From Visibility to Inclusion? New research on transgender representation and discrimination

On 2 June 2025, Sofia Bracco defended her doctoral thesis entitled From Visibility to Inclusion: Trans and Gender Diverse People in the Media and in the Workplace.

–  You can't say you really know something until you can explain it to your grandma, she says. So here’s what I would tell her: “I study how people think and feel about transgender people.”

Her research shows that increased visibility for transgender people can open doors – but also create new obstacles. The ultimate goal: to better understand how media representations influence attitudes, which in turn can impact the treatment of TGD people in various areas of life such as the workplace, potentially leading to fairer treatment of transgender individuals in society.

A lack of earlier research paved the way

The situation of transgender people is a research area that has been neglected. Sofia Bracco explains:

– Trans and gender diverse people have long been ignored by psychological research, outside of clinical, and sometimes pathologizing, work. Researchers McFadden and Crowley-Henry described the career and business literature surrounding the transgender population as “somewhat of an island, small and almost uninhabited, cut off from the mainland” and added that “very little research bridges the links between the careers of this subpopulation with the larger LGBT group.”

Sofia Bracco’s PhD project originally focused on the workplace. However, when she together with her supervisor started investigating trans experiences at work, they realized that the existing theories were built for cisgender people by cisgender people. They needed new point of references.

– So, we started wondering: how are transgender people perceived not only in the workplace, but in general? Where do these stereotypes originate from? Thus, we turned to the media as the primary contact point between cisgender and transgender people.

From headlines to recruitment – Visibility does not always equal acceptance

Sofia Bracco and colleagues started conducting content analyses of news media headlines, experimental survey studies, and lastly outlined guidelines for practitioners. Together, the studies show how the visibility of TGD individuals can lead to both increased inclusion and new forms of vulnerability – and the need for conscious strategies in the media and working life to deal with this.

Sofia Bracco’s studies show that while older stereotypes – like depicting trans people as mentally ill or dangerous – are becoming less common, new negative patterns are emerging. Today, TGD people are frequently portrayed as victims or as topics of debate.

– Trans and gender diverse people have historically been represented in negative, stigmatizing, and pathologizing ways. There are clear examples of this in cinema and literature, in for example Silence of the lambs and Psycho, but this used to be commonplace in news media too. Also, trans people – and trans women of color especially – were often depicted in relation to sex work.

In what kind of context do trans and gender diverse people normally get attention in the media today and why is that problematic?

– Now, these criminalizing frames are disappearing, but TGD people are often represented as victims of discrimination and violence. While this can be done in a well-intentioned way to bring attention to systemic transphobia, it can also reinforce the connection between trans people and violence in audience's minds.

Visibility comes with many risks, including tokenism in the workplace and misrepresentation in the media, but it also holds the potential for recognition and acceptance.

Media shapes attitudes

How the media portrays transgender people affects our feelings – and those feelings in turn affect our attitudes. In an experimental study, where Sofia et al presented participants with positive, negative, and neutral representations of TGD people in the media, participants felt positive emotions, which led to more positive thoughts about transgender people. When articles portrayed transgender people in a negative light, participants' emotions and attitudes became more negative.

Sofia Braccos research shows that the representation of TGD individuals in news media varies greatly between countries. Countries that are already more inclusive tend to have more neutral, less stereotypical and less negative media descriptions.

People tend to equate visibility with progress but Sofia Bracco warns that mere presence is not enough.

– Negative media representations can worsen people’s attitudes toward transgender people, and repercussions can be observed in various areas of life such as the workplace. Furthermore, trans women occupy a unique position in which they are both the most visible and the most discriminated against.

Is there a clear connection between visibility and inclusion? 

– The main conclusion of the thesis is: visibility is a double-edged sword that, without proper knowledge and targeted efforts, will not lead to actual inclusion but rather only expose TGD people as targets of hate. Visibility comes with many risks, including tokenism in the workplace and misrepresentation in the media, but it also holds the potential for recognition and acceptance.

Trans women face greater scrutiny

Sofia Bracco’s thesis also includes experimental survey studies on whether trans women and men with varying degrees of cisgender-typical appearance – appearance that conforms to norms that dictate how women and men should look like – affects their perceived hireability. Participants with recruiting experience evaluated trans job applicants based on their CVs.

What are your main findings when it comes to recruiting and workplace discrimination of TGD people?

– We found that, with equal work experience and qualifications, trans men were considered more hireable than trans women. Also, while looking more or less cisgender-typical made a significant difference in attractiveness for trans women (consequently affecting their hiring chances), it did not have any effect on trans men’s attractiveness. Thus, trans women encounter more scrutiny when it comes to their appearance compared to trans men, mirroring what happens with cis women and cis men.

Data collection dilemmas

In a final section of the thesis, Bracco explores the growing practice of collecting SOGI data – information about sexual orientation and gender identity – in workplaces. The aim is often to promote inclusion and enhance diversity and or equality, but there are also risks involved.

What are the pros and cons with selecting and using SOGI-data at the workplace? 

– SOGI data serve as evidence that LGBTQIA+ people exist and deserve policies designed to enhance their well-being. Thus, collecting such data has symbolic benefits, as it validates marginalized identities and normalizes their presence in society, and practical benefits, as it provides a necessary foundation for targeted interventions and policy implementation. However, SOGI data collection can come with side-effects, such as contributing to the erasure or othering of certain identities. In the worst cases, it can lead to privacy breaches and even turn into a tool for the surveillance and persecution of stigmatized identities, particularly in regions where LGBTQIA+ identities are not protected. Thus, careful consideration must be given to how these data are collected, stored, and used to ensure that their benefits outweigh potential risks.

Read the dissertation

Read more about Sofia Bracco

The G-VERSITY project

Sofia Bracco’s PhD studies have been part of a European Union’s Horizon 2020 and Marie Skłodowska-Curie program, which started in 2021 and lasted 3 years. It consisted of a European training network called G-VERSITY – Achieving Gender Diversity, which included 15 PhD students, 9 research groups from psychology, education, management, business administration, media and communication studies across Europe, and 9 non-academic partners (a city administration, two public broadcasting service, a media training center, an aviation training center, and 3 non-profit organizations). The project members met every six months for workshops and summer school all around Europe, curated a blog on science communication, and presented their work at international conferences.

More info can be found here: gversity-2020.eu/g-versity-project.html