An Authentic Gender Journey with Dr Cora Sargeant

The first episode of the Understanding Voices mini-series with me, Ella Mansfield. In this episode, I talk to Dr. Cora Sargeant, an Educational Psychologist and  Academic and Professional Tutor for the initial EP training programme at the University of Southampton. Cora and I discuss gender and alternatives to the bimodal system of male and female identities. She discusses her personal gender journey as a transgender woman and talks about how her experiences influence her practice as an Educational Psychologist. We discuss what gender is and how it can be defined. Cora highlights the societal barriers that non-binary and transgender people face and we talk about how these may arise within educational settings. We conclude by discussing how EPs and other professionals working with children and young people can challenge the status quo and improve the experiences of all children through inclusive practice.Related reading:Bragg, S., Renold, E., Ringrose, J., & Jackson, C. (2018). ‘More than boy, girl, male, female’: Exploring young people’s views on gender diversity within and beyond school contexts. Sex Education, 18(4), 420–434. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2018.1439373Fast, Anne & Olson, Kristina. (2017). Gender Development in Transgender Preschool Children. Child Development. 89. 10.1111/cdev.12758. (https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cdev.12758)Gülgöz, S., Glazier, J., Enright, E., Alonso, D., Durwood, L., Fast, A., Lowe, R., Ji, G., Heer, J., Martin, C., & Olson, K. (2019). Similarity in transgender and cisgender children’s gender development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116. 201909367. 10.1073/pnas.1909367116.Hyde, J. S., Bigler, R. S., Joel, D., Tate, C. C., & van Anders, S. M. (2019). The future of sex and gender in psychology: Five challenges to the gender binary. American Psychologist, 74(2), 171–193. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000307Martin, C. L., Andrews, N. C., England, D. E., Zosuls, K., & Ruble, D. N (2017).  A dual identity approach for conceptualizing and measuring children’s gender identity. Child Dev. 88, 167–182.  doi: 10.1111/cdev.12568.Meyer-Bahlburg, H., Dolezal, C., Baker, S., Carlson, A., Obeid, J., & New, M (2004) Prenatal androgenization affects gender-related behavior but not gender identity in 5-12-year-old girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Arch. Sex. Behav. 33, 97–104. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8560291_Prenatal_Androgenization_Affects_Gender-Related_Behavior_But_Not_Gender_Identity_in_5-12-Year-Old_Girls_with_Congenital_Adrenal_Hyperplasia)Olson, K. R., Key, A. C., & Eaton, N. R. (2015). Gender cognition in transgender children. Psychological Science, 26(4), 467–474. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614568156Rae, J. R., Gülgöz, S., Durwood, L., DeMeules, M., Lowe, R., Lindquist, G., & Olson, K. R. (2019). Predicting early-childhood gender transitions. Psychological Science, 30(5), 669–681. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619830649Read, J., Sargeant, C., & Wright, S. (2020). What beliefs influence children and young people’s attitudes towards the transgender population? Educational and Child Psychology, 37(1), 11–36.Russell, S. T., Pollitt, A. M., Li, G., & Grossman, A. H. (2018). Chosen name use is linked to reduced depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behavior among transgender youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 63(4), 503–505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.02.003Vasey, P.L., & Bartlett, N.H. (2007). What Can the Samoan "Fa'afafine" Teach Us about the Western Concept of Gender Identity Disorder in Childhood? Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 50(4), 481-490. doi:10.1353/pbm.2007.0056. Support the show

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Agents of Hope is a podcast for anyone interested in Education, Psychology and social issues. Hosted by Dr. Tim Cox and other guest hosts from the EP world, the podcast aims to engage in long-form critical discussion about issues that arise in the field of applied psychology. You can follow the podcast on Twitter @timceducation