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Moving beyond the gender binary: Examining workplace perceptions of nonbinary and transgender employees
Author(s) -
Dray Kelly K.,
Smith Vaughn R. E.,
Kostecki Toni P.,
Sabat Isaac E.,
Thomson Cassidy R.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
gender, work and organization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.159
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1468-0432
pISSN - 0968-6673
DOI - 10.1111/gwao.12455
Subject(s) - vignette , transgender , gender identity , psychology , perception , social psychology , prejudice (legal term) , gender diversity , interpersonal communication , gender schema theory , corporate governance , finance , neuroscience , psychoanalysis , economics
This study is one of the first to experimentally examine the workplace prejudice faced by nonbinary employees, or those who identify outside of the man/woman gender binary. Participants ( N = 249) were presented with a vignette which included a description of a fictitious co‐worker’s sex and gender identity, and asked to rate the co‐worker’s likeability and perceived job performance. Results revealed that the assigned sex and the gender of hypothetical employees interactively impacted interpersonal and workplace perceptions. For individuals assigned male at birth, identifying as a man led to the most positive ratings, followed by identifying as a transgender woman, followed by identifying as a nonbinary person. This work expands upon gender schema theory and highlights some of the unexplored challenges faced by nonbinary and transgender employees. We end with suggestions for future research, such as incorporating qualitative data to highlight the unique experiences of these gender minorities in organizations.