Will being transgendered (and how that is the reason why I want to study what I want to study) help me at all?

[tissue engineer 2012]

Hi everyone,

I'm interested in studying genetics and I'm trying to figure out if being transgendered is something I should mention at all in my SOP. I'm interested in studying genetics to see how gene therapy can potentially help mitigate gender identity disorder, as well as to gain a better understanding of the relationship between biological sex and gender, and whether there may be any genetic indicators that are related to someone's future gender identity. I'm wondering if this will help me at all, though. Without it, I'm just a fairly stereotypical white dude on paper.

The only other things that I can write about is putting myself through college (although I won't be able to mention how I also financed my own surgery, hormone therapy, and a year of therapy to get an official diagnosis), and the fact that my dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (after suffering from trigeminal neuralgia for years) my sophomore year (which has also shaped my research interests and is certainly something I would be interesting in studying as a means of finding genetic indicators and other possible genetic therapy).

I'm just wondering if this will help or hurt me. I'm very much an activist and involved, and would not be a typical graduate science student in the sense that I am very extroverted, was an RA for two years, am very articulate, outspoken, and emotionally empathetic, etc. I am focused on more than just research and would like to teach eventually and help students find the same passion for science that I have.

I guess I'm wondering if that's something I should mention as well...a future interest in teaching and a passion for social change and being a mentor and positive role model?

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Edited October 1, 2011 by tissue engineer 2012

[ktel]

I honestly think it might hurt you and distract from the other strong aspects of your application. I find even tolerant people are uncomfortable with the unfamiliar, and to many people, transgendered individuals are unfamiliar to them. This could cause your application to be viewed differently (even subconsciously on the part of the reviewer). That being said, I'm sure you don't want to go to a school that wouldn't accept you as who you are, so you obviously wouldn't even want to consider the schools that would deny you because of your gender identity. But I think the fact that your research focuses on gender identity and genetics, and you will mention this in your SOP, would rule out those bad schools regardless.

[Balatro]

Honestly, it depends on the school and how well you can convey your academic interests in the field - I'd probably err on the side of caution and not mention you being transgender. Not b/c of any political correctness or making people unfamiliar but because of: What does this side bit of information tell us, academically? Ultimately nothing - it isn't relevant.

For example, someone wanting to study queer theory and explaining why in their application by saying because they're a homosexual - coming from talking to undergrad adcoms at least, such a move comes across as trying to play the diversity (or race, gender, nationality, etc) card to your advantage. You wasted space saying something that really wasn't needed. As I've had very liberal adcoms tell me, they don't care what gender you sleep with so taking the space to talk about your homosexuality is often seen as tacky, crass, and (as stated above a couple of times) irrelevant. I would be concerned, especially in an academic science program that the Adcom would reply "I don't care what gender you identify as, it's no relevance to your application."

Also, if you're going to be applying to conservative programs along the likes of Loma Linda (or people like Keith Ablow) (just an example) -- stay away from controversial subjects like transgender

[kaykaykay]

I am not sure. you want to study contested issues so I think it would not hurt indicating that you are not the typical white dude.

Apart from asking us, if you have an academic advisor who knows your story you might want to ask them.

[BlueRose]

The conventional wisdom that I've heard is that anyone with a specific, activism-related interest is a flight risk. The standard case is someone who lost a relative to a particular disease and comes in hell-bent to cure it...but I think it would apply here too.

If you're interested in helping a particular group, science is a really round-about way to do that. You could get the MD and do sex reassignment surgeries or open a queer-friendly primary clinic. You could fundraise for charities helping people fund their surgeries, or you could lobby for better laws that would make transitioning easier. All this would benefit real people, directly. Instead you're proposing to park yourself in a lab, where you will spend your days growing the bacteria that express the protein that binds to the other protein that [blah blah, 12 steps later] may or may not have something to do with what's happening in the people you're interested in. In this case, will you get disillusioned and drop out, or are you prepared for the "just another brick in the wall" nature of basic science?

I think it's OK to mention that your experiences got you interested in particular topics, but I'd be careful to situate that in the context of your own broader interests (as well as the broader interests of the faculty you'd be working with at a particular school).

[tissue engineer 2012]

Thank you for your responses! Looks like I'll be keeping that under wraps, then...I appreciate your insight and recommendations!

[singlecell]

Honestly, it depends on the school and how well you can convey your academic interests in the field - I'd probably err on the side of caution and not mention you being transgender. Not b/c of any political correctness or making people unfamiliar but because of: What does this side bit of information tell us, academically? Ultimately nothing - it isn't relevant.

For example, someone wanting to study queer theory and explaining why in their application by saying because they're a homosexual - coming from talking to undergrad adcoms at least, such a move comes across as trying to play the diversity (or race, gender, nationality, etc) card to your advantage. You wasted space saying something that really wasn't needed. As I've had very liberal adcoms tell me, they don't care what gender you sleep with so taking the space to talk about your homosexuality is often seen as tacky, crass, and (as stated above a couple of times) irrelevant. I would be concerned, especially in an academic science program that the Adcom would reply "I don't care what gender you identify as, it's no relevance to your application."

Also, if you're going to be applying to conservative programs along the likes of Loma Linda (or people like Keith Ablow) (just an example) -- stay away from controversial subjects like transgender

I have to politely disagree, I don't think that stating that one is transgender is akin to stating sexual orientation. It is why the poster wants to study this field, so why not mention it? If he had cancer, and it inspired him to study oncology or diabetes and it inspired him to study that, it would be worth mentioning and not tacky. I think it is the same animal.

[Genomic Repairman]

You realize the history of gene therapy is not so good and that maybe gender identity could be controlled by multiple genes or by epigenetics? In my opinion it cannot hurt to bring up your situation. Also, I think you just stereotyped graduate students in science as cold introverts that can't even articulate their projects to the general public. This may not be a good preconceived notion to have.