"It dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different from the others; or like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil."

W.E.B. Dubois, The Strivings of The Negro People 1897

"Wearing a mask wears you out. Faking is fatiguing. The most exhausting activity is pretending to be what you know you aren't."

Rick Warren, www.geckoandfly.com

 

Today, the portion of the US population designated as minority (any group other than non-Hispanic White alone) stands at 38 percent and growing. The most recent US Census (2015) data projects that by 2060 the US minority population will have transitioned to the majority, becoming 56 percent of the total population (Colby & Ortman, 2015).

Although the growth of the US minority population continued over the past decades, marginalization—the treatment of a person or group as peripheral or insignificant—remains a component of the American minority experience (Diggs et al., 2009; Holder, Jackson, & Ponterotto, 2015; Jan, Mohamed & Lloyd, 1987). One arena where this marginalization has historically manifested is the workplace where minority members have struggled to obtain acceptance and/or access to equal opportunities (DuBois, 1897b; Goffman, 1963; Green et al., 2008; Gruyter, Green, & Martin, 2018; MacLean, 2008).

Despite the advances and advantages afforded by social activism and social mobility, each day marginalized individuals enter the workplace endeavoring as hard to mask a disfavored social trait as they do to complete their assigned tasks (O’Brien, 2011; Shore et al., 2011). The effort expended to assimilate into their corporate cultures costs not just the individual but also their organizations in productivity, retention, and innovation

covered ascent about covering
Insomnia by Evan is Licensed under CCBY-ND

(Green et al., 2008; Stodd, 2016). This study proposes to examine the perceived impact of workplace covering; the attempt to mask or hide aspects of one’s identity at work.

Organizational Performance and Employee Engagement

Research suggests that an organizations’ human capital—specifically a high performing workforce—remains the factor most predictive of organizational success as reflected in profit and shareholder value (Kumar, Asaru, & Nagarajan, 2014). While much progress has been made to diversify the American workplace, maximizing employee inclusion and engagement—critical components of organizational performance—remains elusive (Crabtree, 2013; Kumar, Asaru, & Nagarajan, 2014).  As maximizing employee engagement is a critical component of organizational performance (Markos, Sandhya, & Professor, 2010) the factors that impede employee engagement are of heightened interest and importance.

 

Workplace Covering: Definition and Impact

"The question to ask about the writer isn't 'Why does he behave so badly?' but, 'What does he gain by wearing this mask?'"

Philip Roth

Covering is defined as the practice of hiding, denying, or downplaying an aspect of oneself (Clark & Smith, 2014; Goffman, 1963; Yoshino, 2006). Its relevance and importance is reflected in the importance of the workplace in American culture. In a study of the US workplace and its impact on U.S. culture, MacLean (2008) points out that a person’s occupation is so basic to their place in society that “What do you do?” is routinely among the first questions asked upon introduction (MacLean, 2008, p. 6).

The factors that contribute to the decision to cover in the workplace are as varied as the ways that covering manifests; this study seeks to add to the scholarly research by examining how workplace covering is experienced by those that choose to cover.