In her latest article on Entrepreneur.com, Felena Hanson shares that if women, instead of looking at business as a place to compete with each other, began working together, with men, to empower women in the workplace, in politics and in the overall economy. She believes being pro-women doesn’t necessarily mean we must be anti-men. Why perpetuate the cycle?
There was male/female discord in the workplace well before the #MeToo movement. But, if the #MeToo movement has taught me anything, it’s that we need men to be part of this conversation. We cannot isolate ourselves from men and expect to change the status quo. Women are instinctively more collaborative in their approach to business.
Improving relations between men and women is key to increasing opportunities for women in business.
Unfortunately, men still hold a lot of the keys in the business realm. But, their experience means that we can learn a lot from them. Segregating people by gender eliminates opportunities for women to gain valuable knowledge. Instead, we should be focused on working with men to change the way they look at gender equality issues.
A McKinsey and Company report released last year on Women in the Workplace states that fifty-five percent of men said disrespectful behavior in their workplaces is addressed quickly, but only 34 percent of women agreed. Half of the men surveyed said their companies consider diverse candidates for open jobs, compared to only 35 percent of women.
[bctt tweet=”Fifty-five percent of men report that disrespectful behavior in their workplaces is addressed quickly, but only 34 percent of women agreed. Excluding men is not the path to promoting women. Read more at www.herahub.com/resources” username=”@herahub”]
So, what can we do about it?
To start, instead of excluding men, we can support the men who want to support women. First, we need to have safe places for open dialogue. We need to understand how each gender is feeling and address our concerns with a focus on solutions, not finger-pointing.
To read the full Entrepreneur article click here.
