The “generation gap” has always impacted how college administrators, faculty and staff relate to students. The zeitgeist of a generation will define how individuals will think about a social identity, including how gender is socially constructed. As a result, the way gender is perceived, defined and lived means different things to different people who are all brought together in places of higher learning with young students.
At many higher education institutions, gender is understood by administrators, faculty and staff, in terms of whether people are male or female—being gender nonconforming, gender benders, gender queer or transgendered has not entered into the range of possibilities for some. This is changing, but, to keep up with the change, it requires that faculty and staff members are actively engaged in this shift so that students can be successful and find their place during their college career.
Keene State College is like many liberal arts institutions across the country with faculty and staff representing a variety of generations. Approximately 52 percent are from the Baby Boomer generation, 34 percent are Generation Xers and 3 percent are Traditionalists; people who are over 70 years old. The majority of students—and about 11 percent of faculty and staff members—are Millennials.
On May 13, the Civil Rights areas of the U. S. Department of Justice and Education issued a joint “Dear Colleague” letter with guidance for supporting students who are transgendered. Though the recommendations are essential, the impact that generational differences will have on developing policies is not adequately addressed.
So what do we do to address this challenge? At Keene State College, we are addressing the issue through training, investing in meaningful dialogue and campus resources to help shift culture. All institutions need to have cross-generational discussions to 1) examine definitions of gender; 2) identify and acknowledge feelings about gender fluidity by administrators, faculty and staff rather than gender binary; 3) explore the impact their thoughts, feelings and beliefs will have on how and what policies are developed and implemented, behaviors expressed toward students who are transgendered and overall cultural shift needed to create; 4) obtain significant input from students about their lived experiences as students who are transgendered on their campuses; and 5) create a process to address the behavior of individuals who violate the expectations contained in the policies as determined by the college community. These five things will have an impact on the type of policies developed and the “spirit” under which these policies will be implemented.
Here are more specific suggestions for administrators, faulty and staff:
