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ABSTRACT
There is a growing literature interested in the workplace experiences of transgender individuals. The biggest limitation for researchers in this field continues to be the dearth of population-level data that captures information on gender identity and employment characteristics. Using the 2017 Public Service Employee Survey, this paper explores employment discrimination and workplace harassment against gender diverse (transgender, non-binary, genderqueer) and other minority employees working in Canada’s federal public service. This study finds that gender diverse employees are between 2.2 and 2.5 times more likely to experience discrimination and workplace harassment than their cisgender male coworkers. Cisgender women, visible minorities, Indigenous, and those with disabilities are also more likely to report discrimination and workplace harassment. Cisgender women and gender diverse employees who occupy multiple minority statuses may experience an additive likelihood of discrimination and harassment. This study also finds that employee retention can be improved by providing more inclusive and tolerant workplaces.
Notes
1. This national estimate varies across states, from 0.3% in North Dakota to 0.8% in Hawaii (Flores et al., Citation2016).
2. The EEA and the Public Services Employee Survey (PSES) use the term aboriginal. This paper uses the more inclusive term Indigenous.
3. The PSES uses the term “gender diverse” when referring to those who choose the “other, please specify” gender option. This may include transgender, gender non-binary or genderqueer individuals.
4. At present, three Canadian population-level surveys capture information on gender non-binary individuals—The Survey on Opioid Awareness (SOA), the Survey of Sexual Misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces (SSMCAF), and the PSES. The SOA does not include employment measures. While the PSES is restricted to federal service employees, it offers a more diversified employment composition than the SSMCAF.
5. This is less than recent estimates in the U.S, which find that 0.6% identify as transgender (Flores et al., Citation2016).
6. The Williams Institute Best Practices for Asking Questions to Identify Transgender and Other Gender Minority Respondents on Population-Based Surveys recommends a two-step approach (Gender Identity in U.S. Surveillance, Citation2014).
7. The 2017 PSES defines harassment is defined as “ … any improper conduct by an individual that is directed at and offensive to another individual in the workplace, including at any event or any location related to work, and that the individual knew or ought reasonably to have known would cause offense or harm. It comprises objectionable act(s), comment(s) or display(s) that demean, belittle, or cause personal humiliation or embarrassment, and any act of intimidation or threat.” Discrimination is defined as “ … treating someone differently or unfairly because of a personal characteristic or distinction, which, whether intentional or not, has an effect that imposes disadvantages not imposed on others or that withholds or limits access that is given to others. There are 13 prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act (i.e., based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics, disability or conviction for an offense for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered).”
8. The exact wording of the question was: “I would prefer to remain with my department or agency, even if a comparable job was available elsewhere in the federal public service.” Answers fall on a five-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Relatively few answered “don’t know.” The PSES also asks: “Do you intend to leave your current position in the next two years?” Answers were yes, no and unsure. A larger portion of respondents answered “unsure,” making this variable less ideal.
9. This includes categories for being employed outside the county and in the National Capital Region (NCR), which is the area surrounding the national Capital in Ottawa and includes parts of the neighboring city of Gatineau, Quebec.
10. The core public administration (CPA) consists of 80 department and agencies, which includes 27 different collective agreements. Those not part of CPA are classified as separate agency.
11. This includes compressed workweek, variable start and end times, telework, job sharing, income leveraging or pre-retirement transition leave.
12. This was statistically significant (p < .05) in models that did not exclude cases with missing data on independent variables.
13. Operations positions are a heterogeneous group, which include aircraft operations, heating, power and stationary plant operation, printing operations, radio operations, and other operations. One commonality is that these occupations require manual skills and are predominantly occupied by men.
14. To validate these findings, I ran separate models comparing the likelihood of discrimination and harassment by visible minority status and disability status separately. The results were consistent with this interpretation.