Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work

What can a spork, a painting, and a bus driver tell you about your workplace culture? Far more than your last engagement survey.
Organizations proudly declare their core values, but employees live the reality. They see who gets interrupted, who gets the benefit of the doubt, and whose ideas require a champion. Many employees who defy easy categorization, the neurodivergent analyst, the LGBTQIA+ manager, the employee covering their tattoos, are constantly calculating: which parts of me belong here?

In Mixed Signals , business psychologist Dr. Shawna M. Gann shows how the experiences of multiracial professionals illuminate this friction and offer a path toward true belonging for complex, liminal identities. Living close to the seams of an organization puts these professionals in a position to notice where the culture is cracking, and what they see has something to teach everyone.

Blending original research with compelling stories, Dr. Gann explores how to interpret workplace culture signals and delivers actionable frameworks that give individuals voice, help managers reveal barriers, and guide executives toward culture transformation for system-wide impact.

With a foreword by Dr. Chandra D. L. Waring and an afterword by Dr. Marc Johnston Guerrero.