From Company Mandated Equality to Employees’ Perceived Equality: How Internal Public Relations Makes a Difference to Transgender Employees

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Abstract

Whether in the public spotlight, school districts across the nation, or as part of political movements, transgender people are a small but increasingly recognized minority in America. This has implications for transgender people, their allies, and their critics, perhaps nowhere more so than in the 21st century workplace. And although more corporations than ever specifically include transgender people in their diversity and inclusion policies, many transgender people do not feel safe in their workplace to be themselves. What makes one company more transgender friendly than another? A study of one transgender-friendly Fortune 500 company provides some answers: Developing a company culture that delineates, practices, rewards – and if need be enforces – diversity and openness throughout the company culture, regardless of which group is in question. In other words, transgender people are part of an already-present culture of a respect, not just a newly-designated or separate part of it.

Author

• Bethany Howe, U of Oregon