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Towards Making an Invisible Diversity Visible: A Study of Socially Structured Barriers for Purple Collar Employees in the Workplace

Author

Listed:
  • Zia Ullah

    (Leads Business School, Lahore Leads University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan)

  • Esra AlDhaen

    (Marketing Department, College of Business & Finance, Ahlia University, Manama 10878, Bahrain)

  • Rana Tahir Naveed

    (Department of Economics and Business Administration, Art & Social Sciences Division, University of Education, Lahore 54770, Pakistan)

  • Naveed Ahmad

    (Faculty of Management Studies, University of Central Punjab, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
    Department of Management Sciences, Virtual University of Pakistan, Lahore 54000, Pakistan)

  • Miklas Scholz

    (Department of Building and Environmental Technology, Division of Water Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
    Department of Civil Engineering Science, Kingsway Campus, School of Civil Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Aukland Park 2006, Johannesburg 2001, South Africa
    Department of Town Planning, Engineering Networks and Systems, South Ural State University (National Research University), 76, Lenin Prospekt, 454080 Chelyabinsk, Russia
    Institute of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, ul. Norwida 25, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland)

  • Tasawar Abdul Hamid

    (School of Commerce, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff CF5 2YB, UK)

  • Heesup Han

    (College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, Korea)

Abstract

Eunuchs and members of the transgender community are yet to be recognized as an effective human resource and this diversity in the workforce is still invisible. A tiny portion of the transgender community is employed, and they are tagged as purple collar employees. It is generally claimed that coworkers do not accept members of the transgender community in the workplace and are not willing to work with them due to their different personal, social, and work-related characteristics. This study aimed to investigate coworkers’ attitudes towards transgender colleagues and their willingness to work with them in the workplace. We selected the Punjab province of Pakistan as the context for the study where more than five hundred thousand members of the transgender community live. We collected data from 363 randomly selected respondents working in an organization where transgender people also worked. We applied Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze the data. Our findings revealed that coworkers do not hesitate to work with transgender people merely based on their biological differences. Coworkers’ willingness was more influenced by social attributes (trust and support) and work attributes (knowledge, ability, and motivation) irrespective of gender differences. The study strongly suggests tapping this invisible human resource and mainstreaming this resource to emancipate transgender people from poverty and to bring a productive diversity in the workforce. Government should frame policies to provide all human rights including national identity, health and educational facilities, and organizations should provide transgender people with jobs to properly utilize this untapped human resource.

Suggested Citation

  • Zia Ullah & Esra AlDhaen & Rana Tahir Naveed & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Tasawar Abdul Hamid & Heesup Han, 2021. "Towards Making an Invisible Diversity Visible: A Study of Socially Structured Barriers for Purple Collar Employees in the Workplace," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:9322-:d:617674
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Glenda Quintini, 2011. "Right for the Job: Over-Qualified or Under-Skilled?," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 120, OECD Publishing.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Li Xu & Jacob Cherian & Muhammad Zaheer & Muhammad Safdar Sial & Ubaldo Comite & Laura Mariana Cismas & Juan Felipe Espinosa Cristia & Judit Oláh, 2022. "The Role of Healthcare Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behavior for De-Carbonization: An Energy Conservation Approach from CSR Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Jiajing Shao & Jacob Cherian & Li Xu & Muhammad Zaheer & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite & Liana Mester & Daniel Badulescu, 2022. "A CSR Perspective to Drive Employee Creativity in the Hospitality Sector: A Moderated Mediation Mechanism of Inclusive Leadership and Polychronicity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-22, May.
    4. Qinghua Fu & Wafa Ghardallou & Ubaldo Comite & Irfan Siddique & Heesup Han & Juan Manuel Arjona-Fuentes & Antonio Ariza-Montes, 2022. "The Role of CSR in Promoting Energy-Specific Pro-Environmental Behavior among Hotel Employees," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-19, May.
    5. Huan Zhang & Khaoula Omhand & Huaizheng Li & Aqeel Ahmad & Sarminah Samad & Darie Gavrilut & Daniel Badulescu, 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Energy-Related Pro-Environmental Behaviour of Employees in Hospitality Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-19, December.

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