IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/ipewps/320432.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Labour market barriers beyond the binary gender construct: Cis-normativity in the labour market

Author

Listed:
  • Waltl, Judith

Abstract

Labour market discrimination based on gender identity remains a significant yet understudied phenomenon. This paper examines the labour market experiences of trans and nonbinary individuals, focusing on how gender transition intersects with career development, institutional support, and labour market access. While traditional labour market research has largely centred on gendered outcomes for cisgender women, this study extends the scope to include gender-diverse individuals, drawing parallels and identifying unique discriminatory mechanisms. Using qualitative interviews, the research explores how participants navigate their gender identity within educational and work environments shaped by cisnormative and binary expectations. The analysis engages with Human Capital Theory, Gender Socialisation Theory, and Discrimination Theory to contextualise the ways in which structural barriers, stigma, and identity-based exclusion impact professional trajectories. Findings indicate that participants often feel forced to prioritise either their gender affirmation or their vocational development, with nonbinary individuals facing particularly severe forms of institutional invisibility and marginalisation.

Suggested Citation

  • Waltl, Judith, 2025. "Labour market barriers beyond the binary gender construct: Cis-normativity in the labour market," IPE Working Papers 255/2025, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ipewps:320432
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/320432/1/1929937350.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary S. Becker, 1962. "Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis," NBER Chapters, in: Investment in Human Beings, pages 9-49, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 789-865, September.
    3. Kelly K. Dray & Vaughn R. E. Smith & Toni P. Kostecki & Isaac E. Sabat & Cassidy R. Thomson, 2020. "Moving beyond the gender binary: Examining workplace perceptions of nonbinary and transgender employees," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1181-1191, November.
    4. Klavs Ciprikis & Damien Cassells & Jenny Berrill, 2020. "Transgender labour market outcomes: Evidence from the United States," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1378-1401, November.
    5. Gerrit Bauer, 2016. "Gender Roles, Comparative Advantages and the Life Course: The Division of Domestic Labor in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(1), pages 99-128, February.
    6. Christopher S. Carpenter & Samuel T. Eppink & Gilbert Gonzales, 2020. "Transgender Status, Gender Identity, and Socioeconomic Outcomes in the United States," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(3), pages 573-599, May.
    7. M. V. Lee Badgett & Christopher S. Carpenter & Maxine J. Lee & Dario Sansone, 2024. "A Review of the Economics of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(3), pages 948-994, September.
    8. Drydakis, Nick, 2009. "Sexual orientation discrimination in the labour market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 364-372, August.
    9. Corcoran, Mary E & Courant, Paul N, 1985. "Sex Role Socialization and Labor Market Outcomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 275-278, May.
    10. Michael J. Carter, 2014. "Gender Socialization and Identity Theory," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-22, May.
    11. Martin Eckhoff Andresen & Emily Nix, 2022. "What Causes the Child Penalty? Evidence from Adopting and Same-Sex Couples," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(4), pages 971-1004.
    12. Christopher Carpenter, 2008. "Sexual orientation, income, and non-pecuniary economic outcomes: new evidence from young lesbians in Australia," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 6(4), pages 391-408, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Drydakis, Nick & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2020. "Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Labour Market Outcomes: New Patterns and Insights," GLO Discussion Paper Series 627, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Carpenter, Christopher S. & Feir, Donn. L. & Pendakur, Krishna & Warman, Casey, 2024. "Nonbinary Gender Identities and Earnings: Evidence from a National Census," IZA Discussion Papers 17377, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Ian Burn & Michael E. Martell, 2022. "Gender typicality and sexual minority labour market differentials," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(4), pages 784-814, December.
    4. Olga Suhomlinova & Saoirse Caitlin O’Shea & Ilaria Boncori, 2024. "Rethinking gender diversity: Transgender and gender nonconforming people and gender as constellation," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 1766-1785, September.
    5. Mikaela Backman & Christopher S. Carpenter & Erwan Dujeancourt & Samuel Mann, 2025. "Sexual orientation, entrepreneurship, and firm survival," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(4), pages 2105-2132, April.
    6. Maria Kravtsova & Aleksey Oshchepkov, 2019. "Market And Network Corruption," HSE Working papers WP BRP 209/EC/2019, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    7. Alessandra Casarico & Salvatore Lattanzio, 2023. "Behind the child penalty: understanding what contributes to the labour market costs of motherhood," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1489-1511, July.
    8. Mats Hammarstedt & Ali M. Ahmed & Lina Andersson, 2015. "Sexual Prejudice and Labor Market Outcomes for Gays and Lesbians: Evidence from Sweden," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 90-109, January.
    9. Boinet, Césarine & Norris, Jonathan & Romiti, Agnese & Shi, Zhan & Telemo, Paul, 2024. "Beliefs on Children's Human Capital Formation and Mothers at Work," IZA Discussion Papers 17574, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Bedaso, Fenet Jima, 2024. "Occupational Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap: Evidence from Ethiopia," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1393, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    11. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Gabriel Leite-Mariante, 2023. "The Child Penalty Atlas," Working Papers 2023-16, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    12. Francesca Barigozzi & Helmuth Cremer & Emmanuel Thibault, 2024. "The motherhood wage and income traps," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(4), pages 1-26, December.
    13. Ahammer, Alexander & Glogowsky, Ulrich & Halla, Martin & Hener, Timo, 2023. "The Parenthood Penalty in Mental Health: Evidence from Austria and Denmark," IZA Discussion Papers 16459, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Gayane Baghumyan, 2023. "Sexual-Orientation Discrimination and Biological Attributions: Experimental Evidence from Russia," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp762, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    15. Glogowsky, Ulrich & Hansen, Emanuel & Sachs, Dominik & Lüthen, Holger, 2025. "The evolution of child-related gender inequality in Germany and the role of family policies, 1960–2018," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    16. Mahdi Gholami & Samuel Muehlemann, 2024. "Pathways to Prosperity: The Roles of Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills in Employer Quality and Early Career Earnings," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0212, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW), revised Dec 2024.
    17. Gørtz, Mette & Sander, Sarah & Sevilla, Almudena, 2023. "Does the Child Penalty Strike Twice, and If So Why?," IZA Discussion Papers 16557, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Estefanía Galván & Cecilia García‐Peñalosa, 2025. "Interactions among gender norms: Evidence from US couples," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 72(1), February.
    19. Nick Drydakis, 2012. "Men's sexual orientation and job satisfaction," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 33(8), pages 901-917, November.
    20. Filip Pertold & Sofiana Sinani & Michal Soltes, 2023. "Gender Gap in Reported Childcare Preferences among Parents," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp770, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • B54 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Feminist Economics
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:ipewps:320432. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iphwrde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.