Men have been neglected in our equity, diversity, and inclusion work.
This assertion can lead to responses such as ‘Yea, poor men, they’re doing just fine”. And indeed it is hard for those working furiously (mostly women) to tackle gender inequality and who are tuned into men’s privilege in the workplace, to want to focus on men. But the longer I work in the gender space, the more convinced I am that we need to put much more effort, and resources, into working with men. That is, if we really want to create change.
Read MoreMen have not been showing up in the gender equity space. And without the engagement of men, change will continue to be paralysingly slow. Yet men in our Partners for Change workshops relished the opportunity to discuss their gender issues with other men and to engage in courageous conversations with women about gender.
I believe men will show up if we stop doing gender equity work without them and if the invitation is to work in partnership to create more humane workplaces for all, workplaces where we can all thrive, without undermining the private sphere of community and family.
Read MoreAre our organisations sufficiently 'gender mature' to move towards implementing initiatives where men (at all levels) are squarely within the frame? It is the next step and here's why.
Read MoreI’ve worked for about 17 years to help improve Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal relations. Jen de Vries has worked even longer to improve gender equity. In both of these fields we are in a time of transition – about 40 years old and counting – from an era of unambiguous and socially sanctioned disparity in rights, dominance and power, to an era of genuine equity. That transition is hard work. And in both of those fields I’m in the dominant group. I’m white Australian, and I’m a bloke.
Read More‘We (men) are expected to lead’, one of the male participants exclaimed. As a woman so immersed in working with women’s leadership development programs I found myself somewhat taken aback. It was impossible for me to imagine a woman saying anything like it. For women the reverse could be said to be true: we (women) are not expected to lead. It was one of those moments when you are left in no doubt that gendering processes are alive and well. A moment when socialised gender roles, so often implicit become explicit. And, in this case, open for discussion.
Read MoreGetting men and women together to talk about gender. Sounds ordinary enough. Might happen around a dinner table but when was the last time it happened at work? Maybe it never has? Tim Muirhead and I recently ran a full day ‘Partners for Change’ workshop where attendees came in male/female collegial pairs. Women mostly did the inviting, asking a male colleague to come to the workshop with them, with the intended focus of strengthening their capacity to work individually and together to tackle gender issues in their shared workplace.
Read MoreIn this blog, which follows on from my previous bolt 'What about the men?' I explore the difference between inviting men to be allies in the gender change work and being partners. As allies men are being asked to help make organisations better places for women. But this assumes that men have no gender, or at least that their gender is not problematic in the workplace.
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