Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Discrimination Against Transgender Employees and Jobseekers

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics

Abstract

Discrimination against transgender employees and jobseekers is widely reported in multiple contexts. However, there is relative lack of literature on the experiences, extent, scope, and magnitude of anti-transgender discrimination. This chapter brings together the extant literature on this topic from the business, management, economics, sociology, and psychology fields. The underlying mechanisms of anti-transgender discrimination are explored, and discrimination in two main forms, namely formal and informal, is discussed. Formal discrimination is experienced by transgender jobseekers within job applications and interviews and by transgender employees in the guise of promotion and firing discrimination. Informal discrimination often takes the form of negative stereotypes, verbal and physical harassment, and microaggressions. It is therefore clear from the literature that discrimination is experienced by many transgender employees and jobseekers, in multiple forms and contexts within the workplace and the labor market. The chapter ends with recommendations for practitioners and future researchers interested in studying and promoting transgender inclusion in the workplace.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arrow K (1972) Some mathematical models of race discrimination in the labor market. In: Pascal AH (ed) Racial discrimination in economic life. D.C. Heath, Lexington

    Google Scholar 

  • Badgett MVL, Lau H, Sears B, Ho D (2007) Bias in the workplace: consistent evidence of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. Williams Institute, University of California School of Law, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  • Barclay JM, Scott LJ (2006) Transsexuals and workplace diversity – a case of “change” management. Pers Rev 35(4):487–502

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardales N (2013) Finding a job in “a beard and a dress”. Evaluating the effectiveness of transgender ant-discrimination laws. Unpublished manuscript

    Google Scholar 

  • Beauregard TA, Arevshatian L, Booth JE, Whittle S (2018) Listen carefully: transgender voices in the workplace. The Int J Hum Resour Man 29(5):857–884

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker G (1957) The economics of discrimination. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry PE, Mcguffey KM, Rush JP, Columbus S (2003) Discrimination in the workplace: the firing of a transsexual. J Hum Behav Soc Environ 8:225–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewster ME, Velez BL, Mennicke A, Tebbe E (2014) Voices from beyond: a thematic content analysis of transgender employees’ workplace experiences. Psychol Sex Orientat Gend Divers 1:159–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Budge SL, Tebbe EN, Howard KA (2010) The work experiences of transgender individuals: negotiating the transition and career decision-making processes. J Couns Psychol 57(4): 377–393

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins JC, McFadden C, Rocco TS, Mathis MK (2015) The problem of transgender marginalization and exclusion: critical actions for human resource development. Hum Resour Dev Rev 14(2):205–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis D (2009) Transgender issues in the workplace: HRD’s newest challenge/opportunity. Adv Dev Hum Resour 11:109–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietert M, Dentice D (2009) Gender identity issues and workplace discrimination: the transgender experience. J Work Rights 14(1):121–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Dispenza F, Watson LB, Chung YB, Brack G (2012) Experience of career-related discrimination for female-to-male transgender persons: a qualitative study. Career Dev Q 60:65–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Flores AR, Herman JL, Gates GJ, Brown TNT (2016) How many adults identify as transgender in the United States? Williams Institute, University of California School of Law, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant JM, Mottet L, Tanis JE, Harrison J, Herman J, Keisling M (2011) Injustice at every turn: a report of the national transgender discrimination survey. National Center for Transgender Equality, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill DB, Willoughby BLB (2005) The development and validation of the genderism and transphobia scale. Sex Roles 53(7/8):531–544

    Google Scholar 

  • James SE, Herman JL, Ranking S, Keisling M, Mottet L, Anafi M (2016) The report of the 2015 US transgender survey. National Center for Transgender Equality, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Lester PM (2015) Visual communication: from abomination to indifference: a visual analysis of transgender stereotypes in the media. In: Capuzza JC, Spencer LG (eds) Transgender communication studies: histories, trends and trajectories. Lexington Books, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Lombardi EL, Wilkins RA, Priesing D, Malouf D (2001) Gender violence: transgender experiences with violence and discrimination. J Homosex 42(1):89–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Make the Road New York (2010) Transgender need not apply: gender identity job discrimination in New York City’s retail sector. Make the Road New York, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • McFadden C (2015) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender careers and human resource development: a systematic literature review. Hum Resour Dev Rev 14(2):125–162

    Google Scholar 

  • McFadden C, Crowley-Henry M (2016) A systematic literature review on trans* careers and workplace experiences. In: Köllen T (ed) Sexual orientation and transgender issues in organizations. Springer, New York City, pp 63–81

    Google Scholar 

  • McNeil J, Bailey L, Ellis S, Regan M (2013) Speaking from the margins. Trans mental health and wellbeing in Ireland. Transgender Equality Network Ireland, Dublin

    Google Scholar 

  • Pepper SM, Lorah P (2008) Career issues and workplace considerations for the trans-sexual community: bridging a gap of knowledge for career counselors and mental health care providers. Career Dev Q 56:330–343

    Google Scholar 

  • Phelps ES (1972) The statistical theory of racism and sexism. Am Econ Rev 62:659–661

    Google Scholar 

  • Press for Change (2007) Engendered penalites: transgender and transsexual people’s experiences of inequality and discrimination. Press for Change, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Prunas A, Bandini E, Fisher AD, Maggi M, Pace V, Quagliarella L, Todarello O, Bini M (2018) Experiences of discrimination, harassment, and violence in a sample of Italian transsexuals who have undergone sex-reassignment surgery. J Interpers Violence 33:2225–2240

    Google Scholar 

  • Rainey T, Imse EE (2015) Qualified and Transgender. A report on results of resume testing for employment discrimination based on gender identity. Office of Human Rights, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudin J, Ruane S, Ross L, Farro A, Tejinder B (2014) Hostile territory: employers’ unwillingness to accommodate transgender employees. Equal, Divers Incl Int J 33:721–734

    Google Scholar 

  • Sangganjanavanich VF (2009) Career development practitioners as advocates for transgender individuals: understanding gender transition. J Employ Couns 46:128–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Sawyer K, Thoroughgood C (2017) Gender non-conformity and the modern workplace: new frontiers in understanding and promoting gender identity expression at work. Organ Dyn 46:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Schilt K, Connell C (2007) Do workplace gender transitions make gender trouble? Gender, Work Organ 14(6):596–618

    Google Scholar 

  • Schilt K, Wiswall M (2008) Before and after: gender transitions, human capital, and workplace experiences. BE J Econ Anal Policy 8(1):1–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Sue DW (2010) Microaggressions in everyday life: race, gender and sexual orientation. Wiley, Hoboken

    Google Scholar 

  • Taranowski CJ (2008) Transsexual employees in the workplace. J Work Behav Health 23(4):467–477

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Borm H, Baert S (2018) What drives hiring discrimination against transgenders? Int J Manpow 39(4):581–599

    Google Scholar 

  • Winter S, Davis-McCabe C, Russell CB, Wilde D, Chu TH, Suparak P, Wong J (2018) Denied work: an audit of employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity in South-East Asia. Asia Pacific Transgender Network and United Nations Development Programme, Bangkok

    Google Scholar 

  • Xavier JM, Hannold JA, Bradford J, Simmons R (2007) The health, health-related needs, and lifecourse experiences of transgender Virginians. Division of Disease Prevention through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Business School, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

    Ciarán McFadden

Authors
  1. Ciarán McFadden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ciarán McFadden .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. UNU-MERIT & Princeton University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

Section Editor information

  1. School of Economics and International Business, Centre for Pluralist Economics, Faculty of Business and Law, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK

    Nick Drydakis

  2. University of Cambridge, Pembroke College, Cambridge, UK

    Nick Drydakis

  3. Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Nick Drydakis

  4. Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, Germany

    Nick Drydakis

  5. Global Labor Organization, Essen, Germany

    Nick Drydakis

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

McFadden, C. (2020). Discrimination Against Transgender Employees and Jobseekers. In: Zimmermann, K. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_35-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_35-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation