Seven out of 10 lesbian women experience discrimination at work, and this is preventing many from coming out at work, according to research from myGwork.
In a survey released to mark Lesbian Visibility Week this week, the talent platform for LGBTQ+ professionals found that three-quarters of LGBTQ+ women and non-binary professionals were reluctant to fully come out.
Gender non-conforming and queer people experienced the highest rates of discrimination, followed by cis-gender women (76%), gender fluid people (75%), intersex people (68%), trans women (66%) and non-binary people (65%).
Eight out of 10 LGBTQ+ women and non-binary employees said their sexual orientation or gender identity was hindering their career progression. Employees who also came from other marginalised communities and ethnic minority groups suffered even worse levels of difficulty climbing the career ladder, myGwork found.
Based on a sample of more than 2,000 employees across the US, Canada and the UK, LGBTQ+ employees with Latinx (86%), South Asian (85%) and Middle Eastern (85%) backgrounds found career progression the most difficult, it said.
Only 9% of LGBTQ+ women and non-binary professionals in the survey hold C-suite leadership roles, and only 3% are CEOs and founders.
LGBT+ discrimination
Adrien and Pierre Gaubert, co-founders of myGwork, said they wanted to highlight the specific challenges faced by lesbian women and non-binary employees.
“Our findings confirm that lesbians are statistically less likely than their gay male colleagues to be out at work, face much higher rates of discrimination and are not getting the adequate support they need from management and HR to progress, despite corporate efforts to make workplaces more inclusive, which ultimately boils down to lack of LGBTQ+-education and training,” they said.
While there are increased levels of allyship from other employees at work, companies must work harder to stamp out discrimination and bias, they added. This could be through more authentic allyship at senior level, more investment in LGBTQ+ education, and support to deal with discrimination.
Linda Riley, Founder of Lesbian Visibility Week and publisher of DIVA magazine, said of the research: “It shows that while progress has been made, there is still a long way to go before everyone in our community can feel safe to be their authentic selves at work.
“It is so important to have this kind of study focusing on our specific, and all too often overlooked, experiences.”
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Marie-Helene Tyack, global diversity and inclusion business partner at Allianz Global Corporate & Speciality added: “To be out we need to feel safe, and allies have a big part to play in us having that psychological safety needed to feel vulnerable and to be our true selves.
“Collectively lesbians have a big voice, but it can and should be amplified with the help of our allies. I am personally super grateful to my friends, my allies, on whose shoulders I stand to shout louder.”
