How can Men can help in the Advancement of Women in Corporate

In the last couple of months, my co-workers have been discussing the infamous gender gap in corporate. I am the only male within my close work-circle, so I’ve been paying close attention to what they say about this topic because though I am a minority, I do have some privilege that they do not benefit from; being a man in corporate. The best thing I can do is sit, learn, and then speak up.

Marion Barraud wrote the following for a Harvard Business Review business study: “Gender equality remains frustratingly elusive. Women are underrepresented in the C-suite, receive lower salaries and are less likely to receive a critical first promotion to manager than men”. This is definitely not a surprise, but as this topic has taken over the conversation for the last couple of years, I started to think about some of the ways that us men can ensure a safe, equal workplace for our female coworkers. These are some of the things that I have tried to do throughout my career to make sure the women I work with feel comfortable at work:

 Check your bias: The simplest way to start advocating for gender equality is for us to just check our own bias. Sometimes, we belittle our female colleagues with unintentional microaggressions. We change our tone in a conversation to “accomodate” a female; we tend to “overexplain” because we think that some concepts are too hard to grasp; we shake hands with our male colleagues but won’t to the same with the women we work with; we use terms such as “honey” and “sweetie” when we’re addressing them; we comment on her physical appearance because we think it’s going to make her feel good. We probably don’t notice these things, so our first step is to constantly evaluate our behavior until it becomes part of our daily life. Forbes published a great article on microaggressions that I definitely recommend (https://www.forbes.com/sites/biancabarratt/2018/10/28/the-microaggressions-still-prevalent-in-the-workplace/#611717b19c3b)

Let her speak: When in a meeting, a one-on-one connect or just in an impromptu conversation, make sure that she’s being heard. As men, we have benefited from being in a position of power for centuries, so modifying behavior is hard. Ensure that your female colleague is and feels heard. Let her finish her sentences and let her expose her ideas. Don’t shoot her down as she’s pitching; even if you disagree with her statements, let her explain her own rationale and then debate objectively and respectfully.

Don’t assume: Always ask her if she’s available/willing to work on a certain task and don’t make an assumption (i.e. she leaves early to pick up her kids from work, she already has too much on her plate). Let her tell you what she’s able to do based on her current availability and workload, but don’t deny her an opportunity without even asking first.

Call it out: This is definitely easier said than done, especially when dealing with individual in more senior/higher positions than yours. However, it is extremely vital that we call out microaggressions as we see them. It does not have to be in an open forum; set that person aside and give them constructive feedback on how they could modify their behavior.

Women are making great strides when it comes to closing that gender gap. Each year that passes, we’re seeing more females taking over leadership positions. However, the fight is not theirs alone. As males –especially coming from positions of power-, we must be allies, so that we can help shape the workplace into a more inclusive one.

In what other ways can we support and elevate our female coworkers?