Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling

March 11, 2024
In this astute study, McCay (Restorative Cities)—the director of policy at the NHS Confederation, the membership organization for National Health Service care providers in the U.K.—delves into why queer people remain underrepresented in the C-suite. Interviews with 42 LGBTQ individuals “who have achieved career success at the upper echelons of their professions” detail the bigotry they faced on their rise to the top. For instance, Inga Beale, the former CEO of a London insurance market, describes how coworkers excluded her from networking events that involved bringing romantic partners. Elsewhere, Alim Dhanji, the former president of Adidas Canada, recalls not being able to pursue career-advancing positions based in certain countries because the governments were hostile toward gay people. Other speakers discuss being compelled to wear clothes that didn’t align with their gender expression and facing bias during the hiring process and when under consideration for promotion. Unfortunately, recommendations for how to make workplaces more inclusive range from obvious (ensuring people can use bathrooms that conform with their gender and including pronouns in email signatures) to vague (McCay encourages companies to “show, don’t tell, that your organization is inclusive,” but doesn’t specify how to do so). This may not have all the answers, but it’s still a solid overview of the professional disadvantages faced by LGBTQ individuals.