University of Waterloo registrar spearheads change
Beginning in the fall of 2017, students applying to Ontario’s universities will have access to a newly improved registration system, giving students the option of identifying as male, female, or “another gender identity.”
Applicants are currently obligated to identify as either male or female, which are the only options offered within this mandatory field.
The difficulty students face with this application process was initially recognized by Ray Darling, a registrar at the University of Waterloo, who began investigating the issue when confronted by a student regarding the lack of personal choice given in the options.
“A big part of this is just affirming for them, their identity, and for our sake going to give us data we haven’t had in the past” to ultimately support all future students, Darling told the Toronto Star.
Darling has formed and chairs a provincial work group dedicated to this issue and has been working with the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre in Guelph.
The group initially considered labeling the third option as “transgender,” however, this is also limiting for individuals who do not identify as such, and was therefore altered to “another gender identity.”
Beginning post-secondary education is quite stressful for many young adults, especially when specifying gender identity becomes an additional stressor.
Lori Guest, volunteer and resources co-ordinator for the Guelph Resource Centre for Gender Empowerment and Diversity (GRCGED), explained that this has been an issue for quite some time.
“I know a number of current students who don’t identify with male or female as their gender and so had to choose something that was just the wrong answer when they applied for university,” said Guest in an email to The Ontarion. “A recent study shows that fewer ‘gen z’ youth are identifying as 100 per cent heterosexual and that the gender binary is less important to them than previous generations.”
When asked about the third gender option promoting a safer space for students throughout Ontario, Guest stated that it is not necessarily a “change to create safer space so much as it reflects the acceptance of the fact that gender can no longer be simplified to a binary.”