

Neoliberal Capitalism and Public Education

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Justin Gutzwa, Robert Marx

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