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An Examination of Nonbinary and Cisgender Gender Expression at Work in a Mostly Representative U.S. Sample
Abstract
In this thesis, I examine the experiences of nonbinary and cisgender people in expressing their gender identity at work. Gender expression (GE) is important to study given that gender is embedded in nearly every aspect of U.S. society; however, this gender construction is binary, thereby excluding those whose gender falls outside of this paradigm (e.g., nonbinary people). As of yet, no published research that I am aware of examines the specific GE experiences of nonbinary individuals at work. These experiences deserve attention given that people with nonbinary identities are understudied in the workplace literature and their identity and its expression deviates from the binary gender paradigm. To address this gap, I conducted a qualitative study of the workplace gender expression practices and related outcomes of nonbinary and cisgender people. Data for this study were collected using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk during the summer of 2019 and analyzed using conventional content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). I found that nonbinary and cisgender people used similar tools for expressing and concealing their gender identity (e.g., manipulating their appearance, mannerisms, and environment); however, they used these tools for different purposes. Nonbinary people expressed their gender by limiting association with assigned sex/gender at birth (AS/GAB) whereas cisgender people expressed their gender by promoting association with AS/GAB. The converse occurred when each group concealed their gender identity. Both groups of participants reported similar outcomes associated with expression and concealment of their gender identity; however, I was unable to infer causal relationships between expression/concealment behaviors and outcomes.
Citation
Hernandez, Theresa R. (2022). An Examination of Nonbinary and Cisgender Gender Expression at Work in a Mostly Representative U.S. Sample. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /197955.