Analyzing Trans and Nonbinary Workers’ Response to Workplace Discrimination

Abstract

Workplace discrimination against trans and nonbinary workers is pervasive and contributes to high rates of unemployment, underemployment, and economic precarity. Scholars have begun to identify the ways cisnormativity is embedded in workplace organizations in ways that contribute to hostile work environments for trans and nonbinary workers. However, relatively little research has explored the strategies trans and nonbinary workers use to navigate such environments. The current study contributes to this growing field by exploring the predictors of worker agency among trans and nonbinary workers. Drawing on data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, this study analyzes the role of social status, including race, gender, and social class, and institutional protections, including union membership and antidiscrimination policies, in shaping trans and nonbinary workers’ responses to discrimination. Our findings suggest that lower status workers are more likely than higher status workers to rely on self-protective measures that pose risks to their health and well-being, while comprehensive antidiscrimination policies enhance the ability of all workers to pursue redressive action. We consider the implications of our findings for workplace policy and practice.