Title: What constitutes an inclusive workplace for young queer people
1What constitutes an inclusive workplace for
young queer people?
- Paul Willis
- School of Sociology and Social Work
- University of Tasmania,
- Tasmania Australia
Email Paul.Willis_at_utas.edu.au
2- The people you work with are people youre just
thrown together with. You dont know them, it
wasnt your choice and yet you spend more time
with them than you do with your friends or your
family but probably all youve got in common is
the fact that you walk around on the same bit of
carpet for eight hours a day. - Tim from The Office (BBC TV 2003)
3 The problematic workplace
4The problematic workplace
- Workplace cultures of heterosexism
- Dominant narrative of the problematic workplace
for non-heterosexual workers - Australian workplace context The pink ceiling
is too low report (Jude Irwin, 1999)
5The pink ceiling is too low Report (Irwin1999)
- National quantitative survey of 900 gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender employees in Australia - 59 respondents reported negative experiences of
prejudicial treatment and harassment - Experiences of discrimination occurred across all
workplaces, regardless of industry, occupation or
type of organisation
6The queer-friendly workplace
- An alternative narrative from young peoples
stories - Defining what constitutes an inclusive
workplace for queer workers - Challenges in developing inclusive workplace
cultures in modern organisations
7The queer-friendly workplace
- Two key questions
- What constitutes an inclusive workplace for young
queer people entering and negotiating the
workforce ? - How is an inclusive workplace perceived and
defined by young queer workers?
8 Young workers and precarious employment
9The Storytellers
- 34 young people participated between the ages of
18 to 26 years - Gender - 18 young men and 16 young women
- Sexual descriptors diverse range of sexual
identities including gay (18), lesbian (7),
bisexual (5) and queer (5) sometimes multiple
terms used to describe sexualities not mutually
exclusive terms! - Majority of young people living in urban
locations across Australia
10TABLE 1 NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS BY OCCUPATIONAL
GROUP AND AVERAGE AGE
11Reaching the storytellers
- Online phase 13 young people participated in a
series of in-depth interviews conducted online
using a chat program (Messenger) - Offline phase 13 people participated in a
series of in-depth interviews conducted in person - Email response 12 young people shared their
stories through emails
12Research Website
13(No Transcript)
14The only queer in the village
- Frankie (20 years old) says
- It's friendly, a great environment and gives
everyone a fair go. I can trust the people I work
with and in general it is a great workplace just
because of its feel. I can't explain it in more
detail. - Paul says
- Thats great. Does anyone at your work know
about you being gay? - Frankie says
- Yes. The people I work with directly do and there
are no issues in them knowing at all as they're
great about it! - Paul says
- Excellent. How did they come to know? What
happened? - Frankie says
- I told them after they asked me. I think it had
something to do with me listening to Bette
Midler. lol laugh out loud. Seriously!
15The only queer in the village
- Paul- What do you think makes this place so
positive? - Maree (26 years) - umm I think its a few things,
I think part of it is to do with the industry
that its in, the fact that its I guess a
so-called caring profession and the type of
people that industry attracts, it might have
something to do with that, its certainly not an
organisation that pays you a lot of money umm But
I really think its an environment when people
are there because they want to help people, they
want to be thats just the kind of people they
are, they are positive people, theyre friendly
people so yeh.
16The only queer in the village
- Paul- What sort of things does she ask you?
- Diego (20 years) - ummm just like, shes asked
Do you think youd ever turn straight? or
anything like that or Have you ever slept with a
girl? or Have you ever had a relationship with
a girl? or just questions like that or pause
hmm what else does she ask?... How do you find
being with a guy? Is it hard being with a guy
in state location? or Like if you were going
out, how would you know to find a guy whos gay?
and stuff like that, or How do you go asking
somebody? - Questions like that.
17The only queer in the village
- Peggie (23) - Knowing that I was a lesbian in the
interview you know, they might have leaned
towards that way, I dont know, but thats one
thing I think about or used to think about it,
over it now, when I worked last week my manager
whos always talked to me about it he said I
dont think that wed hire another female um
because I dont think you could have another
female like you and I dont know if he meant I
dont know what he meant by it but I was like, I
dont know, Ill just take that as a compliment
laughs
18Not the only queer in the village
- Paul says
- Ok what was it like a non-hetero worker at this
workplace? - Nadi says (26 years)
- Fine, very comfortable mostly..... I wasn't the
only non-hetero person working there and the
staff were naturally very open-minded
non-judgmental people... I mean, you have to be
to work with heavy drug users - Paul says
- Sure, what told you they were non-judgmental
people? - Nadi says
- Well I think partly it was a safe assumption
since I think judgmental types would not be
attracted to that kind of work... also the
language that they work colleagues used, and
they were just as friendly and comfortable
talking to gay staff about their love life as
straight staff
19Not the only queer in the village
- Madeleine (20 years) says
- I came out to everyone after a few months- the
first time we had a social thing after work. - Paul says
- Wow how did that go?
- Madeleine says
- Well, I knew my boss was bi sexual, so I knew
it would be okay. One other staff member was a
bit funny. One was impressed. But when you're
in a predominantly accepting environment, it's
the homophobic person who is made to feel
uncomfortable, rather than me.
20Not the only queer in the village
- Bubbles (19 years)
- The next place that I worked at, the Turkish
takeaway shop, um I cant remember exactly what
happened but I think everybody knew, and a lot of
the staff were bi or gay too like it was
just... because in the inner city location, the
inner city location its like as far as places
go in the city, its all metro then youve got the
little areas with their artiness, and that was
pretty rough and gross and full of gay people and
I dont know, its trendy too thats where I
worked and there were a lot of gay people coming
in and out and so it was somewhat open what
people thought of that and it was like accepted
and it was ok, like if somebody was asking about
my ex-girlfriend I wouldnt have a problem saying
it was a girl.
21Not the only queer in the village
- Paul- Ok. You describe this restaurant as
alternative like what made it alternative? - Jack (25 years) - umm probably the clientele and
probably the bosss attitudes as well. Um
alternative not in the openly-accepting gay sense
but more like in the quite an artsy-sense if that
makes any sense, um but my boss he was great, he
was really quite accepting, he had a lot of gay
friends so there was never any sort of ill
sentiment towards anybody who was different who
worked in or came to the restaurant, thats what
I mean by alternative, it welcomed everybody.
22Not the only queer in the village
- Paul says
- And from your email it sounds like being a gay
guy is almost the norm...would you agree? - Pearson (22 years) says
- God yeah! 200 hosteys out of our base, the
majority are female, and of the 50 or so guys,
there would be maybe 10 straight guys - Paul says
- Most gay guys out?
- Pearson says
- Yep - All of them
- Paul says
- How do you know? (Beyond the obvious!)
- Pearson says
- Lol laugh out loud Nothing beyond the obvious.
We all talk about our sex lives and stuff, so
yeah, easy to pick whose screwing what sex lol
23Not the only queer in the village
- Pearson says
- As for passengers Ive been called fag, poof,
homo, every name under the sun, Ive even had
quite a number of people from various religions
completely ignore me Im trying to give them
the chicken or the beef, and they refuse to look
or talk to me. It really is water off our backs -
Its our plane, and its not on!" is a common
catch cry amongst crew! Crews are generally very
protective of each other, and anything we cant
sort out quick wittedly amongst us, will be
sorted out by other means. We always try not to
make confrontations on the aircraft, as generally
we'll still be stuck on the plane with the
problem passenger, but revenge is very much
gained, usually by pointing problem passengers
out to customs supervisors, who take a much
larger interest in the person than they would
probably be expecting!
24Not the only queer in the village
- Bruce (22 years) says
- Then I moved out of that team to another part of
the call centre, and I was worried that my new
team may not be as gay friendly. It was not as I
expected, most of the guys in my new team were
gay also, including my boss who I became close
friends with during my time there. - Paul says
- Ok
- Bruce says
- I felt very comfortable working there, and I
always looked forward to coming to work. It was
a very social place to work. I then got on to
the graduate program, and then everything changed.
25Not the only queer in the village
- Bruce says
- The first department I worked in had a very macho
work culture. My graduate buddy came across as
being quite homophobic. There was a strong
management hierarchy. This made me feel
frightened about disclosing my sexuality to
management, even to my own manager(s)
26All queer on the work front!
- Kat (21 year) - Queer being the norm is most of
it. I don't have to worry about being out (it's
almost assumed) I don't have to worry about the
reactions or consequences. I don't have to worry
about being hit on. I'm in the centre of the
inner city gay community. I work with some
awesome people as well. Our licensee is the best
boss I've ever had - he's fun, he values your
work and your feedback which he is actually open
to, he does what he can to make it a fun,
interesting and safe place to work. It's funny at
my current workplace one of my closest workmates
is a very attractive straight man- very butch.
27All queer on the work front!
- Trevor (26 years) - There are 5 men who work in
my store and we're all gay except one so being
gay is actually considered quite normal - Trevor - I wouldn't talk about sex at work as I
don't think it's an appropriate topic of
discussion for the workplace. Too concerned about
being accused of sexual harassment. In terms of
sexualities we all talk about it in some form
whether its in admiring a cute customer who
walks into the store or talking about a date
we've had recently or our partner.
28All queer on the work front!
- Alex (24 years) I was out and it was ok due to
the type of cafe. I met amazing people and
overall it was a positive experience for my
sexual identity. - Alex - I was tired of the bullying from the
owners, I wasn't allowed to make the juices or
handle any money, I had to carry heavy outdoor
umbrellas and their stands up some narrow stairs
and got very odd jobs such as cleaning the dirty
marks on walls with a toothbrush. They mentioned
that I wasn't taking initiative and needed to
start doing things on my own instead of asking.
In reality I was shy still and wasn't exactly
sure of their routine. When I realised I started
dreading work and my cold was lasting more than
two weeks, I tearfully handed in my resignation
and ran out the door with the feeling of guilt
but also relief.
29All queer on the work front!
- Ruby (24 years) - Well the AIDS council is
brilliant. I am surrounded by queer people my
sexuality is never an issue at my current
workplace. I have always worked in fairly
open-minded left wing environments. - Paul - Are there any times when its work not
so supportive? This may not necessarily be about
sexualities. Ruby - Yes, as a woman. As a queer
woman too. There is sometimes some very sexist
language and attitudes. Lesbian health and
services to women are under funded and under
recognised. We are overlooked. Often the overly
sexualised nature of work can have its affects
as it is mostly men that work here and most of
them are attracted solely to men so women often
don't even get recognised for being in the room
(not sexually... Im talking generally)
30The implications - What can we learn?
- Illustrative of what can be for creating
inclusive workplace cultures - Workplace cultures are multifaceted, pluralistic
in values and complex - Young people as active contributors to inclusive
workplace cultures
31The implications - What can we learn?
- Significance of supportive relationships for
young people - Intersectionality how other systems of
difference mutually shape young peoples
experiences of the workplace, eg. age gender - Inclusive workplaces may still be interpreted as
heteronormative spaces
32 Thankyou for listening!
Email Paul.Willis_at_utas.edu.au