Gender-Inclusive HR Strategies: Are You on the Right Track?

This year’s Transgender Awareness Week (November 13-19) is an opportunity for HR pros to educate themselves about daily steps that make a more inclusive workplace. It’s also a good time to review strategies for inclusion for all employees, including those who are transgender, nonbinary, and agender, among other gender identities.

Small Steps to a More Gender-Inclusive Workplace

At this year’s CUPA-HR annual conference, Jon Humiston of Central Michigan University laid out some simple actions everyone can take to make gender inclusiveness a daily practice. They suggest:

• Use gender-inclusive language when referring to groups of people. For example, use terms like “people” or “individuals” rather than “ladies and gentlemen.”
• Pay attention to the assumptions you make about someone’s gender identity and expression.
• Feel free to ask about pronouns or share your own pronouns, but don’t require people to share theirs, as they may be uncomfortable doing so.
• Use “pronouns” rather than “preferred pronouns,” since it’s not a preference but an identity.
• Do know that it’s OK if you make a mistake by accidentally misgendering someone. Apologize and move on. If you repeatedly make the same mistake, it might be time to practice. Consider using AI, like ChatGPT, as a conversation tool or asking a friend to be a practice buddy.

HR’s Role in Creating a Gender-Affirming Culture

Jon also proposed a framework for higher ed HR to review inclusion policies, focusing on transgender and nonbinary employees, but with potential benefits for all employees. Reviewing the following questions (adapted from sources such as CUPA-HR and Out & Equal toolkits) will help you identify potential gaps in your institution’s efforts to be gender inclusive.

Policies and Procedures

• Do you have a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation, sex (or biological sex), gender identity and gender expression?
• Do you allow employees to identify their gender outside of the gender binary?
• Do you have a name-in-use policy or chosen-name policy that is easy to access and navigate?
• Do systems such as software allow for gender pronouns to be included?
• Does health insurance cover benefits for transgender and nonbinary employees?
• Is gender-inclusive language used in internal and external materials (marketing, job ads, etc.)?
• Are gender-inclusive bathroom locations shared with all potential employees during the interview process and all new employees?

Programmatic Support

• Do you have an Employee Resource Group for LGBTQIA+ employees?
• Do you have LGBTQIA+ safe-zone training available for all employees?

Visibility

• Does your institution publicly show its support of LGBTQIA+ communities during Pride Month, National Coming Out Day, National Day of Silence, etc.?
• Does your institution publicly address hate and bias crimes that occur, or have a plan for doing so?
• Does your institution have a presence at local LGBTQIA+ pride events?

Making the Case for Gender Inclusion

Policies that support LGBTQIA+ employees benefit all employees.

For example, flexible work arrangements are desired by two-thirds of the higher ed workforce, yet most campus staff members must work on-site. For employees experiencing misgendering at work or in public, a day working from home might provide them the respite they need from the exhaustion of being misgendered or experiencing gender dysphoria.

Both job seekers and current employees want their workplace cultures to be inclusive. According to a recent Workhuman study, 72 percent of employees see this as somewhat or very important to them. Inclusive cultures also promote creativity and innovation and may reduce absenteeism.

Preventing workplace discrimination and harassment is also a matter of regulatory compliance. The EEOC recently published new proposed guidance on preventing workplace harassment, including several examples of discrimination and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Future of Gender Inclusion

The makeup of the higher ed workplace won’t look the same in the years to come. The share of Americans who know someone whose gender differs from the sex they were assigned at birth continues to grow, with 44 percent of Americans saying they know someone who is trans and 20 percent saying they know someone who is nonbinary.

If a major overhaul of institutional inclusion policies isn’t something you’re in a position to initiate, Jon suggests networking with your colleagues at other institutions to provide support, personally recognizing national days of awareness or remembrance, and encouraging allyship.

Additional Resources

Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation in the Workplace (CUPA-HR Toolkit)

Assessing LGBTQI+ Inclusion in Your Workplace (Out & Equal Toolkit)

A Guide to Gender Identity Terms

What’s Your Pronoun? Strategies for Inclusion in the Workplace