The Necessity of Intersectionality as a Framework to Explore Queer and Trans Student Retention

Limited research on queer and transgender college student retention has led to a lack of understanding of the institutional structures that support these collegians. Moreover, what scholarship does exist oftentimes uses power-neutral lenses to explain the factors that lead to the retention of queer and transgender students. Using intersectionality as an analytic framework to illustrate the necessity of framing issues of retention with attention to overlapping systems of power and oppression provides a challenge to the existing literature. This article provides examples of higher education practices and policies from the perspectives of structural, representational, and political intersectionality. Implications for research and practice are offered.