When the body becomes work: embodied dignity and structural inclusion among trans men engaged in knowledge work in Indian organisations

Purpose This study examines how trans men in formal organisations in India experience and negotiate workplace dignity through embodied experience, organisational structure and everyday interactions. Answering Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) scholarship’s call to move beyond policy-level inclusion, this study offers an embodied perspective on workplace dignity for gender minorities in the Global South. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was conducted using in-depth interviews with trans men engaged in knowledge work in Indian formal organisations. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to explore how dignity was experienced and maintained at work. Findings Workplace dignity was conditional rather than assured. The analysis generated four themes: structural legitimacy and inclusion; embodied transmasculinity as workplace legibility; everyday dignity erosion; and dignity (re)stabilisation through embodied performance, work competence and relational recognition. Across these themes, dignity work captured participants’ efforts to protect dignity by adjusting behaviour, managing bodily presentation and seeking recognition in uncertain organisational settings. These findings show that recognition extended beyond formal policy and remained uneven, embodied and continually negotiated. Research limitations/implications Based on qualitative interviews with a small, hard-to-reach sample of trans men in India, the study offers context-specific insight into dignity as materially and bodily mediated in gendered organisational environments. Practical implications Moving beyond policies, effective DEI requires attention to structural barriers, gendered infrastructure and everyday conditions that shape embodied dignity at work. Social implications Meaningful inclusion for gender minorities requires everyday recognition, bodily safety and legitimacy. Originality/value This study develops a conceptual framework of embodied workplace dignity negotiation and shows how dignity for trans men is shaped through organisational norms, embodied gender legibility and everyday workplace experiences.