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How can men help to build gender equality at work? How can workplaces and organisations engage men in progress towards gender justice? Men in workplaces, whether senior male leaders or blue-collar men, can play important roles in fostering gender equality in workplaces and organisations.
In this XY collection, we bring together key reports, manuals, and other items of interest. The first section below includes key reports and guides. See in particular, Men Make a Difference: How to Engage Men on Gender Equality (Flood and Russell, 2017) - this report is summarised here, and here is a speech on it. Flood's book on engaging men in violence prevention (free here) also includes useful discussion on engaging men (Chapter 5), changing men's organisations (Chapter 9), and so on.
The second section below focuses on short articles, tipsheets, and commentaries. See e.g. my compilation on what men can do.
Efforts to build gender equality in workplaces and other organisations often meet resistance and backlash. Check out this excellent guide to responding to and preventing resistance and backlash, as well as other materials on the area.
Book-length guides for men on acting as allies and advocates for gender equality in workplaces including Ali’s Her Allies (2021), Ford, Koch and Armstrong’s The Accidental Sexist (2021), Gallagher’s How Men Can Help (2022), and Phelan’s Men Stepping Forward (2023).
Reports and guides:
- Allan et al., How Business Can Engage Men as Allies for Gender Equality. Standford Social Innovation Review, Mar 4 2020
- Armstrong, J. (2016). Collaborating with Men: Changing workplace culture to be more inclusive for women. Cambridge, UK: Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge.
- Armstrong, J. and Ghaboos, J. (2019). Women Collaborating with Men: Everyday Workplace Inclusion. Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge.
- Ashcraft, C., DuBow, W., Eger, E., Blithe, S., & Sevier, B. (2013). Male advocates and allies: Promoting gender diversity in technology workplaces. National Center for Women & Information Technology’s Workforce Alliance
- Center for Women and Business. (2017). Men as Allies: Engaging Men to Advance Women in the Workplace. Bentley University
- Diversity Project. (2022). Male Allies: An untapped and powerful resource as we strive for Gender Equality. Diversity Project, UK.
- Edström, Jerker, and Thea Shahrokh. (2015). Poverty, work, and employment. In J. Edström, A. Hassink, T. Shahrokh, & E. Stern (eds.), Engendering Men: A Collaborative Review of Evidence on Men and Boys in Social Change and Gender Equality. Brighton, UK: Promundo-US, Sonke Gender Justice and the Institute of Development Studies.
- Flood, M. (2022). Men's positive roles in ending sexual harassment. Precedent, No. 170, May-June (Australian Lawyers’ Alliance).
- Flood, Michael, and Pease, Bob. (2005). Undoing Men’s Privilege and Advancing Gender Equality in Public Sector Institutions. Policy and Society, 24(4): 119-138
- Flood, Michael, and Russell, Graeme. (2017). Men Make a Difference: How to Engage Men on Gender Equality. Sydney: Diversity Council Australia
- Also see XY's page on this report, including a summary, here
- Forte Foundation, The Toolkit - Starting A Male Ally Group 2016
- Hassink, A., & Baringer, L. (2015). Fatherhood, Unpaid Care and the Care Economy. In J. Edström, A. Hassink, T. Shahrokh, & E. Stern (Eds.), Engendering Men: A Collaborative Review of Evidence on Men and Boys in Social Change and Gender Equality. Brighton, UK: Promundo-US, Sonke Gender Justice and the Institute of Development Studies
- Holmes, S., and M. Flood. (2013). Genders at Work: Exploring the role of workplace equality in preventing men’s violence against women. Sydney: White Ribbon Foundation
- ILO. (2013). Men and Masculinities: Promoting Gender Equality in the World of Work. Geneva: International Labour Office, Gender, Equality and Diversity Branch, Conditions of Work and Equality Department. Working paper 3/2013.
- Kerr, G. & Pollack, A. (2022). Engaging men: The journey toward equity. Catalyst.
- Kerr, G. & Pollack, A. (2022). Engaging men: Barriers and gender norms. Catalyst.
- Male Champions of Change, Elevating women's representation in leadership 2011
- Male Champions of Change progress report 2011
- Male Champions of Change progress report 2013
- Male Champions of Change progress report 2014
- Male Champions of Change, Playing Our Part Letter Nov 2015
- Murray Edwards College, Collaborating with Men - FINAL Report 2016
- Murray Edwards College, Collaborating with Men - From research to day-to-day practice, Report 2, July 2017
- NCWIT, Top 10 Ways To Be a Male Advocate for Technical Women 2012
- NCWIT, Male Advocates and Allies 2013
- Prime, Jeanine, Corinne A. Moss-Racusin, and Heather Foust-Cummings. (2009). Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives: Stacking the Deck for Success. New York: Catalyst
- Prime, Jeanine, and Corinne A. Moss-Racusin. (2009). Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives: What Change Agents Need to Know. New York: Catalyst
- Ratele, K., Verma, R., Cruz, S., & Khan, A. R. (2019). Engaging men to support women in science, medicine, and global health. The Lancet, 393(10171), 609-610.
- Russell, G., & O’Leary, J. (2012). Men Get Flexible! Mainstreaming Flexible Work in Australian Business. Sydney: Diversity Council Australia.
- USAID’s Engendering Industries. (2023). Engaging Men for Gender Equality. USAID.
- WGEA. (2013). Engaging men in flexible working arrangements. Canberra: Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
- Women's Business Council. (2018). Men as Change Agents Achieving gender balance in business leadership. London: Government Equalities Office.
- Wood, D. E. (2021). How can men be good allies for women in surgery?# HeForShe. Journal of Thoracic Disease, 13(1), 492-501.
- Working Mother Research Institute. (2017). The Status of Men as Allies for Multicultural Women: The Working Mother Report. Winter Park, FL, USA: Working Mother (Bonnier Corporation).
- Yavorsky, J., Banks, G., & McGonagle, A. (year?). What Men Can Do to Reduce Gender Inequality in Science, Medicine, and Global Health: Small Wins and Organizational Change.
News articles, blogs, commentaries, speeches, and tipsheets:
- Ashcraft and Dubow, The Tricky (And Necessary) Business Of Being A Male Advocate For Gender Equality, May 28 2015
- Barker, The belief that women do care work and men get paid does a great disservice to society. June 16 2015
- Bowers, Men as Allies. Working Mother blog, Feb 18 2016
- Brancu, Breaking Down Biases: Men as Allies for Women in Leadership, May 31 2023
- BroadAgenda, Engaging Men Q and A with Michael Flood. June 16 2016
- Catalyst, Actions Men Can Take to Create an Inclusive Workplace, 2009
- Cavanaugh, The Power of the Male Ally - Engaging Men Advancing Women. October 21, 2016
- Glennerster, Practical steps you can take to reduce sexism in economics, Jan 7 2015
- Flood, Building respectful and inclusive workplaces: Men’s positive roles in violence prevention, December 2023
- Flood, What men can do in workplaces to build gender equality, Dec 14 2022
- Flood, Men’s positive roles as allies for gender equity in science. Ciencia de la Comunicacion Cientifia, February 8 2024. (Also on XY, here)
- Futures Without Violence, The Top 10 Things Men Can Do Right Now to Address Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, Dec 6 2017
- Good, Helping men get work-life balance can help everyone, July 9 2015
- Halter, Why Men Should Support Gender Equality. On The Marc blog
- Harvard Gazette, Men on a Mission, Dec 16 2013
- Hauck, The Role of Male Allyship in Conscious Leadership and Business, Feb 29 2020
- Hauck, Nine Tips for Being a Male Ally at Work, May 19 2021
- Johnson and Smith, How Men Can Confront Other Men About Sexist Behavior, Oct 16 2020
- Johnson and Smith, Men, Stop Calling Yourselves Allies. Act Like One, August 5 2022
- Krentz, M., Wierzba, O., Abouzahr, K., Garcia-Alfonso, J., & Taplett, F. B., Five ways that men can improve gender diversity at work, October 10 2017
- Levy, Men at the Harvard Business School An Unexpected Voice for Redefining Success, 2014
- Limonthas, Three Simple Ways to Be a Better Male Ally, March 3 2023
- Male faculty, Ten Things You Can Do Now to Improve the Climate for Women
- Moritz, White men Four things you can do to advance diversity. LinkedIn, March 6 2015
- Price, Where are those proud male 'champions of change'? Nov 25 2014
- Price, Male Champions of Change has an image problem, July 6 2020.
- Rincon, Roberta. (2019). The Importance of Male Allies: A Review of the Literature. SWE Magazine (State of Women in Engineering), April 11.
- Robb, Men as agents of change. Barclays / Women’s Business Council seminar, Jan. 22 2015
- Siegel, 6 Steps Everyone Can Take To Become An Ally In White Male-Dominated Workplaces, Nov 2 2019
- Smith and Johnson, 3 Ways to Advance Gender Equity as We Return to the Office, June 11 2020
- Smith and Johnson, 4 Ways Men Can Support Their Female Colleagues Remotely, Oct 27 2020
- Suhail, It's Time for Men to Lean In - For Gender Equity, Sept 23 2020
- Szakal, Stronger together – Engaging male allies in pursuit of gender equality | ACI World Blog, May 28 2020.
- Taylor, Calling all men – five ways you can be a feminist at work, Aug 2 2016
- Utah Women & Leadership Project. (2018, October 3). What male allies can do to strengthen the impact of Utah women in workplace settings. UWLP
- Warren, Why women need male allies in the workplace – and why fighting everyday sexism enriches men too, July 21 2021
- 5 Practical Things Men Can Do For Gender Equality At Work, Oct 2014
- A gender-equality club, run by men. The Washington Post, August 10, 2015
Note: If you are a male academic or in higher education, the following items may be of particular interest:
- Male faculty, Ten Things You Can Do Now to Improve the Climate for Women
- Ratele, K., Verma, R., Cruz, S., & Khan, A. R. (2019). Engaging men to support women in science, medicine, and global health. The Lancet, 393(10171), 609-610.
- Tenure She Wrote, Don’t be that dude - Handy tips for the male academic, 2013
- Wood, D. E. (2021). How can men be good allies for women in surgery?# HeForShe. Journal of Thoracic Disease, 13(1), 492-501.
Also see:
- These resources on men's positive roles in building gender equality
- The recent report Better Together - Increasing Male Engagement in Gender Equality Efforts in Australia, by Bain and Co. (2019);
- The report, Men Make a Difference: Engaging Men on Gender Equality, commissioned by the Diversity Council Australia and written by Dr Michael Flood and Dr Graeme Russell;
- This practical guide to challenging everyday sexist comments and jokes, and this outline of why sexist and violence-supportive jokes matter;
- A bibliography of published works on men building gender equality at work and/or in institutions;
- A bibliography of scholarship on work, class, and gender, including a section on building gender equality at work;
- A bibliography of published works on violence prevention in workplaces;
- The projects and organisations focused on men, work, and gender listed as part of this collection of links;
- The reports and resources produced by Champions of Change (Australia).
While this collection focuses on paid work and workplaces, other materials in XY's "Resources" collections are relevant for work with men in general to build gender equality. This page provides a guide to XY's vast collection of materials on men's roles in gender justice. Further suggestions are most welcome.