Group that suffers the most prejudice within companies are LGBTQIA+, research shows

Within the corporate environment, 57% of workers have heard some kind of joke or prejudiced comment directed at the LBGTQIA+ community.

This is what a survey carried out between October 2021 and June 2022 shows by the global consultancy Great Place to Work (GPTW). The data margin of error is 1 percentage point up or down.

For the survey, 14,082 employees were interviewed; of these, 10% self-declare as LGBTQIA+.

Discrimination

The jokes and prejudiced comments aimed at LBGTQIA+ are the ones that happen most frequently: approximately 9% of respondents stated that they listen very often, 15% quite often and 33% infrequently.

About 44% stated that they had never heard comments of this nature within the work environment.

Jokes and prejudiced comments aimed at indigenous and black people also stand out: around 8% and 7% of respondents said they heard them very often.

The survey also shows that, among self-declared LGBTQIA+ employees, about 20% have already suffered some type of discrimination, harassment or intimidation at the company. It is the group that goes through these situations the most.

“Although there have been recent advances, LGBTIphobia is still tolerated by society. It is in the field of what is called “recreational prejudice”, something that part of society still considers tolerable and of less aggressive value”, explains Ricardo Sales, CEO of Mais Diversidade.

leaderships

The survey reveals that 92% of people in leadership, management and presidency positions are cisheteronormative. Among the group that declares itself LGBTQIA+, 8% are in leadership positions and 6% occupy the board or presidency of the company where they work.

The agenda advances, but it is necessary to increase the efficiency of affirmative actions

Raul Valle, diversity specialist at GPTW and responsible for the research, states that “we see the diversity and inclusion agenda considered strategic in the corporate agenda by companies, but in practice we do not see this happening in the sense of placing the theme as the main issue and having actions aimed at for that.”

Valle believes that there is a lack of preparation on the part of leaders when it comes to dealing with these issues. “If it’s in your “DNA” that we are made up of a diverse and inclusive company, giving alignments, we will increasingly be able to prevent LGBTQIA+ employees from feeling vulnerable,” he adds.

According to Sales, in recent years, many large companies have advanced in terms of education on the subject. “To increase the perception of efficiency of the programs, it is necessary to invest in initiatives and affirmative actions that really move the needles”, he says.

He cites programs for hiring trans people and private social investment in projects by the LGBTQIA+ community, especially those linked to entrepreneurship and income generation, as an example.

* Under supervision of Ana Carolina Nunes