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G E N DE R DI V E R SI T Y
Bringing men on board
with gender equality
Based on the JUMP F o r u m ( P a r i s , 2 4 M a y 2 0 1 2 ) a n d t h e F o r u m E u r o p é e n D i v e r s i t é ( P a r i s , 3 J u l y 2 0 1 2 ) a s w ell
as sep arate interview s wi t h El e a no r Ta bi HA LLER - J O R D E N, g e n e r a l m a n a g e r, C a t a l y s t E u r o p e A G ( J u n e 2 0 1 2 )
and Mich ael STUBER , f o u n d e r a n d g e n e r a l m a n a g e r, E u r o p e a n D i v e r s i t y R e s e a r c h & C o n s u l t i n g ( J u l y 2 0 1 2 ) .
“For the world has changed, and we must change with it,” said Barack
Obama in his January 2009 inaugural address. Applying this insight to
gender diversity issues, researcher and consultant Michael Stuber adds,
“What happens if you are not attentive to change? You disappear.” In other
words, men who fail to recognize the strategic imperative for corporate
gender diversity efforts are falling out of step with global trends.
Until now, gender diversity efforts have focused primarily on
women and, in turn, have met with only limited success. On
average across the European Union, the percentage of women holding executive committee roles has risen over the past
four years from 4 to 10%, suggesting that women will still
hold less than 20% of Europe’s executive committee roles by
2022.1 “The numbers are moving at a snail’s pace,” reports
Eleanor Tabi Haller-Jorden, general manager of Catalyst Europe. To drive real change, discussions around gender diversity
increasingly focus on the strategic significance of these issues
for men. “Put another way,” says Katrin Bennhold of the New
York Times, “the last frontier of women’s liberation may well be
men’s liberation.”2
MYTHS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS BLOCK PROGRESS
74% of participants in a 2009 Catalyst
study report that many of the men they
manage are “unconcerned about gender
equality” and “do not see a compelling
reason for actively supporting gender initiatives.”3
Q The myth of the zero-sum game
Recent talk of using quotas to redress gender imbalance is
making managers nervous, says Michael Stuber, founder of European Diversity Research & Consulting. “Too many managers
are concerned now about complying to potentially aggressive
quotas, when they should be looking at gender diversity from
a more strategic perspective.” A narrow focus on quotas can
inadvertently reinforce the myth of the zero-sum game — the
myth that if women win, men lose — when, in fact, men, like
women, also benefit from gender equality, partly due to its
proven effects on business performance (see “Gender equal-
MEMO
s Identify blocking beliefs: the myth of the zero-sum game and reluctance to recognize male privilege are obstacles to engaging
men in gender diversity efforts.
s Include men in gender diversity efforts: having women mentors and being encouraged to think critically about gender
stereotypes increase men’s commitment to addressing this issue.
s Embrace company culture change: evolutions in gender identity and in work itself are creating pressures for corporate culture
change, such as the provision of flexible work solutions.
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There is far greater
variation among women,
or among men, than there
is between the sexes.
ally pertains to every aspect of women’s office life,” says another Wharton researcher, Alison Wood Brooks, who conducted
a study in which both men and women tended to react more
negatively to women than to men for the same behaviors, such
as wearing shirts stained with coffee.5 Michael Kimmel, author
and SUNY professor of sociology, notes that recognizing male
privilege is an essential step to overcoming men’s apathy and
fears toward gender diversity issues: “White men have been
the beneficiaries of the greatest affirmative action program of
all time: it’s called world history… Until we confront our sense
of male entitlement, we will never understand why gender
equality progress continues to be so slow.”
QNeuroscience does not support gender stereotypes
ity is good for the bottom line”). “Men need to understand
that greater inclusion of women is strategically advantageous
in terms of productivity, growth, innovation, globalization, and
the war for talent,” says Stuber.
QMaking privilege visible
Men who see gender equality as a zero-sum game are also
more prone to believing that the workplace is already a level
playing field and that gender diversity efforts thus discriminate
against men. In reality, however, women continue to make less
and occupy far fewer top leadership positions than men. “The
stereotypes and biases that keep women from advancing are
more subtle than in the past and possibly unintentional but
they still exist,” says Monica McGrath, Wharton professor of
management and executive coach.4 “The idea of backlash re-
Gender equality is good
for the bottom line
76% of women believe that gender parity holds financial
benefits for their companies, while only 55% of men
agree, suggesting that the overwhelming business case
for gender diversity has yet to be widely understood
or accepted.* According to a four-year (2005-2009)
analysis of more than 500 Fortune 500 companies, those
with three or more women board directors outperform on
average those without women board directors by:
s 84% in return on sales (ROS)
s 60% in return on invested capital (ROIC)
s 46% in return on equity (ROE)
Based on “The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and
Women’s Representation on Boards,” (Catalyst 2011).
* What stops women from reaching the top?” (Bain and
Company, 2011).
Women are stigmatized for exhibiting traditionally masculine
traits such as self-promotion and assertiveness — traits often considered keys to success in the workplace. “But it is
important to note that men who exhibit traditionally feminine
traits are also stigmatized,” says Stuber. “Male-bonding not
only excludes women, it excludes men who are different, causing companies to miss out on a variety of perspectives and
approaches.” A need for leaders with feminine traits (such as
strong communication skills) has become a popular argument
for greater gender diversity. But the problem is that the evidence that women have a monopoly on such traits is contradictory at best. “There is far greater variation among women, or
among men, than there is between the sexes,” says Rebecca
Jordan-Young, author of a book on gender difference.6 “We
have to be very careful about reinforcing stereotypes, about
aligning biological sex with gender, which is a socio-cultural
construct,” confirms Haller-Jorden. Rather than taking a gendered view of specific skills or personality traits, it is more
helpful to focus on the need to widen the talent pipeline by
including more women and other minorities hitherto excluded
without justifiable cause. “This is an issue of talent,” says
Haller-Jorden, ”not masculine and feminine norms.”
KEY FACTORS AFFECT MEN’S ENGAGEMENT
“There are three key factors that determine the extent to which
men support gender diversity initiatives: having been mentored
by a woman; a sense of fair play; and defiance of certain masculine norms,” says Haller-Jorden.
QCross-gender mentoring raises awareness among
men
53% of men versus just 15% of women believe that men and
women have equal opportunity for promotions.7 “Many men
believe these issues have already been addressed, while women don’t,” confirms Haller-Jorden. Fortunately, cross-gender
mentoring is proven to raise awareness, with 65% of men who
have been mentored by women showing a high awareness
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of gender bias in comparison to just 42% of those mentored solely by other men.8 Men with high awareness of gender
biases are more likely to recognize that the exclusion of women
is a strategic disadvantage for companies and, interestingly,
are also more likely to admit to wishing occasionally that they
could escape the pressure of having to be the primary breadwinner.
QEngaging men’s sense of fair play in regards
to gender equality
“The case for gender equality has to appeal to men’s sense
of fairness,” says Haller-Jorden. According to Catalyst studies, just a small rise in men’s sense that gender diversity is a
matter of fair play more than triples the likelihood that they
will actively support company efforts.9 Given that people who
are personally disadvantaged by a situation are more likely to
judge it unfair, companies can heighten men’s sense of fair
play by communicating how gender inequalities negatively impact men.
QMen who challenge traditional masculine norms
deserve full company support
“For both men and women alike, strict conformity to feminine
and masculine norms, respectively, means repressing aspects
of one’s personality,” a Catalyst report finds. “For men in particular, however, the price of compliance with gender norms
can be especially steep and can include poor psychological
and physical health.”10 Consequences include less rewarding
personal relationships and reluctance to seek help when suffering from problems such as depression, stress, and illness,
making men four times as likely as women to commit suicide.
Do company leaders reward or tolerate pressures to conform
to traditional masculine norms, such as “being a winner at all
costs”? If so, they are undermining gender diversity efforts, the
wellbeing of employees, and company performance.
GLOBAL TRENDS DRIVE CORPORATE CULTURE
CHANGE
The ways in which both work and gender roles are evolving
increase the costs of gender inequalities for men. “Men and
women are juggling really complex lives,” notes Haller-Jorden,
“and this pressure is driving companies to look at this issue.”
QThe new “male mystique”
The role of women in society has undergone radical transformation over the past 50 years, but what about the role of men?
How has it changed? According to the American 2011 “National Study of the Changing Workforce,” men continue to feel
pressure to be the primary breadwinner but also feel pressure
today to be more engaged in their roles as domestic partners
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and fathers. Former expectations are clashing with new views
of masculinity, resulting in a tension that the authors of the
study term “the new male mystique” — today’s male version
of the 1960’s feminine mystique.11
QRedefining “the good worker”
Evolving conceptions of gender identity, along with changes
in the nature of work itself, are creating pressure for a new
kind of corporate culture, one that better accommodates the
complex realities of modern life. According to Haller-Jorden,
potential hires increasingly ask recruiters: “can I be effective
integrating my priorities in this corporate environment?” Many
companies may still abide by an unwritten rule that employees
have to put in long hours for management jobs. “But such outmoded rules increasingly conflict with the realities of modern
work-life, such as the fact that most managers already travel so
much that the idea of face-time is contradictory,” says Stuber.
“If they want to hold onto the best talent, companies have to
embrace the ways that work is changing,” confirms Haller-Jorden. This means, for example, providing flexible work options
— without reducing promotion opportunities for the women
and men who use them.
“Gender diversity is clearly a propeller of business results,”
concludes Stuber. “But male employees need the time and
place to talk through these issues, and providing those opportunities for discussion is a decision the CEO has to make.” Q
1. “Women Matter 2012: Making the Breakthrough,” by Sandrine
Devillard et al., (McKinsey & Company March 2012).
2. “Feminism of the Future Relies on Men,” by Katrin Bennhold (The
New York Times, 22 June 2010).
3. “Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives: What Change Agents Need
to Know,” by Jeanine Prime and Corinne A. Moss-Racusin (2009
Catalyst).
4-5. “Masculine Norms: Why Working Women Find It Hard to Reach
the Top,” (Knowledge@Wharton, August 2011).
6. “Gender, Brain Science, and Wrong-Headed Notions,” by Rebecca
Jordan-Young (Harvard Business Review, December 2010).
7. “What stops women from reaching the top? Confronting the tough
issues,” by Melanie Sanders, Jayne Hrdlicka, Meredith Hellicar, Dale
Cottrell and Joanna Knox (Bain & Company, November 2011).
8-10. “Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives: What Change Agents
Need to Know” (Catalyst 2009).
11. “National Study of the Changing Workforce: the New Male
Mystique,” by Kerstin Aumann, Ellen Galinsky, and Kenneth Matos
(Families and Work Institute 2011).