LGBTQIA+ employee learning needs assessment using an ethnographic approach

Abstract

This paper will provide a general outline of the background of the discourse of oppression to the LGBTQIA+ movement and the general characteristics of its current state and discourse. The objective of this study is to create a realistic and faithful image of the LGBTQIA+ employee group studied, and to contribute to the understanding of broader sectors or population groups that have similar characteristics. Afterwards, some aspects about LGBTQIA+ groups from a consulting firm in the United States will be addressed as an area of research; an ethnographic vision about the studied LGBTQIA+ group will be presented, and finally, some considerations about the reproduction of the LGBTQIA+ identity discourse in the same consulting firm and the positive and self-affirmative contributions of the same study group will be made. Some of the research tools conducted provided an opportunity to understand the complex, rich, and supportive learning environment of the company for all employees, especially those who identify as LGBTQIA+ or allied. It is suggested that other important axes of analysis be addressed, such as the role of gender identity performance in the workplace, the field in the constructions of "LGBTQIA+" and in the forms of sociability of the group. At the end, lines of work are proposed to theoretically sustain the research with solid historical and theoretical categories.