Going global: professional mobility and concerns for LGBT workers |
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| Authors: | Julie Gedro Robert C Mizzi Tonette S Rocco Jasper van Loo |
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| Institution: | 1. Empire State College , State University of New York , New York , NY , USA doctennis@gmail.com;3. Charles Sturt University , Burlington , ON , Canada;4. College of Education, Department of Leadership and Professional Studies Miami , FL , USA;5. European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) , Thessaloniki , Greece |
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| Abstract: | The world of work has regularized the practice of people moving from one country to another to accept job assignments. Travel and relocation are stress-laden endeavours. For LGBT people, the risks can be more complicated than they are for heterosexuals. This article explores particular challenges that LGBT people face when they travel and relocate for business, both domestically and internationally. The article is contextualized with a literature review on sexual minorities and workplace issues, and uses auto-ethnographic stories of three of the authors’ lived experiences as sexual minorities relocating for professional reasons in order to examine issues related to LGBT relocation. These issues include legal, social, cultural and familial considerations. Implications and suggestions for human resource developers are presented, which include acquiring awareness around the psychological and physiological reactions to new and diverse ecologies, or ‘eco-shocks’. |
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| Keywords: | LGBT expatriates cross-cultural issues LGBT legal protections |
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