Kerschbaumer, S., & Hartner-Tiefenthaler, M. (2025, July 22). Beyond Binaries: A Continuous Measure for Gender in Organizational Research [Conference Presentation]. GWO 2025 Conference, Nantes, France.
E330-01 - Forschungsbereich Arbeitswissenschaft und Organisation
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Date (published):
22-Jul-2025
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Event name:
GWO 2025 Conference
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Event date:
21-Jul-2025 - 23-Jul-2025
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Event place:
Nantes, France
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Keywords:
inclusion; gender; work
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Abstract:
Traditionally, survey research has measured sex and/or gender by offering participants two categories—female and male—from which they select the one they resonate with most (Lindqvist, Sendén, and Renström 2021; Magliozzi, Saperstein, and Westbrook 2016). In recent years, evidence from neuroscience, neuroendocrinology, psychology (Hyde et al. 2019), and sociology (Westbrook and Saperstein 2015) has refuted the gender binary, supporting the addition of a third, non-binary option in quantitative research. However, participants identifying as non-binary are often excluded from analyses due to small sample sizes (Chen and Gardner 2022). Moreover, while adding a third category is a step forward, such a categorical approach still restricts gender expression for individuals who see gender as continuous or irrelevant to their self-perception (Joel et al. 2014; Tate, Youssef, and Bettergarcia 2014; van Anders 2015) and erases diversity outside the binary (e.g., genderfluid participants; Vriesendorp and Wilson 2024). To address this, Magliozzi, Saperstein, and Westbrook (2016) propose incorporating continuous measures gender in surveys, allowing participants to express their gender accurately. While continuous measures have been explored in national surveys and convenience samples (e.g., Hart et al. 2019; Westbrook and Saperstein 2015), their application in organizational contexts remains underexplored.
We designed and tested a continuous, two-dimensional measure (femininity/masculinity) of gender identity in a large Austrian organization (N = 1,469) to enhance the representation of gender-diverse individuals in organizational studies and challenge categorical gender conceptualizations. The measure builds on alternative gender measurement forerunners (e.g., Hart et al. 2019; Ho and Mussap 2019; Magliozzi, Saperstein, and Westbrook 2016; Vriesendorp and Wilson 2024) as well as queer representations like the Gender Unicorn (Trans Student Educational Resources 2015) and the Genderbread Person (Killermann 2018). We administered the measure alongside a traditional categorical question within a project on workplace dynamics.
Participants across all traditional gender categories (male, female, non-binary) used the full range of femininity and masculinity scales, highlighting significant within-category variance in work contexts. We also demonstrate the unique applications of continuous gender measures, introducing features like team mean identity, within-team variance, and individual identity deviation from the team, which enable more nuanced analyses of gender-based effects in organizational science. This is complemented by visualizations showing teams’ unique identity constellations and the application of Harrison and Klein’s (2007) separation measure in the context of gender identity. Additionally, we explore leaders’ gender identities in relation to their teams, examining leader-member identity congruence.
This study advances research by introducing a simple continuous measure of gender, allowing for more nuanced gender measurements and more detailed analyses of gender-related phenomena. By applying it in the study of real teams, we demonstrate its practical use for research in organizations. Relying on conventional, categorical measures that do not allow for diversity within categories may not only exclude gender-minority participants by design but also diminish the validity of gender-related findings due to an oversimplification of the complex gender identities real people hold. By adding continuous measures, we can better understand gender inequality (Magliozzi, Saperstein, and Westbrook 2016), recognize gender minorities, and make quantitative research more inclusive to all.