A delicate exploration of the discrimination that gender-diverse people face, this book analyzes the relationship between gender identity and performance in the workplace while considering the emotional and economic survival of those who identify as transgender. The transgender community is more visible now than ever before, but the diversity within this community has remained obscure in the workplace as organizations, corporations, and institutions struggle to keep up with the rate at which transgender communities are gaining visibility. For leaders seeking best practices related to bathroom access, workplace transition, hiring practices, inclusive workplace culture, and more, this book offers guidance and novel policy recommendations designed to ensure the success of transgender employees. Extending the existing theoretical literature on masculinity in the workplace, gender discrimination, and gender performance, the book introduces the new concept of "doing ambiguity." It contains original research complemented by humanizing narratives from transgender people that provide insights into rarely explored non-binary, gender-fluid, and genderless experiences. In addition, it identifies factors that may preclude and minimize discrimination, including strategies pursued by transgender people at the individual level as well as policies employed at the organization level, and outlines a pragmatic set of policy recommendations for employers, community leaders, and others looking to help transgender people thrive in organizational environments.

The complex and changing state of policy protections for transgender communities practically requires trans people to become legal experts just to navigate their everyday lives. It also simultaneously offers a window of opportunity for legal advocates to shape new laws and policies based on the lived experiences of trans people. Using personal interviews, legal case histories, and transgender theory, Transgender Employment Experiences combines policy analysis with the lived experiences of twenty transgender-identified employees, showing how worker protections that should exist under the Civil Rights Act are instead systematically undermined in the case of many transgender employees. Rather than focusing solely on negative experiences, however, Kyla Bender-Baird also highlights the positive experiences her respondents had coming out at work, illustrating examples of best practices in response to transitioning. Bender-Baird covers many forms of discrimination that transgender workers face, such as harassment, gender-based dress codes, income-related inequities, bathroom policies, and background checks. Drawing from this analysis, she argues for protections for gender expression in policy decisions, legislative efforts, and for a multipronged approach to workplace discrimination. With its effective balance of personal stories and legal guidance, this book is a much-needed resource for those in the field of gender and employment, from policy analysts to human resource managers to queer studies scholars.

Offering a fresh and practical perspective for employers and gender-diverse professionals, this book presents useful tools, information, and resources to help organizations and individuals to understand and leverage the power of gender authenticity as a pathway to business success. The unemployment rate for gender-diverse individuals is disproportionately high. This book will help employers to better understand why this blatant discrepancy exists. It also provides useful solutions and potential remedies for the problem in the form of gender authenticity, an exciting and powerful concept that is taking the global business community in innovative directions. The breakthrough paradigm of gender authenticity is helping many organizations to become more inclusive while simultaneously gaining a significant competitive advantage. The author, a leading diversity consultant, introduces five fundamentals for creating gender-authentic workplaces. Human resource and diversity professionals will not find a more useful source than this book to help people and organizations to deal effectively with the issue of gender diversity on the job, and gender-diverse employees will learn new strategies for advancing their careers while achieving and maintaining gender authenticity.

Over the last decade workforce diversity has attracted much scientific attention. Given the shortage of literature on issues related to homosexual, bisexual and transgender employees, compared to other facets of workforce diversity, this book opens up new perspectives on this issue. Emphasis is placed on the equal consideration of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues. Thus the predominance of lesbian and gay issues in LGBT research (and practice), will be contrasted by an explicit consideration of the unique experiences, stressors and related needs of bisexual and transgender employees. Contributions provide deeper insights into the differing experiences the whole spectrum of LGBT employees make in the workplace in different national and occupational contexts. Furthermore, the collection offers contextualized insights for evaluating and conceptualizing organizational initiatives aiming at a higher level of inclusion for LGBT employees.

Explanation and how-to for HR and legal professionals on transgender policy development, training and communication strategies for the workplace

The fact that men and women continue to receive unequal treatment at work is a point of contention among politicians, the media, and scholars. Common explanations for this disparity range from biological differences between the sexes to the conscious and unconscious biases that guide hiring and promotion decisions. Just One of the Guys? sheds new light on this phenomenon by analyzing the unique experiences of transgender men—people designated female at birth whose gender identity is male—on the job. Kristen Schilt draws on in-depth interviews and observational data to show that while individual transmen have varied experiences, overall their stories are a testament to systemic gender inequality. The reactions of coworkers and employers to transmen, Schilt demonstrates, reveal the ways assumptions about innate differences between men and women serve as justification for discrimination. She finds that some transmen gain acceptance—and even privileges—by becoming “just one of the guys,” that some are coerced into working as women or marginalized for being openly transgender, and that other forms of appearance-based discrimination also influence their opportunities. Showcasing the voices of a frequently overlooked group, Just One of the Guys? lays bare the social processes that foster forms of inequality that affect us all.

In Allies at Work, Dr. David M. Hall explains the value and importance of creating an equitable work environment for all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Dr. Hall carefully explains the business rationale for developing a strong allies program, the requisite steps to develop such a program, and the cultural competency necessary to properly understand the impact of the closet.

Section 1557 is the nondiscrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This brief guide explains Section 1557 in more detail and what your practice needs to do to meet the requirements of this federal law. Includes sample notices of nondiscrimination, as well as taglines translated for the top 15 languages by state.

Written from the author's own experience of transitioning within a major US corporation, this book prepares transgender people with everything they need to know to successfully transition in the workplace. The first guide of its kind, it offers all the practical advice and support trans people need to be able to balance their career ambitions with their personal needs. Many businesses lack specific trans-inclusive HR strategies - this guide fills the gap with tools, resources and an easy-to-read breakdown of all the relevant laws and policies. It covers everything from how to come out to colleagues and clients and realistic medical timetables, to introducing a new professional name and creating a workplace support system. This is a must-read guide for every trans person preparing to transition, as well as for managers and HR professionals wishing to support their employees.

A timely work that reviews the phenomenon of gender and its many manifestations of equality. Well-suited for increasing awareness and justice in academic and professional environments, this collective work addresses long-standing and ongoing social problems such as discrimination, stereotyping, prejudice, as well as a plethora of societal and industry influences that sustain the trend of gender imbalance. Aiming to span a broad scope in time, backgrounds and implementation, this book presents a wide variety of topics, including a historical overview, contemporary gender-based Issues, gender approaches across the disciplines, and cultural influences. The reader is guaranteed to confront existing biases when digesting topics related to gender communication differences, stereotypes, tensions and resistances, assigned social roles, transgenderism, non-binary identities, tension fields between equality and equity, relational aggression, and more. A critical underlying aim of this book is to contribute constructively and progressively to the dialogue on the definition of gender, thus addressing an ongoing challenge for policy makers, organizational leaders, and scholars.