Category: Research

Union Membership, Retention, and Perceived Safety for PK-12 Trans School Workers of Color

Equity and Excellence in Education (2024) Authors: Mario I. Suárez, Harper B. Keenan, Christina Cook. Mollie T. McQuillan, Lee Iskander, Bishop Owis, Daniel Gallardo-Zamora, and Christy Glass Abstract: In this study, we use data from a sample of 296 trans PK-12 school workers in the United States and Canada to consider the impact of union membership …

‘Everything They Think They Know, They Should Forget’: How Trans School Workers Respond to Transphobic Discourses

Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education (2024) Authors: Lee Iskander, Harper Keenan, Mollie McQuillan, Mario Suarez, Bishop Owis, Christina Cook, and Daniel Gallardo Abstract: This article explores how trans school employees redeploy, trouble, challenge, and refuse prevalent discourses about transness and education. Drawing from interviews with 100 school workers in Canada and the …

School Leaders and Transphobia: Direct, Facilitative, Accommodative, and Resistant Forms of Gender-Based Bias and Bullying

Educational Administration Quarterly (2024) Authors: Mollie McQuillan and Cris Mayo Abstract: If PK12 administrators aspire to interrupt bias-based bullying, they need to understand their role in perpetuating structural and social inequality. The purpose of this study was to examine administrators’: 1) awareness of gender-based bullying, 2) initial intentions to address bullying, and 3) actions that …

The Disruptive Power of Policy Erasure: How State Legislators and School Boards Fail to Take up Trans-affirming Policies While Leaning into Anti-LGBTQ+ Policies

Educational Policy (2024) Authors: Mollie McQuillan, Benjamin Lebovitz, and LaShanda Harbin Abstract: Since 2017, hostile anti-LGBTQ+ educational bills rapidly expanded. Using traditional and critical policy analysis across three Midwestern states, we examine (1) whether state and local policymakers (n = 60) adopted trans-inclusive protections aligned with the 2017 federal Whitaker ruling, (2) the spread and scope of state and local educational …

“It’s a Constant Wear and Tear”: Trans Visibility as Educational Labour in the Neoliberal School

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education (2025) Authors: Bishop Owis, Harper Keenan, Lee Iskander, Mario Suárez, Mollie McQuillan, Christina Cook, and Daniel Gallardo Abstract: Although transgender people are increasingly visible in mainstream North America, trans teachers are without adequate resources or protections to support their employment in schools. Legislation in both Canada and the …

“Establishing Policy Is Just Step One of Twenty”: How Educational Policy Protections, District Practices, and Leadership Matter to Trans PK–12 School Workers

Teachers College Record (2024) Authors: Mollie McQuillan, Lee Iskander, Mario Suárez, and Harper Keenan Abstract: While trans adults in the U.S. and Canada report higher levels of discrimination and harassment than cisgender adults, but the existing literature lacks comprehensive descriptions of trans school workers’ believes about what would improve working conditions, satisfaction, and safety. We interrogate …

“Sometimes It’s Hard to Do the Right Thing”: The Gender-Inclusivity Leadership Spectrum of How PK–12 Administrators Understand Gender Diversity Laws, Policies, and Implementation

American Educational Research Journal (2025) Authors: Mollie McQuillan, Janel Anderson, and Lydia Gandy-Fastovich Abstract: PK–12 district-level administrators have been asked to navigate an increasingly complex policy landscape concerning gender-diversity reforms. We apply sensemaking theory to examine administrators’ understanding of legal and policy protections for trans and gender diverse (TGD) students. Using 36 interviews with administrators and …

Can Racial Diversity Attenuate Racial Discrimination in Service Interactions? Evidence from Cite-And-Release Decisions Within Police Departments

Organizational Science (2023) Author: Jirs Meuris Abstract: Despite the belief that racial diversity in organizations will attenuate racial discrimination in service interactions, the extant literature suggests that it may often exacerbate discrimination by generating intergroup conflict. In this paper, I propose that the influence of racial diversity on racial discrimination in service interactions will depend …

Contextual Inequality in the Performance Costs of Financial Precarity

Journal of Management (2023) Authors: Jirs Meuris and Joe Gladstone Abstract: A substantial proportion of the workforce experiences financial precarity, which is defined as persistent concern about one’s personal financial welfare. Research suggests that financial precarity often harms performance at work. In this paper, we investigate whether characteristics of the work context disproportionately occupied by people at the …

Task Interdependence and the Gender Wage Gap: The Role of the Gender Composition of an Occupation

Journal of Organizational Behavior (2023) Authors: Jirs Meuris and Allison Elias Abstract: People increasingly need to collaborate with others in their workplace to perform their jobs. Studies have shown that task interdependence can have important consequences for teams and organizations, and emerging research suggests that it may be contributing to gender inequality. In this paper, we …