BLogOut.JustOut.com – by MJ Petroni
Transgender people and their experiences have a lot to teach the workplace.
Two researchers recently published “Before and After: Gender Transitions, Human Capital, and Workplace Experiences” in the Berkley Electronic Press Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy. While I’ve included their abstract below, here’s the plain-English version: transgender people have pretty much the same workplace skills [human capital] before and after transitioning gender at work, and can be used as a source of data for validating the concept of a glass ceiling [of gender discrimination]. Equal rights advocates have long pointed out pay discrepancies for people of different genders, but have had to contend with accusations that some of the underpaid female employees in question were not as skilled as their male counterparts. When a man transitions into a woman in the same job or same career, however, her skillsets don’t get worse, but her rate of pay (and/or raises) may.