Out of Sight But Not Out of Mind: Managing Invisible Social Identities in the Workplace

Seeing herself as a leader: an examination of gender-leadership Frames in women’s leader identity development

“…Other participants talked about being given a potential "one up" in promotion decisions from being a women, or being asked to join a certain client meeting because they "needed more women at the In these cases, participants experience advantages for their leadership, arising from more practical opportunities afforded to them, as opposed to innate stylistic differences that women hold. These expressions echo ideas from the broader literature on individuals with marginalized identities, which suggests that difference can be used to ones benefit or to gain preferential treatment (Clair, Beatty & MacLean, 2005), a phenomenon referred to as "secondary gain" by Strauss (1975). In the present study, participants reflect this potential secondary gain, such that they see being a women leader as an opportunity because of the functional advantages it affords them, even if they are largely underrepresented in this context.…”

The Benefits of Climate for Inclusion for Gender-Diverse Groups

“…Personalized contact of this sort has been shown to disconfirm negative stereotypes of out-group members and diminish the in-group/outgroup distinctions that fuel conflict (Ensari & Miller, 2001. In contrast, work on facades of conformity (Hewlin, 2003(Hewlin, , 2009) and surface acting (Hochschild, 1983) suggests that when people constrain their emotions and behaviors in order to construct public representations of themselves that are aligned with desired organizational personas, they suffer from strain and psychologically disengage from their work (Clair, Beatty, & MacLean, 2005).…”

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

“…Anticipating these potential negative consequences, lesbians and gays always have to decide how to deal with their homosexuality in everyday work (Ragins et al 2007). Because of its invisibility and because of the fact that colleagues usually assume heterosexuality as a given (Losert 2008), individuals apply different degrees and types of openness to it (Clair, Beatty, & MacLean, 2005). However, a potential "coming out" is a modifiable process that has to be accomplished time and again, especially when new colleagues or customers appear (Ward and Winstanley 2005).…”

“…However, a potential "coming out" is a modifiable process that has to be accomplished time and again, especially when new colleagues or customers appear (Ward and Winstanley 2005). The "outing levels" can range from actively pretending to be heterosexual, to the avoidance of being identified as gay or lesbian, up to an implicit or explicit openness about one's homosexuality (Clair et al 2005;Griffin 1992).…”

“…It intensifies cognitive dissonance, and the huge amount of energy that is spent on the consistent maintenance of a false image leads to a shrinking of one's mental capacities and workplace performance (DeJordy 2008). An individual's demographic, as well as personal characteristics, can partially be taken as an explanatory factor for the way gays and lesbians handle their homosexuality (Clair et al 2005 Ragins et al 2003). The form, and the outcome, of an employee's coming out depends on situational and contextual factors; the latter can be condensed into a supportive or even non-supportive work environment or organizational climate .…”