Why gender equality (in the workplace) matters to me

I wrote this on the request of Vicky Hicks , chair of 英国电信集团 's Gender Equality Network, to help with our people network's marking of International Men's Day on 19th November. Colleagues reading this here should browse to the GEN's Workplace page to keep up to date for details of the events they are orchestrating, and should feel proud that their colleagues are driving critical conversations on important issues.

As someone who is cis, straight, male, but an ethnic minority in the UK, I have had more than my fair share of privilege across the course of my career. But I guess living with at least one form of structural discrimination has made me sensitive to others. So, I take an active interest in conversations around inclusion, and, over the years, I have learned a vast amount from female colleagues, friends, family members about their lived context and experience.

I recall one moment, when – moved by yet another tragedy of male-on-female violence being discussed at work – I felt compelled to apologise for the actions of my gender. Like some imperious ruler, apologising on behalf of my people.

Of course, I had missed the point. Not just because, clearly, it is not all men (though equally clearly, it is men)… But crucially, because a male-dominated societal structure, despite unquestionably pushing men into positions of power and authority, doesn’t actually make us any happier. We have failed men in an entirely different way to the way we have failed women.

Reading Grayson Perry’s ‘Descent of man’, recommended during a ‘Men in Gender Equality’ discussion orchestrated by our Gender Equality Network (and hosted by the inestimable Steve Kilmister ), I was struck by all the self-harm men have done to ourselves, across the span of history.

For “default men”, as Perry calls the typical archetype of a straight, cis, white, middle-class, middle-aged man who wield disproportionate power in modern society – and for those around them – it is too hard for men to be open, vulnerable, compassionate. To share our emotional struggles and challenges. And we feel obligated to take on a wide range of pressures – pressures that, amongst other things, see suicide rates rising disproportionately amongst men since the 1990s, to the point where 75% of all suicides in the UK are men.

The lack of gender equality also makes us less effective; multiple studies have found that gender balanced teams are more productive, more creative, more effective than teams where one gender is dominant.

And so, we are caught in a bind. On the one hand, the structures in our society – structures that have systematically disempowered and put glass ceilings above the women in the workplace, are the ones that preserve our power and authority.

On the other hand, all that power and authority is pretty much useless if we’re unhappy, unproductive, and living limited lives by virtue of the context we are shaping for ourselves.

So yeah. Apart from the moral certitude that it is not right that ~50% of the population has to deal with structural blocks to achieve the same outcomes – in terms of pay, workplace flexibility, opportunities for development and advancement and the rest – than men do… I care about gender equality because it will almost certainly make me happier at work.

Speaking to my fellow men, everywhere: it is in our self-interest. Our businesses will be more profitable, our work will be more innovative, we and our teams will be happier. If we can just sort out the gender gap, that crystal clear glass ceiling. And build the structures needed to level the field for women in the workplace.