AGENTS OF CHANGE
1 The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2017
Pride and Prejudice: Agents of change
Contents
Executive summary 2
About the research 3
Introduction: Pathways to change 5
1. Facing the rainbow 6
2. The leadership imperative 8
Box:
Advocate-in-chief: How executives can take the frst steps toward greater D&I 9
3. D&I: The next generation 10
4. Gender matters 12
Box:
As the world turns: Promoting LGBT inclusion in hostile regions 14
Conclusion: Driving change 15
2 The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2017
Pride and Prejudice: Agents of change
Executive
summary
In 2016, The Economist Group launched the frst
iteration of Pride and Prejudice: The business
and economic case for lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) diversity and inclusion. As
part of the initiative, The Economist Intelligence
Unit (EIU) conducted a study exploring the
status of LGBT people in the workplace, based
on an extensive global survey and in-depth desk
research. Now in its second year, the research
examines those groups best poised to drive
positive change for LGBT people in the workplace:
company leaders, young people and women.
In order to identify these agents of change,
we must frst understand the extent to which
prejudice exists in the corporate world. Despite
some positive fndings, such as a high proportion
of executives who support LGBT rights in a
general sense, ill-will remains all-too-common;
more than one in ten executives are aware of
some kind of discrimination against LGBT people
in the offce. The low profle of LGBT people, who
often hide their identities at work, contributes
to the perception that this is not a problem
that must be tackled systematically, leaving
little motivation to enact progress-making
programmes.
One of the most impactful ways to break this
negative feedback loop is for company leaders to
declare themselves allies or even for LGBT leaders
to come out of the closet publicly. In last year’s
survey, 63% of respondents cited management
(C-suite and senior managers) as those who can
most infuence LGBT workplace advancement.
Yet few executives perceive their company’s top
tier to be particularly eager to advocate for LGBT
rights. Helping leaders engage, and fostering a
more inclusive leadership culture, often requires
a great deal of time and effort.
Bubbling up underneath, however, a young
generation of workers is poised to deliver
sweeping change across the corporate landscape,
including in the C-suite. External research
indicates that in much of the world, millennials
are more likely than their elders to support LGBT
rights, and the survey’s respondents sense this
attitudinal shift coming alongside a generational
passing of the baton. Yet young workers may feel
disconnected from their leaders in this regard:
in our survey, many junior staff could not say
who guides thinking around LGBT workplace
inclusion, while far more C-level executives could
name at least one type of employee.
Cutting across generations and corporate tiers,
women demonstrate consistently higher support
for LGBT workplace inclusion than their male
counterparts. This springs from a variety of factors,
including a shared history of discrimination and
deep-seated norms surrounding gay men and
femininity. These two groups’ parallel struggles
can inform each other, with progress for one often
leading to progress for all.
3 The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2017
Pride and Prejudice: Agents of change
This study is based on a survey felded online
from November to December 2016 among The
EIU Opinion Leaders’ Panel. The study received
responses from 1,043 executives from a diverse
spectrum across 82 nations. Regionally, it
received responses from 364 people in Europe,
251 in Asia, 241 in North America, 100 in Latin
America and 87 in the Middle East and Africa.
In addition, the results were segmented by age,
with 481 respondents hailing from the baby
boomer generation or older (those born in
1964 or earlier), 454 from generation X (those
born between 1965 and 1980) and 108 from
the millennial generation (those born between
1981 and 1998). Among those who provided
their gender, 823 were male and 205 were
female. Divided by seniority, 386 respondents
were members of the board or C-suite, 316
were non-C-suite senior executives, 152 were
managers and 109 were junior/senior associates
or analysts. Study results were statistically
evaluated at 95% confdence level, meaning
that in 95 of 100 times a study of this nature is
completed with a similar sample size and type,
the results will not vary by more than a few
percentage points.
In January and February 2017, The EIU also
conducted interviews with experts and corporate
leaders on the topic of LGBT inclusion in the
workplace. The EIU would like to thank the
following individuals (listed alphabetically) for
sharing their insights:
l Karen Blackett, chairwoman, MediaCom
l Willard McCloud III, global head, inclusion &
diversity, Cargill
l Lindsay-Rae McIntyre, chief diversity offcer,
IBM
l Hiro Mizuhara, co-founder, Element Mag
l Steve Wardlaw, chairman and co-founder,
Emerald Life
l Sammy Wu, co-founder, Rela
l Antonio Zappulla, chief operating offcer,
Thomson Reuters Foundation
This report was written by Michael Gold. It was
edited by Irene Mia. Heidi D’Agostino designed
and executed the quantitative survey, leveraging
The EIU Opinion Leaders’ Panel.
Finally, The EIU would like to thank the following
individuals (listed alphabetically) for their
feedback on the research fndings:
l Lee Badgett, professor, University of
Massachussetts
l Selisse Berry, founder and chief executive, Out
and Equal
l Steven Bielinski, founder, WorkForLGBT
About the
research
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