Through a glass darkly: researching workplace discrimination using an identity meta-perception (IMP) lens

This paper presents findings based on a novel approach to researching identity and inequality in the workplace. Our research results from a large survey of camera department employees in the Australian screen industry. Workers were invited to self-nominate various personal identifications, but also to tell us how they thought they were perceived by others. With this information we analysed workplace discrimination in terms of the various possible interconnections between identity self-perception and meta-perception (what people believe other people think about them). We found a clear link between specific forms of discrimination in camera departments and discordant experiences of identity in which workers did not feel there was an alignment between the way they self-identify and the meta-perception of these identities by colleagues. This link was particularly pronounced for people experiencing homophobia and/or ableism. We also found that ignorance of workplace discrimination was highest among cohorts with highly aligned self- and identity meta-perceptions.