Gender Identity Issues and Workplace Discrimination: The Transgender Experience

Abstract

Mainstream social constructions of gender tend to demand conformity by adhering to only two choices of gender identity, male and female. Transgender individuals transgress this binary conception of gender by deviating from the societal gender norms associated with the sex assigned at birth. Using a combination of face-to-face and phone interviews to collect data, twenty-six interviews were conducted with male-identified transgender individuals aged 18 to 57 from throughout the United States. All participants were born female bodied but eventually expressed gender traits that align with male identity rather than female identity. The participants were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Our findings reveal the workplace experiences of a sample of female-to-male (FTM) individuals and provide accounts of how male-identified transgender individuals negotiate their gender identities within the workplace and deal with the issues that arise as a result.

The Lived Experiences of Transgender Persons: A Meta-Synthesis

“…Khan and colleagues (2009), for example, found that Bangladeshi transgender persons are likely to have difficult lives from early childhood; they are excluded from society and live their lives as marginalized people, an experience that often adversely affects their health and well-being. Similarly, transgender individuals living in Western countries face various forms of discrimination in many different settings, including workplaces, educational institutions, health care services, religious or church organizations, and social welfare agencies, and also as a consequence of government policies (Budge, Tebbe, & Howard, 2010 Dentice, 2009;Dispenza, Watson, Chung, & Brack, 2012;McKinney, 2005;Sausa et al, 2007;Yarhouse & Carrs, 2012). Furthermore, in part as a result of their marginalization from other work environments, transgender individuals tend to engage in sex work, and therefore have a higher risk of HIV infection (Bockting, Robinson, & Rosser, 1998;Khan et al, 2009;Melendez & Pinto, 2007;Nemoto, Sausa, Operario, & Keatley, 2006;Sausa et al, 2007).…”

Privatsache und unerheblich für Unternehmen?: Der Stand der Personalforschung zur „sexuellen Orientierung”

“…Klöppel, 2010 (vgl. Alexander & Yescavage, 2003;de Silva, 2005;Dietert & Dentice, 2009;Lindemann, 2011).…”

“…zur Kündigung (vgl. Brown & Rounsley, 1996;Dietert & Dentice, 2009). Als erstes Mittel, das Thema Transidentität organisational aufzugreifen, schlagen Barclay und Scott (2006) vor, eine klare Unternehmensrichtlinie zum Vorgehen im Falle einer Geschlechtsanpassung zu formulieren.…”

“…Gegenüber den KollegInnen liegt die Entscheidung, sich mehr zu öffnen, dann beim Individuum selber. Lediglich im Einstellungsverfahren ist die Geschlechtsanpassung, egal ob im Ausweis bereits berücksichtigt oder nicht, schwer zu verbergen, da zumeist auch ältere Unterlagen vorgelegt werden müs-sen, beispielsweise Arbeitszeugnisse (Dietert & Dentice, 2009). Transfrauen werden dagegen in den meisten Fällen immer als solche wahrgenommen und müssen sich daher immer mit den Reaktionen auf die Geschlechtsanpassung auseinandersetzen, gleichgültig, ob am alten oder an einem neuen Arbeitsplatz (Budge, Tebbe, & Howard, 2010).…”

Lessening the difference is more – the relationship between diversity management and the perceived organizational climate for gay men and lesbians

“…lesbian, gay male, bisexual, and transsexual employees, and (if adding an I) intersex employees . However, transsexuality and intersexuality are not directly linked to sexuality or sexual preferences (Dietert and Dentice 2009), and heterosexuality is usually excluded in organizational diversity practices, although policies protecting employees on the basis of sexual orientation protect heterosexual employees as well. Whatever the terms and definitions used in this dimension(s) of diversity, by far the most frequently addressed groups in diversity research and practice are gay and lesbian employees, a focus that this paper also has.…”