Why Aren't There A Lot of Transgender CS Students?

IsraelW - Jun 4 '23 - - Dev Community

Lack of Scholarships

We all know that college is scary and expensive. To pay for college we have to apply to scholarships and sometimes take out student loans. As a non-binary person, I looked specifically for scholarships for LGBTQ+ students, but I didn't find a lot of them. Even after applying to other scholarships, I still am in need of a student loan and that's a terrifying thought. The lack of scholarships for transgender and genderqueer students makes it hard for them to pay for college, which results in many of them not entering the field.

Lack of Inclusive Options

Colleges have male dorms and female dorms. Where does a trans person fit in? A trans woman would like to sleep in the female dorm, but there are always the people who will make an issue about that. The dorms at most, if not all colleges, are split into only two genders and that leaves out room for trans and non-binary people.

Computer Science Is Still Male-Dominated

Women have struggled to break into the computer science industry for decades, despite having been the earliest computer programmers. The male-dominated computer science field has a hard time accepting women, and an even harder time accept genderqueer people. This causes many trans and non-binary people from leaving the field due to the rejection they face as computer science students.

Luckily I came across the Transgender First scholarship. This is a scholarship for trans and non-binary people to help them get through college. You can find them at their website here.

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