88% of men report wanting to be involved in advancing women at work – so what is stopping them?
In this Harvard Business Review article, Colleen Tolan and Lisa Kaplowitz argue that the key reasons more men don’t get involved is because of fear, ignorance and apathy and therefore to engage more male leaders in the fight for gender equity, these reasons must be addressed.
Here’s what they suggest needs to happen:
Acknowledge fear – understand the source of the fear.
Men are often afraid of saying the wrong thing. However, “comparatively, there is no evidence of men being fired or physically threatened for speaking up against discrimination”.
To address this, create space for men to have conversations about gender equity without taking it away from women, such as affinity groups.
Addressing ignorance – create opportunities for awareness.
Research suggests that men are worse allies than they think. Part of the issue is that men are unaware that their behaviour is sometimes the source of the problem.
To address this, create opportunities for men to become educated (although don’t place the burden of this education on women) on these issues and ensure that continuous learning (i.e., inquisitiveness) is valued across the organisation.
Overcoming apathy – getting all men to care.
A culture of male engagement means normalising that gender equity is a shared effort among everyone. Sometimes men are apathetic because they don’t think gender equity is their problem.
To address this, men must ensure they frequently express to their male colleagues how much their engagement matters. It is not someone else’s problem.
You can check out the original article here.
