Academia is a term for the environment or community where individuals and groups pursue research, scholarship, teaching, and learning. Academia typically refers to activities that occur within colleges and universities and is both a physical location and a sociocultural production—that is, processes that generate norms, practices, and values. While there is much variability within academic organizations within the United States and beyond, across these varied organizational contexts, there are common components, such as being home to fields of study; a hierarchy among students, faculty, and staff; and the multiple missions of academic organizations.

Academia is an important location for knowledge production about trans lives and experiences, although it is not the only source of such knowledge. Additionally, academia is a space for trans community building. Yet, ...