Before and After: Gender Transitions, Human Capital, and Workplace Experiences

Abstract

We use the workplace experiences of transsexuals -individuals who change their gender typically with hormone therapy and surgery -to provide new insights into the longstanding question of what role gender places in shaping workplace outcomes. Using an original survey of a sample of male-to-female and female-to-male transsexuals, we document their earnings and employment experiences of transsexuals before and after their gender transitions. We find that while transsexuals have the same human capital after their transitions, their workplace experiences often change radically. For many male-to-female transsexuals, becoming a woman brings a loss of authority and pay, and often harassment and termination. On the other hand, for many female-to-male transsexuals, becoming a man brings increases in workplace respect, authority, and, in some cases, earnings. These findings challenge the omitted variables explanations for the gender pay gap and illustrate the often hidden and subtle processes that produce gender inequality in workplace outcomes.

Listen carefully: transgender voices in the workplace

“…For example, Schilt and Wiswall's (2008) study of forty-three trans individuals determined that average earnings for FtM transgender employees increased slightly following their gender transitions, while average earnings for MtF transgender employees fell by nearly one-third. This result is consistent with qualitative work demonstrating that for many MtF individuals, becoming a woman was often associated with a loss of authority in the workplace, harassment on the job, and termination; for FtM individuals, becoming a man was frequently associated with an increase in respect and authority (Dozier, 2005;Schilt, 2006 Roberts (2013) One of MacDonnell and Grigorovich's (2012) interviewees opined that 'Being trans gives me a unique position in the world and … I want that to be known' (p. 7).…”

“…A recent review of the scholarly literature on LGBT individuals in the workplace found that only 18 of the 263 journal articles identified in a systematic search (just under 7%) actually included transgender individuals in addition to lesbian, gay, and bisexual workers (McFadden, 2015). This exclusion of trans individuals has been attributed to difficulty in accessing a sufficient sample size (Schneider & Dimito, 2010), or the impossibility of collecting a genuinely random sample of transgender individuals, whose population is widely dispersed and often concealed (Schilt & Wiswall, 2008).…”

Interpersonal Relationships and Social Support in Transitioning Narratives of Black Transgender Women in Detroit

“…Regardless of the transitioning goals, there are undoubtedly implications for transgender communities regarding the degree to which these communities are or are not seen by members as transitional and, moreover, the degree to which individuals desire to be out as trans or to "pass" as cisgendered (Schilt & Wiswall, 2008). In one study of 573 transgender women in Oakland and San Francisco, California, African American transgender women had the highest rate of hiding their transgender identity compared to all other races represented in the study (Nemoto et al, 2011).…”

Social-Institutional Structures That Matter: A Quantitative Monograph of Sexual/Gender Minority Status and Earnings in Japan

“…Based on U.S. data, Schilt and Wiswall (2008) find an increase of earnings among female-to-male (FtM) transgender people after their gender transitions and a decrease of earnings among male-to-female (MtF) transgender people after their gender transitions, although their sample includes only 18 transgender workers who transitioned from male to female and 25 transgender workers who transitioned from female to male, as is acknowledged in their paper.…”