Abstract
Trans* people in the United States face many barriers that limit their ability to work fully and efficiently, including lack of legal protections and frequent experiences of discrimination in the workplace. Employment related stressors impact trans* people across the transition spectrum, as they decide whether an organization is a safe environment to transition prior to transition and navigate confusing and often oppressive organizational policies and practices during transition. Ultimately, negative workplace experiences lead to disruptions in the formation and maintenance of social networks, which are integral to occupational attainment and success. For example, many trans* people are forced to decide whether to reveal their trans* gender identity or lose prior employment histories that are not congruent with their current gender identity. Others lose opportunities for mentorship and social connections because of assumed interactions between sex category and gender identity and homophily. At each stage of the transition process (pre-transition, during transition, and post-transition), organizations have opportunities to demonstrate proactive inclusion, potentially improving workplace experiences. This chapter reviews current theory, US research and laws related to trans* people’s workplace experiences, and offers recommendations that workplaces can adopt to improve the lives of trans* persons. Some recommendations include adopting a non-discrimination policy that includes gender identity and gender expression, establishing organizational guidelines for transition that are tailored to an individual’s needs, and explicit commitment to non-discriminatory hiring practices.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Trans* is used as the current most inclusive term for transexual, transgender, and sex and/or gender non-conforming people.
- 2.
Cisgender is a term used to denote people who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth.
References
Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender & Society, 4(2), 139–158.
Brewster, M. E., Velez, B. L., Mennicke, A., & Tebbe, E. (2014). Voices from beyond: A thematic content analysis of transgender employees’ workplace experiences. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 1(2), 159–169.
Brown, C., Dashjian, L. T., Acosta, T. J., Mueller, C. T., Kizer, B. E., & Transgrud, H. B. (2012). The career experiences of male-to-female transsexuals. The Counseling Psychologist, 40, 868–894.
Budge, S. L., Tebbe, E. N., & Howard, K. A. S. (2010). The work experiences of transgender individuals: Negotiating the transition and career decision-making processes. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57(4), 377–393.
Cole, D. (1992). The employer’s guide to gender transition: Information for those dealing with an employee involved in gender transition. Waltham, MA: The International Foundation for Gender Education.
Connell, R. W. ([1985] 2005). Masculinities. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Conway, L. (2002). How frequently does transsexualism occur? Retrieved from http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/TSprevalence.html. Accessed 28 Oct 2015.
Grant, J. M., Mottet, L. A., Tanis, J., Harrison, J., Herman, J. L., & Keisling, M. (2011). Injustice at every turn: A report of the national transgender discrimination survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
Human Rights Campaign. (2004). Transgender issues in the workplace: A tool for managers. Washington, DC: Human Rights Campaign.
Human Rights Campaign. (2014). The cost of the closet and the rewards of inclusions: Why the workplace environment for LGBT people matters to employers. http://hrc-assets.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com//files/assets/resources/Cost_of_the_Closet_May2014.pdf.
Human Rights Campaign. (n.d.). Coming out in the workplace as transgender. http://www.hrc.org/resources/entry/coming-out-in-the-workplace-as-transgender. Accessed 28 Oct 2015.
Hyde, J. S., & Else-Quest, N. (2012). Half the human experience. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
Kirk, S., & Rothblatt, M. (1995). Medical, legal and workplace issues for the transsexual. Blawnox, PA: Together Lifeworks.
Martin, P. Y., & Collinson, D. L. (2000). Gender and sexuality in organizations. In M. M. Ferree, J. Lorber, & B. B. Hess (Eds.), Revisioning gender (pp. 285–310). Oxford: AltaMira Press.
Pieklo, J. M. (2015). Historic ruling issued on transgender employee rights. RH Reality Check. http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/04/10/historic-ruling-issued-transgender-employee-rights/
Ridgeway, C. L., & Smith-Lovin, L. (1999). The gender system and interaction. Annual Review of Sociology, 25, 191–216.
Schilt, K. (2010). Just one of the guys? Transgender men and the persistence of gender inequality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Seeber, A. R. (2013). Becoming somebody: Motivations for changing sex characteristics and transpeople’s understandings of their behaviors in social context. Master’s thesis submitted to the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Smith-Lovin, L., & McPherson, M. (1993). You are who you know: A network approach to gender. In P. England (Ed.), Theory on gender, feminism on theory (pp. 223–251). New York: Aldine.
Transgender Law Center. (2015). Equality Maps. Retrieved from http://transgenderlawcenter.org/equalitymap. Accessed 28 Oct 2015.
Weiss, J. T. (2007). Transgender workplace diversity. Createspace Independent Pub.
West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1987). Doing gender. Gender and Society, 1(2), 125–151.
Xavier, J. M., & Simmons, R. (2000). The Washington transgender needs assessment survey. Accessed at http://www.gender.org/vaults/wtnas.html. Accessed 24 May 2013.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mennicke, A., Cutler-Seeber, A. (2016). Incorporating Inclusivity: How Organizations Can Improve the Workplace Experiences of Trans* People Across the Trans* Spectrum: A US Perspective. In: Köllen, T. (eds) Sexual Orientation and Transgender Issues in Organizations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29623-4_30
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29623-4_30
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-29621-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-29623-4
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)