Trans Students’ Right to Their Own Gender in Professional Communication Courses: A Textbook Analysis of Attire and Voice Standards in Oral Presentations

Abstract

Oral presentations are a common genre in technical and business communication courses. While it is important for students to develop a professional ethos when presenting information, in this article I argue that textbooks’ discussion of professional dress and voice privilege cisgendered bodies and erase the differences and bodily experiences that transgendered individuals face. This may cause dissonance in trans students who may come to believe that they must choose between their genders and being professional.

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

“…This study confirms a gap in the existing literature that would aid business educators in the development of curriculum, the identification and development of teaching/learning resources, and the training of faculty in the delivery and implementation of gender inclusive concepts and materials. Much of the existing business education materials lack equal or balanced representation of heterosexual cisgender women (Sharen & McGowan, 2019;Symons & Ibarra, 2014), and according to the articles found in this study, representation of nonheteronormative individuals and perspectives is limited (Sanchez, 2019). Two options for inclusion of gender nonconforming individuals are (a) to start including more gender nonconforming individuals and perspectives (including language) in business education materials such as textbooks, cases, readings, and so on (Harris et al, 2017) and (b) to explicitly include gender nonconforming topics in the content of business education courses .…”

“…provided ideas for specific activities related to teaching transgender issues in management classes, which may enable other faculty members to use the activities to initiate discussions and reflections among students. Finally, Sanchez (2019) argued that in the absence of inclusion in mainstream business textbooks, transgender individuals need their own course material that recognizes the perspectives of transgender students and includes transgender experiences in the textbook content.…”

“…Scholarship that exists regarding business education materials and gender nonconforming individuals is in its infancy (Sanchez, 2019). There may be a growing recognition that representation of all genders, including gender nonconforming individuals, in business education textbooks, cases, and other readings is lacking.…”