Originally published here.

Examining the work experiences and career development of trans and gender diverse (TGD) individuals, relations with organisational conditions, as well as connections of workplace values reveal enablers and barriers for TGD work engagement and career trajectory. The corpus of literature in organisation and management studies revealed a gap of knowledge regarding the work experiences of TGD people in organisations, as well as their inclusion in organisational decision-making and workplace culture. The theoretical concept of critical performativity in Critical Management Studies shall be extended by considerations of materiality and embodiment concerning work-gender-identity relations. This research utilises a qualitative multi-method study design. That includes semi-structured online interviews with TGD individuals to explore the participants TGD-specific experiences with respect to their workforce and career development experiences.

This was followed by a photo-elicit open-ended questionnaire with organisation and management personnel of various businesses to evaluate the awareness of enablers and barriers for TGD individuals in the organisational context. The insight gained from the research identifies numerous enablers and barriers concerning organisational structures, policies, and work values that are influential in organisational gender diversity and inclusivity of TGD employees. This in turn leads to the provision of practical recommendations concerning language use, work practices and arrangements that should be considered and implemented in organisations moving forward.

The gap in the literature about TGD work engagement, as well as career development, provoked this research to describe and understand the experience of TGD individuals in the labour market (Matsuno & Budge, 2017; McFadden, 2015). Critical reflection, as one principle of Critical Management Studies, was instrumental to identify influences of the cis-normative gender binary on the presented research findings highlight the significance of material, spatial, and physical aspects to organisational culture and the awareness of gender diversity. Overall, there are two main approaches to increase the inclusion of TGD individuals in the organisational context: gender  neutrality and gender inclusivity.

Gender neutrality could be applied where the distinction between female/women and male/men is discriminatory or exclusive such as job advertisement for gender- stereotypical perceived occupations. Additionally, a gender-inclusive approach consists either of further options to the gender binary such as in documents requesting the identification of gender or the designation of TGD identities in the context of organisational structures like restrooms and dress codes, as well as specific policy implications like transgender and gender diverse affirmation guidelines. Such insights lead to practical recommendations for increasing TGD inclusivity in the organisational structures and working environment. The review of current organisational policies and data collection for administrative purposes are significant steps to increase the inclusion of TGD employees. However, due to their limitations, a contextualised approach of gender-neutral and gender-inclusive language adapted to the overall organisational communication and workplace interactions is required. Additionally, it should be considered that policy implications are not directly influential on the workplace culture and team environment.

The organisational culture may have to be addressed by improving the visibility of TGD identities and support mechanisms like career development initiatives or mentoring programs. Increasing knowledge of TGD inclusion could involve engagement with TGD-specific associations that offer educational and consultational support. In addition, the collaborative arrangement and increased awareness could empower the TGD individual to consider their personal need such as the process of gender affirmation in the workplace. This in turn would improve the inclusion of gender diversity and TGD-specific engagement at work. Furthermore, this research adds to the academic literature featuring specific experiences of TGD individuals within the workplace context, and the application for diversity management. Terminology like gender equality and gender diversity should be broadened beyond the gender binary and cis-normative understanding (Goldberg et al., 2021) to include TGD matters in the organisational and management literature. TGD working experiences and career development needs to be separately investigated and considered from the broader LGBTQIA+ community to ensure and maintain a clear distinction between the influences of sex assigned at birth, gender identities, and sexual orientation within the organisational context.

You can read the complete article here.

Or you can listen to it on Spotify.