Revealing and reducing discrimination against transgender job applicants in challenging DEI contexts: an in-basket experimental study in India

Purpose Discrimination against transgender applicants persists in professional hiring contexts in India, where unfavorable evaluations are often justified through competence-related stereotypes. Although organizations commonly rely on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to address such bias, these initiatives may become difficult to sustain in contexts of resistance. Accordingly, this study examines whether competence-related individuating information reduces discriminatory evaluations of transgender applicants and explores how experiential learning may create opportunities for managers to recognize and reflect on stereotype-based judgments. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a 2 (Gender Identity: Transgender Applicant vs. Cisgender Applicant) × 2 (Individuating Information: No Competence Information [control] vs. High Competence) between-participants experimental design implemented through an in-basket exercise with working professionals in India (N = 124). Hireability evaluations served as the dependent variable. Findings When no individuating information about competence was available, the transgender applicant received significantly lower hireability ratings than the cisgender applicant. However, when explicit evidence of competence was provided, this gap was eliminated, indicating that competence-related individuating information mitigates stereotype-based discrimination. In addition, embedding the hiring decision within an in-basket exercise provided an experiential context through which participants could reflect on how assumptions about competence may influence apparently objective evaluations. Originality/value The study extends research on transgender employment by showing how competence-related stereotypes justify discriminatory hiring evaluations. It distinguishes between reducing discrimination and revealing the processes through which discrimination occurs as distinct challenges. Whereas individuating information can reduce discriminatory evaluations, experiential learning through an in-basket offers a methodological approach for revealing assumptions underlying such judgments.