Visible but Hidden: An Intersectional Examination of Identity Management Among Sexual Minority Employees

Abstract

As organizations have increasingly prioritized the inclusion of sexual minorities, there has been a proliferation of studies examining the ways by which organizations can foster environments that enable sexual minorities to express themselves authentically at work. Yet, extant research has predominantly ignored the role of other social identities in shaping the experiences of sexual minority employees, their decisions regarding the ways they express their sexual identities at work, and the consequences of those decisions. The current study correspondingly draws on theorizing on intersectionality to propose that workplace experiences related to race, a visible identity, may alter the decisions employees make about the expression of their invisible sexual identities. We additionally extend current conceptualizations of identity management to consider the ways employees may manage the presentation of their more visible racial identities at work. Results indicated that harassment experienced on the basis of sexual orientation and race combined to influence identity management strategies related to sexual and racial identities. Furthermore, concealing one's sexual orientation and suppressing one's racial identity uniquely contributed to decrements in employee well-being and interacted to predict employee outcomes. Yet, the nature of the interactions varied by employee race. Findings from this study support the need to adopt an intersectional approach to understanding invisible inequalities at work and inform future theoretical and practical efforts aimed at fostering workplace inclusion. Keywords: identity management; sexual orientation; race; employee well-being

Invisible Inequalities: Barriers, Challenges, and Opportunities

“…Studies in this issue highlight a range of invisible inequalities that can be experienced due to attributes or characteristics that are not readily apparent. These include social class (Côté, 2023;Meuris & Gladstone, 2023), caste (Majumder & Arora, 2023), neurodiversity (Ezerins et al, 2023), mental illness (Colella & Santuzzi, 2022), and sexual orientation (Dhanani, Totton, Hall, & Pham, 2022;Roberson, Ruggs, Pichler, & Holmes, 2023).…”

“…For example, as Colella and Santuzzi (2022) outlined, while concealing mental illnesses might protect individuals from discrimination, it may subject them to inequalities such as misattribution of performance shortfalls to competence rather than illness. Highlighting identity management implications that are linked to concealment or revealment, Dhanani et al (2022) found that White people who experience racial and heterosexist harassment conceal their sexual orientation and suppress their racial identity. These authors found further that such concealment and suppression decrease employee well-being.…”

“…First, research on invisible inequalities can assess how mechanisms of visible inequalities parallel or differ from those that apply to invisible inequalities. For example, employees who face invisible inequalities due to sexual orientation (Dhanani et al, 2022) experience discrimination and harassment, paralleling the experiences of individuals who face inequalities based on demographic attributes that are more apparent, such as race. Documenting such similarities, but also differences as might be revealed in investigations, can improve the explanatory power and generalizability of theories that are predicated mostly on studies of visible inequalities.…”

“…Institutional and organizational resources, such as dedicated funding, staff expertise, educational materials, and space for open dialogue can raise individuals' awareness of inequalities. Without such resources, individuals within those systems may remain uninformed or unaware of the existence and impact of such inequalities (Dhanani et al, 2022;Van Laer & Essers, 2023). The cultivation of critical consciousness can help raise awareness of invisible inequalities, even in cases where institutional and organizational resources are absent.…”

“…Researchers could also study how institutional policies, practices, and decision-making processes can contribute to generation and maintenance of invisible inequalities (e.g., Jakob Sadeh & Mair, 2023). Further, examining the intersections and compounding effects of invisible inequalities when considered in conjunction with visible forms of systemic inequality, such as gender and race, can provide a richer understanding of the complexities of disadvantage (e.g., Dhanani et al, 2022).…”