Whilst at university Autistic transgender people must expend huge amounts of energy to understand communication and navigate unsafe situations due to institutional and systemic ableism (Lorenz, 2021; Ressa & Danforth, 2023) and transphobia (English & Fenby-Hulse, 2019; Maughan et al., 2022). Theses issues often persist within PhD applications that have additional barriers, including academic and knowledge barriers, and financial and career barriers (Linder, 2020).

Autistic transgender people applying for a PhD may fear being deadnamed and misgendered and having their Autistic needs and strengths dismissed, based on previous experiences of stigma in education, healthcare and other areas of society (Bruce et al., 2022; Gurbuz et al., 2019 Hall et al., 2020; Shapira & Granek, 2019). The supervisory relationship is a crucial component of doctoral education (Lee, 2012) therefore Autistic trans people need to find and create a strong supervisory team that is trans and neuro-affirming as well as knowledgeable in their specific area.

In this blog I summarise the barriers to Autistic trans people in applying for PhD. I reflect on my own experiences as well as that of others collected through an online survey. I share advice for Autistic trans people who wish to apply for PhD, as well as recommendations for universities in how to make the process easier and safer. I use the words “transgender” and “trans” for all genders and non-genders.

TL / DR:

I did an online survey and reflected on my own experiences of applying for PhD as a trans Autistic person.

Paperwork could be difficult and there was lots to do. Some supervisors were neuro and gender affirming and it was difficult to know that until you started working with them.

Rejection was difficult and often not personalised and it took some people several attempts to find the right course for them.

Advocacy is an important part of the journey, which is easier for those who are more privileged. This does not mean that you have to disclose your gender or neurology.

Universities could make the process easier by: having a dedicated person to help with application, making expectations clearer, making websites easier to navigate.

Applicants could use all resources available, get organised, and have several back-up options if things don’t go to plan. This course is for you and you are worth someone’s time and effort.

What was the process of PhD application like?  

For me, it was tricky finding supervisors who had an interest in the area of study who were also neuro-affirming and gender affirming. It was really important for me to have people with lived experience on my supervisory team, I could find Autistic academics, and trans and / or queer ones but not both. I assume they exist somewhere in academia! I already knew two of my supervisors so this made making the team so much easier as I knew my gender identity and neurology would be respected.

Similar was experienced by one surveyee who: “Was asked to stay at my undergraduate university by a professor and apply to a graduate program.” Another surveyee found the process straightforward: “I began with finding the opportunities on find a PhD.com, sent a research proposal, collated references, asked for an interview.” All of us are starting a PhD at different times in our lives and careers, and for some these administrative processes are relatively straightforward, for others less so:

“The paperwork is terrible […] can there be a common app equivalent for the parts of a PhD application that are common across many schools?”

“I hated the idea of giving simple, formulaic answers because it was at once inauthentic and boring. The point was to stand out, but they did everything they could to limit your ability to do so. Expecting you to touch on several complex questions in 500-800 words was absurd.”

Unfortunately, issues with paperwork and administration can cause burnout for some Autistic people, as we can strive for perfection in systems which are needlessly complex. As one person shared: “I invested a ridiculous amount of time into researching programs, requirements, deadlines, fees, faculty, and how to write essays and CVs. I volunteered as an research assistant […] I burned myself out before I even got there.”

Systems in which to apply for PhD are unhelpful for people who may experience burnout more easily: “I feel applying to grad school requires a lot of institutional knowledge that we’re assumed to know but never actually taught. I was a first-generation college student, and I learned everything on my own from the start.”

Others shared they had to overcompensate for their “negatives” and that all this effort was not appreciated during the application process. “Self aggrandising” was a difficult process for several people as it meant they had to “Market myself as an object, fitting into the perfect box, rather than express myself naturally”. When applicants are given more opportunities to be themselves the process becomes easier “The professor who became my advisor even met me in person and connected me with her current students. That made the process easier, especially on interview day”.

Dealing with rejection

Many applicants apply to several universities, along the same area of study to ensure they make it onto a course. Unfortunately, rejection is a standard procedure for most PhD applicants. Rejection is a difficult thing for all people to navigate, however for those with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (including lot of Autistic people) the rejection is much more emotionally draining and intense.

There are a lot of things to think about before application: logistics, money, moving home, moving away from loved ones, how it fits around care responsibilities. All of these things must align in a way that suits your current lifestyle and the area of study, supervisory team, and ethos of the university and course has to be right. Add in needing to be safe and validated as a trans Autistic person and there is so much to think about before application even begins. This effort is often not appreciated by faculty who need to administrate hundreds of applications within a short time frame. As one surveyee shared:

“Getting rejected was also really difficult, emotionally speaking. Not just the rejection itself, but the deeply impersonal method used. Rejection came as an addition to the application, a boilerplate letter […] Nothing to acknowledge the sincere effort to share your hopes and dreams. It felt so soulless.”

These boilerplate letters can be disheartening, especially as you apply to more and more places: “I couldn’t help but wonder how I could be rejected outright. How much more did they expect me to achieve before they could give me a second glance?”. For several people surveyeed they felt their efforts were shunned and ignored and would have preferred a more personal method of being told they had not got a place.

“Boilerplate” rejections “Feel like a pang in my heart” and made one surveyee doubt their capacity to do a PhD. However, after a successful application to their current programme of study they reflected: “I felt as though the other programs I applied to missed out on the opportunity to see the whole of me”.

How did you know whether supervisors would be gender affirming? 

There are a few signs that may suggest that a university or supervisor are gender affirming. As two surveyees shared: “Applications included the option for selecting proper identities” and “[The university] also offered the opportunity to include your gender, your pronouns, and preferred names”. However, many more surveyees said that they had no way of knowing whether a supervisor would be trans and gender affirming or not until they started their PhD. One stated: “I live in Texas, there was going to be no support”.

I already knew two of my supervisors before applying for PhD as I had worked with them previously. I don’t know how I would know otherwise. I looked into PhD in a very queer area of the UK assuming that faculty would be gender affirming. However, this does not mean that they would also understand my Autistic-ness. One surveyee went to a college with a “Rather robust LGBTQ support center” which made them feel safe within their decision.

This process may have been clearer for me in some ways due to the nature of what I am studying: Trans and Gender Diverse Autistic Adults Experiences of Health and Social Care Inequity. Any transphobic faculty would not be intereted in supervising me or my work. Studying something that is not queer related makes this more difficult.

How did you know whether supervisors would be neuro-affirming?

Again, this was easier for me as my supervisory team are a mix of neurotypes and all three work within autism research (although that doesn’t always mean what it should!). Knowing their previous work meant I understood where they were coming from in their research. Half the people surveyeed shared that their supervisors and university were supportive of their neurological needs:

“The accommodations office was very responsive.”

“The PhD I applied for was researching autistic livelihood and it says that they want to include autistic researchers if possible. All information was sent promptly and all questions I asked surrounding my needs were answered promptly as well.”

“The woman I spoke with in [the disability] office was very kind and empathetic and compassionate and helped me lay out all of the steps that I needed to do and then followed up quickly with written plans so that we had not only talked it out but I had a backup resource in a different format that could be referred to.”

Responsiveness is a key component to student well-being as many neurodivergent students reach crisis before we ask for help. Having clear expectations and timelines also helps with anxiety. Empathy goes a long way in helping, so too do different methods of sharing information and communicating.

Two surveyees shared that they had mixed experiences of neuro-affirmation within their courses, one shared that their programme doesn’t include ABA modules but said that it would be difficult to know whether faculty otherwise endorsed it. Another shared that they experienced a professor who could “pull me out of sensory-bad environments” but a second who forgot that they are a part time AAC user and that “phones are BAD”.

Surveyees had different experiences of advocating for themselves and their needs, and also with the ability to pass, mask and have “Relatively low support [needs] for most academic settings”. The ability to advocate, disclose and challenge beliefs is not a privilege we all hold, especially for non-speaking people and people from the Global Majority who may have their advocacy tone-policed and ignored.

Do you have any recommendations for universities to make applying for PhD easier for Autistic transgender / gender diverse people?

Surveyees shared different ideas on how to make application to PhD easier for Autistic trans and gender diverse people (bonus: these things would probably benefit a lot of people):

• Make your websites as user friendly as possible. Keep these updated, so applicants know whether faculty have capacity to take on a PhD student.
• Step-by-step guide to applications.
• A dedicated person or team to call about the application process.
• Always give the option to decline to self identify for safety reasons.
• Clear, specific instructions.
• Allow space for applicants to explain their past academic record (which may be different to neuronormative experiences of education).

Do you have any advice for Autistic trans / gender diverse people applying for PhD? 

Surveyees shared that their applications took between 3 to 12 months and that there was varied help from others outside of their university but not within. They all shared suggestions on how to make this process easier for applicants:

• Use all resources available. Don’t see something that may help? Ask.
• Make templates of emails for potential supervisors (but make sure to change the name / important info to personalise!).
• Make notes for your interview and don’t be afraid to ask for accommodations (such as getting the interview questions beforehand), they are a legal stipulation in the UK if you are formally diagnosed.
• Disclosure of your gender and neurotype identities is your choice.
• Have a plan B, C (and D?) in case your first plan doesn’t work out.
• Make time for downtime and regulation throughout the process.
• Email faculty you want to work with long before you apply (“Some won’t respond, but a lot will and it will really help you decide if it’s the right fit. Some will be a great help and go above and beyond!”).
• Go for it, especially if it is a topic you’re really interested in!

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References

Bruce, H., Munday, K., & Kapp, S.K. (2023). Exploring the experiences of autistic transgender and non-binary adults in seeking gender identity healthcare. Autism in Adulthood, 5 (2). Vol. 5, No. 2https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2023.0003

English, R., & Fenby-Hulse, K. (2019). Documenting diversity: The experiences of LGBTQ+ doctoral researchers in the UK. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 14, 403-430. https://doi.org/10.28945/4328

Gurbuz, E., Hanley, M., & Riby, D. M. (2019). University students with autism: The social and academic experiences of university in the UK. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49 (2), 617-631. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3741-4

Hall, J.P., Batza, K., Streed jr., C.G., Boyd, B.A., & Kurth, N.K. (2020). Health disparities among sexual and gender minorities with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50, 3071-3077.

Lee, A. (2012). Successful research supervision: Advising students doing research. Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203816844

Lindner, R. (2020). Barriers to doctoral education: Equality, diversity and inclusion for postgraduate research students at UCL. UCL Doctoral School. https://www.grad.ucl.ac.uk/strategy/barriers-to-doctoral-education.pdf

Lorenz, D. E. (2021). Delayed PhD completion: an autoethnographic account of academic ableism. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 15(4), 233–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2021.1944090

Maughan, L., Natalier, K., & Mulholland, M. (2022). Institutional transphobia: barriers to transgender research in early years education. Gender and Education, 34(6), 721–737. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2022.2057930

Shapira, S., & Granek, L. (2019). Negotiating psychiatric cisgenderism-ableism in the transgender-autism nexus. Feminism & Psychology, 29 (4), 494-513.

Ressa, T.W., & Danforth, S. (2023). Disability, race, and origin intersectionality in the doctoral program: Ableism in higher education. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 25(1),147–159. https://doi.org/10.16993/sjdr.911.