Busting the Gender Binary: Activities for Teaching Transgender Issues in Management Education

Abstract

There is a growing need to teach management students about the diverse gender identities they may face as managers and leaders in the workplace. Management educators are generally ill-equipped to teach transgender issues, even in diversity management courses. In this article, we provide two activities for supplementing education about transgender experiences in management education courses. The first is an experiential exercise that works best as an introduction to the transgender experience. The second activity, which can be used both in classroom or online learning environments, offers a series of mini case studies (with suggested discussion questions and teaching notes) to help inform and guide students through more advanced reflection and discussion about real-world scenarios involving transgender employees in the workplace. A supplemental set of slides is also available to help management educators better understand transgender issues.

“I Get It Now!”: An Exercise to Highlight Unearned Privilege Using Resource Allocation and Rewards

“…While this is not an exhaustive list, we want to provide a sample of resources that instructors might draw upon in response to the potential difficulties of teaching diversity and inclusion topics in the classroom. In her article, “Invisible Social Identity Exercise,” Duncan (2020, p. 328) calls for creating a level of safety in the classroom. In addition, a resource recommended in her article, “Creating a Positive Classroom Climate for Diversity” (Garibay, 2015) is another invaluable instructor resource. In their exercise, “Busting the Gender Binary: Activities for Teaching Transgender Issues in Management Education,” Schwartz and Bilimoria (2020) also call for cautions for safety in the classroom during the exercise (p. 339). They also note that a strategy to diffuse potential negative reactions to the exercise is to point out the ethical responsibilities of the students (acting as members of an organization) (p. 341). Finally, thanks to a reviewer suggestion, another outstanding teaching resource can be found at the University of Michigan’s inclusive teaching website (University of Michigan Inclusive Teaching, n.d.-b).…”

“…In their exercise, “Busting the Gender Binary: Activities for Teaching Transgender Issues in Management Education,” Schwartz and Bilimoria (2020) also call for cautions for safety in the classroom during the exercise (p. 339). They also note that a strategy to diffuse potential negative reactions to the exercise is to point out the ethical responsibilities of the students (acting as members of an organization) (p. 341).…”

Gender Nonconforming Individuals and Business Education: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…The existing literature that examines business education and gender nonconforming individuals represents a launching point that is ripe for further 2,4,5,7,8,9,10,11,12,16 development. To some extent, the lack of robust scholarly contributions on this topic may be attributed to the relative newness of the issue with respect to widespread acceptance and inclusion of gender nonconforming individuals in mainstream society (Krylova, 2016).…”

Considering Our Differences to Help Learning and Engagement in the Management Education Classroom

“…Our students need to understand themselves, their peers, and how we all fit together in the management classroom and the world.This complex situation comes with many considerations, but thankfully there are many ways we can help students to understand these complexities. Equally important, we need to understand which materials are effective to use in the classroom, as well as how and when to use them to foster belongingness.Management Teaching Review articles have tackled this need before (Schmidt-Wilk, 2020), whether it be the use of American cultural examples confusing international students (Priya & Tapis, 2016), nonnative speakers creating class videos on topics that matter to them (Adikharkam, 2018), or activities to help understanding and support of transgender students and employees (Schwartz & Bilimoria, 2020).In this issue we have eight articles that offer exercise and insight on how best to help students understand diversity and individual differences. Also, they help us as instructors to understand and meet the needs of our diverse students as they learn and grow as people.…”

“…Management Teaching Review articles have tackled this need before (Schmidt-Wilk, 2020), whether it be the use of American cultural examples confusing international students (Priya & Tapis, 2016), nonnative speakers creating class videos on topics that matter to them (Adikharkam, 2018), or activities to help understanding and support of transgender students and employees (Schwartz & Bilimoria, 2020).…”