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How does sexual orientation affect the separation between work and private life? Laura van Stein, Psychology student at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, took part in the project Privacy and Inclusion of the Utrecht Young Academy. In this blog, she shares her experiences working on this project focused on privacy and inclusion at work. 

“When a straight woman says, ‘My husband is out of town, I’m stretched this week,’ it’s just a professional talking about her life,” Ms. Fidas said. “When a lesbian says, ‘My partner’s out of town,’ it’s deemed unprofessional.” (Miller, 2014).

“The quote above represents the underlying thought behind the research of prof. dr. Jojanneke van der Toorn that I was able to contribute to. Her research focusses on heteroprofessionalism at the workplace. The term heteroprofessionalism was introduced in 2013 by Robert C. Mizzi and is defined as ‘a professional value that screens out homosexuality’.

In line with the above, the study I contributed to focuses on how the identity of employees influences the separation people make between work and private life. We believe that this this separation is more pronounced when it comes to stigmatised identities, and heteroprofessionalism at work is a consequence of a stronger divide between the professional and private domain for sexual minorities. In day-to-day life, this would imply that when a gay man tells a colleague he will meet his partner’s parents this weekend, this is considered more of a private matter than when a heterosexual man mentions this.

Specifically, we predicted that the perception of sexual orientation as a private matter negatively correlates with the perceived professionalism of the gay employee and the appropriateness of the conversation. Our prediction was that this would not apply to the heterosexual employee. Our findings supported this prediction for the perceived professionalism but not for the perceived appropriateness of the conversation.

Through this research, I hope to contribute to a workplace where everyone feels that they belong and can be themselves.

I am deeply grateful that I was able to contribute to this remarkable research. This experience has been very educational and allowed me to develop enormously in conducting research, partly thanks to the supervision of prof. dr. Jojanneke van der Toorn and her research assistant Manon Hölscher. Besides, the subject is close to my heart and I hope to be able to pursue this field further.

Personally, I think it is essential to recognise diversity and inclusion. There is a great social interest in combating social inequality and reducing prejudice and stigma regarding people of the LGBTI community. For instance, LGBTI employees experience more unwanted sexual attention, violence and bullying at work than heterosexual colleagues. Through this research, I hope to contribute to a workplace where everyone feels that they belong and can be themselves.”

References

Miller, C. C. (2014, 30 October). Where are the gay chief executives? The New York Times.

Mizzi, R. C. (2013). “There aren’t any gays here”: Encountering heteroprofessionalism in an international development workplace. Journal of Homosexuality, 60(11), 1602–1624.

Van Beusekom, G., & Kuyper, L. (2018). LHBT-monitor 2018. De leefsituatie van lesbische, homoseksuele, biseksuele en transgender personen in Nederland. Den Haag: Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau.