It is often said that for gender equality to progress and women to reach more leadership positions, men must be engaged. This has merit but working with the ‘willing’ is more important.
I often find myself in the significant minority of people at events or conferences aimed at gender or women merely because I am a man. When I meet someone new and they ask me why I care about women’s progression I ask them why I shouldn’t. I then recite the data on why this is a social and economic issue.
There’s a group of men I like to call the misterhood. These are the men who get it and are active in their support of women. It is definitely concerning that this group is still small. But we know the importance of gender equality in our companies, society and across all the professions.
Men who engage in female-dominated fields don’t face a glass ceiling, but a glass escalator. For example, according to the ABS, women are 97% of early childhood teachers and 86% of primary school teachers but just 52% of principals. It seems as if men may glide to the top while women take the tough path to leadership.
We can see this in health and caring fields and even in the law where firms still can’t get gender equality at any managerial level, despite hiring large numbers of female graduates.
Encouraging men to enter female-dominated fields is a complex issue. While it is always good to pursue diversity, men are not facing the same challenges that women did. Not fitting into the stereotype is helping them succeed.
The same cannot be said for women.
Perhaps this is why men find it difficult to engage in gender equality. While they may see those close to them struggle with a glass ceiling they do not see it on a macro-level. If men can make it in traditionally female fields, why can’t women do that in male fields?
Men don’t always see the breadth of gender inequality and the challenges that face women. When the topic of bringing men into the discussion is raised there tends to be an all or nothing approach.
Gender equality and feminism is a broad church, and men do have a role to play. There is limited value in trying to bring in hostile or disinterested people and convince them that it all makes sense, even though we know it does.
What is more important is to build our own support-base of men. This doesn’t relieve or distance women, but there is a role in our professional and personal lives for men to support gender equality.
For now, I have limited issues with being one of a few men in a room discussing these matters. But I certainly hope the numbers change over time.