IN-DEPTH SCRUTINY OF CAREER AND EDUCATIONAL RELATED PROBLEMS FACED BY TRNASGENDERED COMMUNITY

Abstract

The current study was conducted to explore the important topic of transgendered community and their education and career related problems. A qualitative research design with a purposive sampling was employed. For the data collection semi-structured interviews protocol was developed and in-depth interviews were conducted for exploration about their beliefs, practices, and experiences. Data were analyzed through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Sample comprised of four transgendered with the age range of 28-40. The interviews were focused on their educational and career related problems. The analysis lead to emergence of these major themes: problems in education, stereotypes related to identity, access to health insurance and problems related to work environment. Results demonstrated that transgendered people live in poverty. They have also reported being homeless at some point in their lives. Moreover, they were being fired, denied of promotion, or experiencing mistreatment at the workplace due to their gender identity. The Pakistani Bureau of Statistics suggest a transgendered population of 10,418 population of transgendered, transgendered students were more likely than all other groups to report feeling unsafe at school because of transgendered, sexual orientation, and gender identity. They feel unsafe at work places. This study revealed that (55.4%) of transgendered students reportedly avoid school bathrooms. The study also revealed that based on gender expression and gender identity, 76.3% of transgendered students reported verbal harassment and 15.8% reported physical assault. Overall, findings demonstrated that while safety is a concern for many transgendered despite of gender identity, transgendered youth may face additional challenges. The current study highlighted the challenges faced by the transgendered community. In order to eradicate these issues faced by transgendered community important steps should be taken on governmental level as well as on societal level. Reforms should be made to ensure appropriate required services to assist transgendered community who have experienced violence and also need to enhance awareness in the general community about violence against the transgendered communities.