Connectivity, Community, and Kinship as Strategies to Foster Queer and Trans College Student Retention

Abstract

Given that multiple forms of oppression are endemic to higher education, strategies intended to retain queer and trans college students should mirror the strategies of survival and thriving found within queer and trans communities. Fostering and bolstering connections, community, and kinship among queer and trans college students through a lens of multiplicities of identities will better support queer and trans students’ retention. For example, some queer and trans students may depart from an institution—whether temporary or long term to support their own well-being and identity development, given the various forms of oppression that higher education institutions instantiate and exacerbate. We call on higher education leaders to take seriously their role in reducing or eliminating the harm caused to queer and trans college students. Queer and trans college students are resilient within hostile environments and have agency about their educational trajectories.