Upcoming Events

Visibility as Vulnerability: Transgender Passing Privilege, Hiring Discrimination, and Stereotypes

Taryn Eames is a PhD Candidate in Economics at the University of Toronto, broadly interested in applied microeconomics. More specifically, she is focused on labour economics, inequality, and discrimination—especially when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community. 

February 26th 2026 4-5pm (UK time) 

Registration link: https://forms.gle/xkYXetjDn71ADGMRA 

Abstract

"Passing" refers to being perceived as a member of a more socially accepted or privileged group; for transgender (trans) women, it means being read by observers as a cisgender (cis) woman. This study examines the role of passing in discrimination against, and stereotypes about, trans women. In a large-scale field experiment in Germany, I sent thousands of fictitious job applications with AI-generated headshots that randomly varied two features: whether the applicant passes as cis and whether she discloses a male-to-female name change (indirectly revealing her trans identity). I find evidence of substantial passing privilege: when employers know an applicant is trans, those who pass receive 9% fewer callbacks relative to otherwise similar cis applicants—this discrimination increases to 32% when trans applicants do not pass. To explore potential mechanisms driving these results, I am conducting a follow-up survey experiment in which respondents rate professional profiles that are randomly assigned the same treatments as in the field experiment. This complementary study will identify systematic differences in how trans women are perceived relative to cis women, both when they pass and when they do not.

This project was supported by the Institute for Gender and the Economy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in English schools: A tale of how government commissioned, funded and then would not publish research on LGBT inclusion 

Eleanor Formby (she/her) is Professor of Sociology and Youth Studies at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. She has 25 years’ experience in (predominantly qualitative) social research and evaluation, and for nearly 20 years her work has focussed on the life experiences of LGBT+ people (e.g. regarding bullying, community, higher education, schooling, sex and relationships education, sexual health, youth services). Eleanor has written numerous articles in these areas and is the author of Exploring LGBT spaces and communities: Contrasting identities, belongings and wellbeing (2019) and Homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying and LGBT inclusion in English schools (2025).

April 30th 2026 4-5pm (UK time) 

Registration link: to follow 

Abstract

2016-2019 saw the largest known study on homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying and LGBT inclusion in English schools. The research (Formby et al 2025) took place in over 850 primary and secondary schools, involving survey responses from more than 61,000 pupils and staff, in-school observations, and qualitative data collection (individual interviews and group discussions) with 172 pupils and staff. The research explored HBT bullying prevention; HBT bullying experiences and responses; LGBT inclusion in schools (including within the curriculum and wider environment); challenges and barriers to schools becoming more LGBT-inclusive spaces; the enablers and impacts of LGBT inclusion.

The research was intended to feed into positive developments for the education and wellbeing of LGBT+ pupils and staff in schools, and for organisations working with/in schools. However, the so-called gender ‘culture wars’, and anti-trans politics specifically, significantly limited this potential. In this seminar I will outline some of the research findings, and examine the subsequent years spent trying to push the government to publish what they had themselves commissioned and funded. In doing so, I trace the apparent policy shift from inclusion to suppression, the associated (lack of) transformation in schools, and point to implications for future work in this field.