Supervisors:

This research stems from questions regarding people’s relationships in the workplace, especially questions from the perspectives of minorities, such as cultural, visual, religious, and sexual minorities. The motive in pursuing this topic is illustrated by a few episodes about people whom I encountered in my life. They had difficulties being a minority in the workplaces, still the difficulties seemed trivial for the majority of people. I wanted to know the reason why my minority encounters provoke unhappiness, and how we can account for such responses normatively. A number of questions are addressed including the following: 1) How do both minorities and the majority act and feel in a workplace? 2) How do differences influence their performance and outcome? and 3) What suggestions can be made to normalize the status of minorities in workplaces? The research method consists of one semi-structured individual interview and five semi-structured Skype interviews to four business people in Japan and Sweden. These interviews were used as case studies. Several studies are referred to, such as sociological and social psychology, human resources management, ethnography focusing on the study of institution, and gender studies, to account for my motive and to ground my questions. However, the main theories incorporated are derived from the studies of Erving Goffman, a “sociologist well-known for his analyses of human interaction ” (“Erving Goff-man”, 2003). His works, especially dramaturgy as a theoretical framework, and stigma as an important concept, are examined because their organic and delicate approach seemed to be suitable for the research topic. I describe how people are influenced by normative and assumed roles in the society where they belong, which are supported by the past, as well as what people declare and try to practice today, and how they are different and discrepant from them. It is found that not enough has been done to improve the quality of work life for minorities, and that further studies with various perspectives are needed