Understanding Labor Market Discrimination Against Transgender People: Evidence from a Double List Experiment and a Survey

TL;DR

This study reveals that anti-transgender attitudes in the US labor market are underreported due to social desirability bias, but actual support for transgender employment rights is much higher than perceived, highlighting the need for better awareness.

Contribution

The paper introduces a double list experiment to accurately measure anti-transgender attitudes and provides new evidence on actual support levels for transgender employment protections.

Findings

73% of people are comfortable with a transgender manager

74% support employment non-discrimination for transgender individuals

Labor market support for transgender people is lower than for gay, lesbian, and bisexual people

Abstract

Using a US nationally representative sample and a double list experiment designed to elicit views free from social desirability bias, we find that anti-transgender labor market attitudes are significantly underreported. After correcting for this concealment, we report that 73 percent of people would be comfortable with a transgender manager and 74 percent support employment non-discrimination protection for transgender people. We also show that respondents severely underestimate the population level of support for transgender individuals in the workplace, and we find that labor market support for transgender people is significantly lower than support for gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. Our results provide timely evidence on workplace-related views toward transgender people and help us better understand employment discrimination against them.