eCommons

 

Gender Allyship in Organizations

Other Titles

Abstract

Allyship behaviors, such as the use of one’s pronouns in emails or beginning introductions with pronoun sharing, are becoming more common practices in organizations. However, there is little consensus on the best way to implement these types of ally behaviors in organizations to effectively create inclusive workplaces. Additionally, it is possible that some of the ways people and organizations are implementing ally behaviors and policies are inadvertently creating less gender inclusive spaces. In the current work we examine how subtle changes in the implementation of gender inclusive ally behaviors impact how transgender, gender non-conforming, and cisgender people feel about how inclusive a given manager, co-worker, or work environment is. First, we conducted interviews and open-ended response surveys; we find evidence that many transgender and gender non-conforming people want the use of pronouns to become more common, but that it should always be optional to not force people to out themselves in spaces they do not feel safe to do so or in spaces they do not want their gender to become salient in. Building off this qualitative data, in two quantitative experiments we find additional evidence that people view optional disclosure policies are more inclusive compared to policies where they are highly encouraged to share, and this perception of inclusion is mediated by feelings of pressure to disclose one’s pronouns at work. These findings provide evidence that subtle changes in how pronouns are asked for and implemented in organizations can lead to differences in how inclusive a manager and the work environment are viewed. The current work reinforces the idea that using pronouns does create more gender inclusion, as found in previous work, however, it is important to pay attention to the specific way in which people and organizations implement the use of pronouns and other ally behaviors, as the nuance does matter.

Journal / Series

Volume & Issue

Description

48 pages

Sponsorship

Date Issued

2022-05

Publisher

Keywords

Location

Effective Date

Expiration Date

Sector

Employer

Union

Union Local

NAICS

Number of Workers

Committee Chair

Zitek, Emily M.

Committee Co-Chair

Committee Member

Lee, Alice
Proudfoot, Devon

Degree Discipline

Industrial and Labor Relations

Degree Name

M.S., Industrial and Labor Relations

Degree Level

Master of Science

Related Version

Related DOI

Related To

Related Part

Based on Related Item

Has Other Format(s)

Part of Related Item

Related To

Related Publication(s)

Link(s) to Related Publication(s)

References

Link(s) to Reference(s)

Previously Published As

Government Document

ISBN

ISMN

ISSN

Other Identifiers

Rights

Rights URI

Types

dissertation or thesis

Accessibility Feature

Accessibility Hazard

Accessibility Summary

Link(s) to Catalog Record