Page 223 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

RAGINS AND WIETHOFF
192
Now that we have reviewed some methodological and conceptual issues
in studying heterosexism, we turn to an examination of some heterosexist
biases that pervade research on sexual orientation and diversity in the
workplace.
HETEROSEXIST BIASES IN RESEARCH
A number of potential biases hinder effective research on sexual orien­
tation in the workplace, as well as more general research on diversity in
organizations. In this section, we examine some of these potential biases
and their associated limitations.

Biases in Research on Sexual Orientation in the Workplace

Herek and his colleagues (Herek et al., 1991) identified a number of specific
biases present in research on gay men and lesbians. First, they observed that
lesbians and gay men are often viewed as a single homogeneous group,
thus masking significant gender differences between them. Garnets and
Kimmel (1993) emphasized the limitations involved in grouping gay men
and lesbians together, and contend that: "Gender is a powerful organizer
of sexual behavior, identity, and relationship patterns. In general, gay men
are more similar to heterosexual men, and lesbian women are more similar
to heterosexual women, than to each other" (p. 25).
Second, researchers failed to examine the mediating influences of race,
ethnicity, class, age, and other social group memberships (Herek et al.,
1991). Such research not only fails to examine the effects of multiple group
memberships on workplace experiences of gay men and lesbians, but also
does not recognize that gay people of color may experience racism within
the gay community. Gender, race, and sexual orientation may have cu­
mulative or independent effects on experiences of heterosexism and other
forms of workplace discrimination. Significant gender and race effects were
in fact found in a recent study of 534 gay and lesbian employees, 162 of
whom were gay employees of color (Ragins et al., 2003). Specifically, les­
bians in male-dominated environments reported more heterosexism than
did gay men. In addition, gay employees of color were less likely to dis­
close their sexual identity at work than their White counterparts, which is
supported by other research indicating that gay men of color are more fre­
quent targets of workplace discrimination than other groups (Crow, Fok,
& Hartman, 1998).
A third limitation is that research on sexual orientation usually fails to
analyze transgendered and bisexual people (Herek et al., 1991). In the few