Career Decision Self‐Efficacy of Transgender People: Pre‐ and Posttransition

Although the mental health needs of transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) people have recently been addressed more directly than in the past (Bockting, Miner, Swinburne Romine, Hamilton, & Coleman, 2013; dickey, Reisner, & Juntunen, 2015; Meier, Pardo, Labuski, & Babcock, 2013), there remains a dearth of information related to vocational development of this population. Some of the considerations in career counseling and vocational development among TGNC people include differences in developmental concerns related to gender transition, gender presentation, passing (e.g., being perceived by others in one's affirmed gender), and binary and fluid gender identities (Beemyn & Rankin, 2011; Harrison, Grant, & Herman, 2012). In the present study, we consider gender transition with regard to career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) among TGNC people preand posttransition.Gender Identity and the Transgender UmbrellaThe social construct of gender commonly accepted within modern Western and European traditions explicitly links gender to biological sex. In contrast, gender identity reflects an individual's internal experience of themselves as a gendered being (Fausto-Sterling, 2000; Korell & Lorah, 2007; Lev, 2004). We recognize that the American Psychological Association (APA; 2010) style does not allow for the use of plural pronouns when referring to an individual. However, some TGNC people eschew the gender binary and use gender-neutral pronouns such as they, them, and their. The descriptive category of cisgender describes the group of people whose sex as assigned at birth predominantly corresponds to their gender identity (Serano, 2007). When one's sex as assigned at birth and gender identity do not correspond, individuals may identify as transgender (Lev, 2004).Social scientists have used the term transgender umbrella to refer to the variety of identities that make up the general category of transgender (Fassinger & Arseneau, 2007; Lev, 2004). Included in this umbrella are identities that would be considered divergent from social constructs of gender that exist on a binary between male and female. Some of the identities include, but are not limited to, transgender (e.g., a person who completes a social transition), transsexual (e.g., a person who has taken medical, surgical, and/or hormonal steps to alter their biological gender identity), male-to-female (MTF), female-to-male (FTM), crossdresser (e.g., a person who dresses in clothing typically associated with the opposite sex), or genderqueer (e.g., a person who does not ascribe to the gender binary). Gender dysphoria is the diagnosis given to some transgender people who seek psychological or psychiatric services and meet the diagnostic criteria in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) and is commonly treated with hormone therapy and/or gender affirmation surgery (Coleman et al., 2012). Mental health services are often sought because the diagnosis may be a requirement for the minimal available reimbursement for medical treatments. Gender affirmation surgery is a set of surgical procedures that lead to a change in biological gender identity (e.g., MTF or FTM). These surgical procedures include, but are not limited to, breast removal (FTM) or augmentation (MTF) and phalloplasty (FTM) or vaginoplasty (MTF).Conceptualizing transgender identities along the spectrum of masculine and feminine identities is an imperfect but potentially useful system for classifying and understanding TGNC identities. MTF individuals may present their gender identity along the female spectrum despite having been assigned male at birth. Conversely, FTM individuals may present their gender identity along the male spectrum despite having been assigned female at birth. Neither of these gender identities implies a specific set of gender transition procedures. Rather, they both relate to individuals who live the majority of their lives in a gender other than their sex as assigned at birth. …