Voices unspoken? Understanding how gay employees co-construct a climate of voice/silence in organisations
通过对男女同性恋员工的半结构化访谈，研究发现他们使用微观和结构两种边界策略来管理个人与职业身份的分离或整合，其中结构策略促进发声氛围，而微观策略短期缓和冲突但长期固化沉默。
This study aimed to understand how the individual actions of gay employees influence the development of a climate of voice/silence in the workplace. We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with male and female homosexuals. The results reveal two types of boundary tactics (micro-level and structural) that our research participants used to promote their ideal level of separation or integration of their personal and professional identities. Our grounded theory demonstrates that whereas structural boundary tactics promote respect and a climate of voice, micro-level boundary tactics soften conflicts in the short term but solidify a climate of silence from a long-term perspective. We also propose that the insufficiency of institutional mechanisms to support gay people’s right to have a voice at work reduce the likelihood that these workers will risk confronting those who attempt to silence them. The originality of this study is based on the fact that it focuses on actions that gay employees can perform to co-construct a climate of voice that positions them as active social actors and not merely passive recipients of organisational and institutional conditions.