GLBT+Lit+Review

Literature Review for GLBT

Megan Sparks, Dawn Baldwin, Brandon Stoothoff, Jennifer Carr

Millersville University

Career Development

The population of the United States is approximately 300 million. Recent statistics indicate that 10% of the population is gay or lesbian (Van Den Bergh, 2004). This statistic does not include those people who consider themselves bisexual and transgender. This population faces issues that are very different from the heterosexual population (Datti, 2009). Even though it may seem that traditional career counseling techniques may be effective with homosexual clients, there are other areas that may need to be addressed as well such as negative self-perceptions, feelings of isolation, and rejection which may result in depression, low self-esteem, and shame (Datti, 2009). Despite the small amount of research, certain relevant themes within this population are sexual identity, the “degree of outness,” and discrimination. Based on the needs of this population, certain interventions will be discussed. In addition, transgender issues will be briefly outlined. According to Datti (2009), the career development process supports the bottleneck hypothesis where the career identity appears to be pushed off in favor of working through the individual’s sexual identity. The bottleneck hypothesis is seen predominately during adolescent years as these individuals may delay activities that would foster career growth because they are focused on their sexual orientation. Datti (2009) also stated that individuals may postpone dealing with their sexual identity issues and focus on their career issues, which can also have negative consequences. If the exploration of the sexual identity process is delayed further, researchers believe that this could represent a developmental domino effect in which the developmental delay of an important task may impede other important developmental tasks. This can cause long-lasting effects for individuals who do not accept their sexual orientation until later in their life (Pope, Barret, Szymanski, Chung, Singaravelu, McLean, & Sanabria, 2004). Case’s model of identity development model for gays and lesbians explains there is a six stage process these individuals endure (Mobley & Slaney, 1996). The first stage is identity confusion where individuals begin to question their sexual orientation. The second stage, called identity comparisons, occurs when individuals compare their thoughts and feelings about sexual orientation with others. In the next stage, identity tolerance, they present themselves as heterosexual in a non-gay environment while at the same time spending more time in the homosexual community. In the identity acceptance stage, individuals adopt positive attitudes towards their homosexual identity. In the identity pride stage, individuals acquire pride in their identity and seek activities that will support this identity. Finally, in identity synthesis, individuals are open to disclosing their orientation and deal with the possible reactions from others (Mobley & Slaney, 1996). Holland’s theory assumes that a connection between a congruent environment and personality will lead to job satisfaction (Mobley & Slaney, 1996). However, this connection is complicated by a person’s sexual identity development. With GLBT individuals, a proper fit between personality and environment needs to consider the sexual identity as a viable factor for achieving career satisfaction (Mobley & Slaney, 1996). Depending on the particular stage of sexual identity that the individual may be in, their reactions to environmental stressors may differ. For example, if they are at the level of identity confusion, a young man who wants to go into a traditional female occupation might hear negative comments about stereotypical gender roles and decide to foreclose on that career. Individuals that are further along in their sexual identity may view their career opportunities more appropriately with their skills and ignore more the traditional roles in favor of satisfying career opportunities. The comfort level of an individual’s sexual identity contributes to the process of coming out to themselves, others, and the workplace. The coming out process is a developmental task that involves coming out to self and coming out to others (Pope et al., 2004). The coming out to self entails accepting one’s sexual orientation. The coming out to others consists of explicitly disclosing one’s sexual identity to individuals. For the majority of individuals, the last step includes coming out in the workplace (Pope et al., 2004). Family orientation and culture also plays an integral role in the coming out process. For example, individuals with a more traditional family background may encounter more disapproval by family members for their sexual identity. Where as, individuals with less traditional familial roles may find more acceptance for their sexual identity and thus feel safer to pursue openness about their possible career decisions (Pope et al., 2004). This discrepancy can also be found across cultures where collectivistic cultures have stronger homophobic tendencies when compared to individualistic cultures. The final level of an individual’s “outness” refers to the workplace where the amount of “outness” may have more negative consequences due to discrimination (Pope et al., 2004). Since no laws exists protecting GLBT individuals from workplace discrimination, this may hinder them from engaging in a career that may include potential discrimination (Van Den Bergh, 2003). Most GLBT employees are vulnerable to mistreatment because it is legal to discriminate against GLBT employees in 39 out of 50 states (Van Den Bergh, 2003). There are two types of discrimination that GLBT employees face: de facto and de jure. De facto refers to explicit work place discrimination such as failing to hire, firing, denying a promotion or raises. De jure covers more discrete discrimination such as failure to allow benefits’ coverage for an employee’s domestic partner, exclusion within dependent care policies, and omission of GLBT employees’ partners from work-related social events (Van Den Bergh, 2003) The geographic location can determine the level of discrimination. For instance, these individuals may be more comfortable in larger cities where there appears to be a thriving GLBT community and more accepting societal messages regarding their sexual orientation. Because of sexual identity development, the coming out process and discrimination, particular interventions have been suggested by researchers in the career development field. Before a specific intervention occurs, a counselor can provide an accepting and sensitive atmosphere by displaying “Safe Zone” stickers, provide brochures, and display magazines such //The Advocate//, //Curve//, //Genre//, //DIVA//, and //Out// (Datti, 2009). After providing a safe and comfortable environment, the counselor can attempt interventions. An intervention that could be useful would be an open discussion about various forms of discrimination that occur in the workplace to prepare the individual for such instances (Pope et al., 2004). The counselor could provide information to the individual on strategies about the coming out process, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages they may encounter. Behavioral rehearsals on answering job interview questions could be a beneficial intervention for a homosexual individual concerned about his or her career. Educational interventions could consist of reading books dedicated to the formation of sexual identity. In addition, the counselor can help the individual identify support groups, provide him or her with information on the location and size of the GLBT community, and help them utilize the resources available. Therapeutic interventions would begin with a discussion of how influenced the individual is with societal messages in reference to career decisions. A counselor may choose to utilize cognitive techniques such as positive self-talk and reframing as a way to combat lowered self-esteem due to internalized homophobia. For those individuals in a relationship, it may be beneficial to provide couples counseling because the members of the relationship may be at different levels of sexual identity development (Pope et al., 2004). Experiential interventions could consist of career shadowing with another GLBT worker in their field of interest, an informational interview with an out GLBT, and/or cooperative educational experiences in businesses owned by GLBT professions. Despite these interventions, the individual may be resistant to process regarding their sexual orientation. This may be an opportunity for the counselor to demonstrate their sensitivity and knowledge of GLBT issues while talking openly about pertinent issues of the client. Counselors need to be cognizant of the use of psychological testing and career assessment tools as these may not give accurate data pertaining to this population. This may not represent accurate data because the career assessment tools are affected by the stage of identity development (Pope et al., 2004). While research is limited for the GLB population, there appears to be even less research available on the specific issues related to transgendered individuals. Budge, Tebbe, and Howard (2010) examined the work related experiences of transgendered individuals and identified a work transition process. During the pre-transition, when the person represents themselves as their biological sex, they experience the perception of impossibility of transitioning into the opposite sex. During the actual transition, an individual copes with the reactions of others to the presentation as the other sex and develops coping mechanisms in order to navigate the emotions of the transition. Post-transition includes coming out as transgendered in job interviews and at work and continuing to deal with the reactions of others. The individual continues to seek support in the work environment in their new sexual identity. When it comes to the career decision making process for transgendered individuals, they consider limited occupational prospects, contextual influences/gender socialization, and occupational barriers such as bathroom discrimination, gender stereotypes, and job loss (Budge, Tebbe, & Howard, 2010). Prior to 2000, a scarce amount of research has been done on the GLBT population and career counseling. As attention to this population has emerged, it is important that the career development field matches the needs of this growing population. It is important for counselors to be aware of their own prejudices and biases when working with GLBT individuals on career development. Realizing that GLBT individuals may need to address other issues while working on their career development is normal and most often necessary. Although research has been growing in this area, there is still more research that needs to be conducted with career counseling and the GLBT population, especially transgendered individuals.

References

Budge, S.L., Tebbe, E.N., & Howard, K.A.S. (2010) The work experiences of transgender individuals: Negotiating the transition and career decision making processes. //Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57 (4), // 377-393.

Datti, P.A. (2009). Applying social learning theory of career decision making to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning young adults. //The Career Development Quarterly//, 58, 54-63.

Mobley, M., Slaney, R. B. (1996). Holland’s theory: It’s relevance for lesbian women and gay men. //Journal of Vocational Behavior//, 48 (2), 125-135.

Pope, M., Barret, B., Szymanski, D.M., Chung, Y.B., Singaravelu, H., McLean, R., Sanabria, S. (2004). Culturally appropriate counseling with gay and lesbian clients. //The Career Development Quarterly//, 53, 158-171.

Van Den Bergh, N. (2003). Getting a piece of the pie: Cultural competence for glbt employees at the workplace. //Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment//, //8//(2/3), 55-73.