IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i10p1355-d1498545.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Lesbian and Gay Population, Work Experience, and Well-Being: A Ten-Year Systematic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Marina Lacatena

    (Department of Humanities, University of Naples Federico II, Via Porta di Massa 1, 80133 Naples, Italy)

  • Ferdinando Ramaglia

    (Department of Research and Humanistic Innovation, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza Umberto I, 70121 Bari, Italy)

  • Federica Vallone

    (Department of Humanities, University of Naples Federico II, Via Porta di Massa 1, 80133 Naples, Italy)

  • Maria Clelia Zurlo

    (Department of Political Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Porta di Massa 1, 80138 Naples, Italy)

  • Massimiliano Sommantico

    (Department of Humanities, University of Naples Federico II, Via Porta di Massa 1, 80133 Naples, Italy)

Abstract

Despite an increase in the promotion of equal opportunities at work, there is still persistent discrimination against lesbian and gay (LG) workers. In this vein, this study aimed to systematically review the research investigating the peculiarities of the work experience of LG people, particularly considering the theoretical frameworks in the approach to sexual minorities’ work-related issues, as well as individual and contextual variables influencing the work experience and the impact they may have on health and well-being. We explored the PsycArticles, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science electronic databases and the EBSCOHost (PsycInfo, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection) scholarly search engine, between 01/01/2013 to 01/03/2023, with regards to the search terms “lgb*”, “gay*”, “lesbian*”, “homosexual*”, and “sexual minorit*”, associated with “employee*”, ”personnel”, “worker*”, and “staff”, and with “workplace”, “work”, “job”, “occupation”, “employment”, and “career”. Data were narratively synthesized and critically discussed. Of the 1584 potentially eligible articles, 140 papers contributed to this systematic review. Five main theoretical frameworks were identified: (a) minority stress, (b) sexual prejudice and stigma, (c) queer and Foucauldian paradigms, (d) social identity theories, and (e) intersectionality. Furthermore, significant individual (e.g., outness, disclosure, and work–family conflict) and contextual (e.g., heterosexist and heteronormative workplace climate and culture) variables influencing LG people’s work experience were identified. This review highlights the need to develop a unified theoretical model for the construction of specific measurement tools to assess the work experience of LG people and for the implementation of interventions aimed at minimizing the effects of stigma in work contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Marina Lacatena & Ferdinando Ramaglia & Federica Vallone & Maria Clelia Zurlo & Massimiliano Sommantico, 2024. "Lesbian and Gay Population, Work Experience, and Well-Being: A Ten-Year Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(10), pages 1-16, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:10:p:1355-:d:1498545
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/10/1355/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/10/1355/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erin A. Cech & William R. Rothwell, 2020. "LGBT Workplace Inequality in the Federal Workforce: Intersectional Processes, Organizational Contexts, and Turnover Considerations," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(1), pages 25-60, January.
    2. Sebastien Stenger & Thomas J Roulet, 2018. "Pride Against Prejudice? The Stakes of Concealment and Disclosure of a Stigmatized Identity for Gay and Lesbian Auditors," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 32(2), pages 257-273, April.
    3. Hyunkang Hur, 2020. "The role of inclusive work environment practices in promoting LGBT employee job satisfaction and commitment," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(6), pages 426-436, July.
    4. Thierry Laurent & Ferhat Mihoubi, 2017. "Sexual Orientation, Unemployment and Participation: Are Gays Less Employable than Straights?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 1-44, March.
    5. Christopher Jepsen & Lisa K. Jepsen, 2017. "Self-employment, earnings, and sexual orientation," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 287-305, March.
    6. Karel Fric, 2019. "How does being out at work relate to discrimination and unemployment of gays and lesbians?," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 53(1), pages 1-19, December.
    7. Fric, Karel, 2019. "How does being out at work relate to discrimination and unemployment of gays and lesbians?," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 53(1), pages 1-14.
    8. Lina Aldén & Mats Hammarstedt & Hanna Swahnberg, 2020. "Sexual Orientation and Job Satisfaction: Survey-Based Evidence from Sweden," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 69-101, June.
    9. Nathaniel M Lewis & Suzanne Mills, 2016. "Seeking security: Gay labour migration and uneven landscapes of work," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(12), pages 2484-2503, December.
    10. Coral Río & Olga Alonso-Villar, 2019. "Occupational segregation by sexual orientation in the U.S.: exploring its economic effects on same-sex couples," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 439-467, June.
    11. Carolina Feliciana Machado & Ana Luísa Costa, 2022. "Diversity Management: Homosexuality and the Labor Market," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-24, October.
    12. Ernesto Noronha & Nidhi S. Bisht & Premilla D’Cruz, 2022. "From Fear to Courage: Indian Lesbians’ and Gays’ Quest for Inclusive Ethical Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(4), pages 779-797, May.
    13. Meyer, I.H., 2003. "Prejudice as stress: Conceptual and measurement problems," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(2), pages 262-265.
    14. Michael E. Martell, 2018. "Identity Management: Worker Independence And Discrimination Against Gay Men," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(1), pages 136-148, January.
    15. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    16. Angelo Moretti, 2023. "Regional Public Opinions on LGBTI People Equal Opportunities in Employment: Evidence from the Eurobarometer Programme using Small Area Estimation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(2), pages 413-438, April.
    17. Iris Po-Yee Lo & Emma H. Liu & Sam Wai-Kam Yu, 2022. "Family and Work Lives of Lesbians in China: Implications for the Adult Worker Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-15, May.
    18. repec:iab:iabjlr:v:53:i:1:p:art.14 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Punnakitikashem, Prattana & Maimun, Atthapong & Rakthin, Sirisuhk, 2019. "Supportive factors of job and life satisfaction: Empirical evidence from disclosed lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) workforce in Thailand," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(5), pages 711-730, September.
    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. Angelo Moretti, 2023. "Regional Public Opinions on LGBTI People Equal Opportunities in Employment: Evidence from the Eurobarometer Programme using Small Area Estimation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(2), pages 413-438, April.
    2. Michael E. Martell & Peyton Nash, 2020. "For Love and Money? Earnings and Marriage Among Same-Sex Couples," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 260-294, September.
    3. Michael E. Martell & Leanne Roncolato, 2023. "Economic Vulnerability of Sexual Minorities: Evidence from the US Household Pulse Survey," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(2), pages 1-74, April.
    4. Jepsen, Christopher & Jepsen, Lisa, 2022. "Convergence over time or not? U.S. wages by sexual orientation, 2000–2019," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Jepsen, Christopher & Jepsen, Lisa, 2020. "Convergence Over Time or Not? U.S. Wages by Sexual Orientation, 2001-2018," IZA Discussion Papers 13495, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Sean Waite & John Ecker & Lori E Ross, 2019. "A systematic review and thematic synthesis of Canada’s LGBTQ2S+ employment, labour market and earnings literature," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-20, October.
    7. Gutierrez, Emilio & Rubli, Adrian, 2024. "LGBT+ persons and homophobia prevalence across job sectors: Survey evidence from Mexico," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. 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.
    9. İlkay Unay-Gailhard & Mark A. Brennen, 2022. "How digital communications contribute to shaping the career paths of youth: a review study focused on farming as a career option," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(4), pages 1491-1508, December.
    10. Mahin Ghafari & Vali Baigi & Zahra Cheraghi & Amin Doosti-Irani, 2016. "The Prevalence of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in Iranian Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-10, June.
    11. Elizabeth T Cafiero-Fonseca & Andrew Stawasz & Sydney T Johnson & Reiko Sato & David E Bloom, 2017. "The full benefits of adult pneumococcal vaccination: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-23, October.
    12. Santos Urbina & Sofía Villatoro & Jesús Salinas, 2021. "Self-Regulated Learning and Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments in Higher Education: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-12, June.
    13. Oded Berger-Tal & Alison L Greggor & Biljana Macura & Carrie Ann Adams & Arden Blumenthal & Amos Bouskila & Ulrika Candolin & Carolina Doran & Esteban Fernández-Juricic & Kiyoko M Gotanda & Catherine , 2019. "Systematic reviews and maps as tools for applying behavioral ecology to management and policy," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 30(1), pages 1-8.
    14. Nadine Desrochers & Adèle Paul‐Hus & Jen Pecoskie, 2017. "Five decades of gratitude: A meta‐synthesis of acknowledgments research," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 68(12), pages 2821-2833, December.
    15. Maryono, Maryono & Killoes, Aditya Marendra & Adhikari, Rajendra & Abdul Aziz, Ammar, 2024. "Agriculture development through multi-stakeholder partnerships in developing countries: A systematic literature review," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    16. Alene Sze Jing Yong & Yi Heng Lim & Mark Wing Loong Cheong & Ednin Hamzah & Siew Li Teoh, 2022. "Willingness-to-pay for cancer treatment and outcome: a systematic review," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 23(6), pages 1037-1057, August.
    17. Xue-Ying Xu & Hong Kong & Rui-Xiang Song & Yu-Han Zhai & Xiao-Fei Wu & Wen-Si Ai & Hong-Bo Liu, 2014. "The Effectiveness of Noninvasive Biomarkers to Predict Hepatitis B-Related Significant Fibrosis and Cirrhosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Test Accuracy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(6), pages 1-16, June.
    18. Vicente Miñana-Signes & Manuel Monfort-Pañego & Javier Valiente, 2021. "Teaching Back Health in the School Setting: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-18, January.
    19. Agnieszka A. Tubis & Katarzyna Grzybowska, 2022. "In Search of Industry 4.0 and Logistics 4.0 in Small-Medium Enterprises—A State of the Art Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-26, November.
    20. Obsa Urgessa Ayana & Jima Degaga, 2022. "Effects of rural electrification on household welfare: a meta-regression analysis," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(2), pages 209-261, June.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:10:p:1355-:d:1498545. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.