Chapter 18: Trauma-Informed Teaching in Postsecondary Education

It is estimated that before age 18, nearly two-thirds of U.S. youth have been exposed to at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE), with nearly 1 in 6 experiencing four or more ACEs (Centers for Disease Control, 2019). Disaggregated by race, gender, and sexuality, researchers have demonstrated that women, queer, and racially minoritized (primarily Black and Latine/Hispanic) youth were more likely to have experienced ACEs (Jamieson, 2018). While the evidence is clear that most students will bring some level of trauma exposure (e.g., sexual abuse, verbal abuse, poverty, etc.) with them as they enter college, they are also likely to continue being exposed to potentially traumatic life events while enrolled in college. In one study, over half of sampled college student affairs professionals (n = 615) indicated that they supported students through traumatic life events at least once a month (Lynch & Glass, 2018). These same professionals described the most common types of student trauma they encountered: the death of a loved one; suicidal ideation, attempt, or completion; severe mental health issues; sexual violence; and hate crimes, bias, or discrimination. These findings are corroborated by other research indicating a significant rise and severity of mental health issues of college students (U.S. Department of Education, 2018), the continued prevalence of sexual violence on campus (Kammer-Kerwick et al., 2019; Stoner & Cramer, 2017), and increased rates of food and home insecurity among college students (Broton, 2019; Payne-Sturges, 2018). Despite these facts and the growing evidence of the impact of traumatic stress on academic achievement and success, college educators often remain unaware of how their policies and practices may create barriers for students who have been exposed to trauma, and in some cases, further traumatize students.