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Gay Glass Ceilings: Sexual Orientation and Workplace Authority in the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Carpenter, Christopher S.

    (Vanderbilt University)

  • Frank, Jeff

    (University of London)

  • Aksoy, Cevat Giray

    (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development)

  • Huffman, Matt L.

    (University of California, Irvine)

Abstract
A burgeoning literature has examined earnings inequalities associated with a minority sexual orientation, but far less is known about sexual orientation-based differences in access to workplace authority – in contrast to well-documented gender and race-specific differences. We provide the first large-scale evidence on this question using confidential data from the 2009-2014 UK Integrated Household Surveys (IHS) (N = 607,709). We are the first to document that gay men and lesbians are significantly more likely to have objective measures of workplace authority compared to otherwise similar heterosexual men and women. However, we also find clear evidence that gay men face glass ceilings: their higher likelihood of attaining workplace authority is driven entirely by their significantly higher odds of being low-level managers. In fact, gay men are significantly less likely than comparable heterosexual men to be in the highest-level managerial positions that come with higher status and pay. Oaxaca decompositions suggest that this differential access to workplace authority for gay men is due to discrimination as opposed to different skills and characteristics. Moreover, this "gay glass ceiling" is stronger for racial minorities than for whites. Corresponding effects for lesbians exist but are notably weaker. These results provide the first direct evidence of social stratification in the workplace associated with a minority sexual orientation and reveal that differences are exacerbated for individuals with multiple marginalized identities.

Suggested Citation

  • Carpenter, Christopher S. & Frank, Jeff & Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Huffman, Matt L., 2018. "Gay Glass Ceilings: Sexual Orientation and Workplace Authority in the UK," IZA Discussion Papers 11574, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11574
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Litsardopoulos Nicholas & Saridakis George & Clark Andrew E., 2023. "Variants of Gender Bias and Sexual-Orientation Discrimination in Career Development," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 23(4), pages 1175-1185, October.
    2. Brodeur, Abel & Haddad, Joanne, 2021. "Institutions, attitudes and LGBT: Evidence from the gold rush," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 92-110.
    3. Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Özcan, Berkay & Philipp, Julia, 2021. "Robots and the gender pay gap in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    4. Sansone, Dario, 2019. "Pink work: Same-sex marriage, employment and discrimination," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    5. Lisa de Vries & Stephanie Steinmetz, 2024. "Sexual Orientation, Workplace Authority and Occupational Segregation: Evidence from Germany," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(3), pages 852-870, June.
    6. Do, Hung X. & Nguyen, Lily & Nguyen, Nhut H. & Nguyen, Quan M.P., 2022. "LGBT policy, investor trading behavior, and return comovement," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 457-483.
    7. Aksoy, Billur & Chadd, Ian & Koh, Boon Han, 2023. "Sexual identity, gender, and anticipated discrimination in prosocial behavior," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    8. Billur Aksoy & Ian Chadd & Boon Han Koh, 2022. "(Anticipated) Discrimination against Sexual Minorities in Prosocial Domains," University of East Anglia School of Economics Working Paper Series 2021-08, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    9. Chen, Shuai & van Ours, Jan C., 2020. "Symbolism matters: The effect of same-sex marriage legalization on partnership stability," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 44-58.
    10. Cevat Giray Aksoy & Christopher S. Carpenter & Ralph De Haas & Mathias Dolls & Lisa Windsteiger, 2023. "Reducing Sexual Orientation Discrimination: Experimental Evidence from Basic Information Treatments," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(1), pages 35-59, January.
    11. Carpenter, Christopher S. & Sansone, Dario, 2021. "Cigarette taxes and smoking among sexual minority adults," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    12. Sugiyama, Yuri, 2022. "Can Soft Law Improve the Welfare of Sexual Minorities? The Case of Same-sex Partnership Policy in Japan," CEI Working Paper Series 2022-06, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    13. Sansone, Dario, 2019. "LGBT students: New evidence on demographics and educational outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    14. Nick Drydakis, 2022. "Sexual orientation and earnings: a meta-analysis 2012–2020," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 409-440, April.
    15. Aksoy, Billur & Carpenter, Christopher S. & Sansone, Dario, 2022. "Understanding Labor Market Discrimination against Transgender People: Evidence from a Double List Experiment and a Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 15542, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Ayed, Sabrine & Waxin, Timothée, 2023. "LGBT discrimination and harassment, firm value, and reputation repair," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    17. Aksoy, Cevat G. & Carpenter, Christopher S. & De Haas, Ralph & Tran, Kevin D., 2020. "Do laws shape attitudes? Evidence from same-sex relationship recognition policies in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    18. Ham, Andrés & Guarín, Ángela & Ruiz, Juanita, 2024. "How accurately are household surveys measuring the LGBT population in Colombia? Evidence from a list experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    19. Mourelatos, Evangelos, 2023. "Does Mood affect Sexual and Gender Discrimination in Hiring Choices? Evidence from Online Experiments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    20. Mourelatos, Evangelos & Krimpas, George & Giotopoulos, Konstantinos, 2022. "Sexual identity and Gender Gap in Leadership. A political intention experiment," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1187, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    21. Soraya Elizabeth Shamloo & Valeria De Cristofaro & Valerio Pellegrini & Marco Salvati, 2022. "Masculinity and Leadership Effectiveness (Self-)Perceptions: The Case of Lesbian Leaders," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-14, December.
    22. 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.
    23. Renata Della Torre & Henrique Pereira, 2024. "Lived experiences of sexual minorities in their achievement of leadership and psychosocial well-being in organizational settings," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    workplace authority; supervisory authority; managerial occupations; sexual orientation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management

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