The importance of male and non-binary allies for women leaders in STEMM
Women are actively promoting increased gender diversity in STEMM, but the engagement of male and non-binary allies is also needed, especially to increase effectiveness of senior women leaders.
Source: Amtec Photos, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
By Janet G. Hering and Patricia A. Maurice
6 February 2024, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10528496
We women leaders in STEMM have a self-evident interest in banding together to advocate for gender diversity. However, we need and appreciate the help of our male colleagues; we cannot change the system on our own. That said, we share a justifiable concern that our voices are often drowned out by those of men. Many of us are accustomed to our statements not being heard until restated by men (“hepeating”) or even being claimed by men as their own (“bropropriating”) [1]. Despite this risk, we believe that this is a critical and opportune time to further engage our male and non-binary allies in calling for and implementing measures to improve gender diversity in STEMM.
Why is the time critical?
Society is facing global challenges of immense complexity. Many of these challenges, including the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, call for advances in science and technology and for the rapid and effective application of scientific and technological knowledge. In the words of Albert Einstein, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Moreover, science and technology have long been known to be key drivers of economic growth. Gender diversity has been shown to increase the novelty and impact of scientific research [2], making it ever more essential to diversify the scientific workforce.
Changes in the culture of higher education and research institutions (HERIs) have also been called for. UNESCO has claimed that a greater emphasis on inter- and trans-disciplinary research is needed to increase the impact of research [3]. This will require a change in HERI culture and incentives and for leadership that is more collaborative and even transformational. Women have been in the forefront of initiatives to transform HERI culture, such as the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) [4] and the Better Science Initiative of the University of Berne [5]. Although collaborative leadership may be more often associated with female leaders, non-gendered criteria for assessing leadership traits can also be applied, as promoted by Eugenia Cheng in her book x + y: A Mathematician’s Manifesto for Rethinking Gender [6]. One advantage of a non-gendered approach is that it may serve to dispel the growing backlash against women and diversity measures.
This backlash is very real. Even a Nobel Prize winner, 85-year old Kurt Wüthrich, stated, at the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting for early career researchers, that “as a male scientist, I have a feeling of discrimination” [7]. Such resentment only serves to make more toxic the work environment that pushes women out of HERI careers, even after achieving milestones such as tenure [8].
Why is the time opportune?
This year, the HeForShe Alliance [9], the United Nations Global Solidarity Movement For Gender Equality, reaches its 10-year anniversary. In its Alliance Impact Reports for 2022 [10] and 2023 [11], two HERIs, INSEAD in Switzerland and Howard University in the USA, are listed as champions, reporting out their progress toward gender equity. In addition, U.S. universities, including Indiana University Bloomington and The Ohio State University, have “Advocates and Allies for Equity” groups that engage male faculty and students to promote and support efforts toward equity, focused on gender and its intersections. These efforts can serve as models for broader engagement of men as allies and advocates for gender diversity [12].
How can men and non-binary people support gender diversity?
Both of us have benefited from guidance and support from male mentors and sponsors. For example, Janet’s Ph.D. advisor, François Morel, invited her to co-author a textbook with him while she was a postdoctoral researcher, which greatly benefited her career. As a Ph.D. student, Patricia was invited by Werner Stumm, then the Director of Eawag in Switzerland, to visit his laboratories for a semester. This visit introduced her to environmental scientists and engineers from around the globe and greatly broadened the scope of her research.
Men can speak up for gender equity without facing the same negative consequences that their female colleagues experience [13]. Challenging inappropriate comments or behavior is particularly important. “Visible advocacy” by men (i.e., “consequential action undertaken by a male colleague [to] advocate for a woman’s career and well-being in ways that are visible to others”) has “the potential for system wide discussion and change [14].”
Being one of very few – or even the only – women surrounded by men can make it hard for us to do our job. According to the Pew Research Center, “About half (48%) of women in STEM jobs who work with mostly men say their gender has made it harder for them to succeed in their job, compared with just 14% of other women in STEM [15].“ Women leaders in STEMM often find ourselves as the sole non-male members of committees that make key decisions about individual careers, institutional priorities, and even (inter)national initiatives and programs. In our experience as women leaders, having just one male ally in the room can allow our unique perspectives to be heard, appreciated, and eventually acted upon.
Some individual men are excellent speakers on the topic of gender equity in STEMM academics. While it may be frustrating that male speakers often attract a larger and more diverse audience than female speakers addressing the same topic, it is important that those audience members are in the room.
Non-binary individuals, especially those who have experienced gender expectations after gender transition, can provide compelling testimony of bias. One such individual reported hearing a comment that “his work is much better than his sister’s” where the ‘sister’ being referred to was actually the same person before transitioning [16].
Male HERI leaders can encourage their institutions to adopt the HeForShe Women’s Empowerment Principles: (1) establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality, (2) treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and nondiscrimination, (3) ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers, (4) promote education, training and professional development for women, (5) implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women, (6) promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy, and (7) measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality [11]. Male advocates and allies within HERI institutions can support such initiatives from their leadership.
How can women encourage this engagement?
Women can recruit and support male and non-binary allies in several ways. Arguments for gender diversity can be presented in the context of its benefits, including promoting fairness as an ethical responsibility, attracting and retaining talent, improving the work environment, and strengthening research quality [17]. This can help to alleviate the concerns of male and non-binary colleagues, which need to be acknowledged. In particular, a focus on gender diversity reflects the position of women as an under-represented majority, with the corresponding potential for substantial, numerical change in the make-up of academic leadership. Efforts to promote gender diversity offer synergies that can be leveraged to combat all forms of bias and discrimination.
As women leaders in academia, we can help to ensure that allies are: (1) identified, (2) hired when possible, (3) put in positions where they can make a difference and (4) not penalized in their career advancement because of their strong support for women. Women leaders need to listen to their male allies and learn from their unique, male perspectives on what arguments and actions are likely to help rather than hinder. We should remember to appreciate and thank our allies.
Open, honest, and respectful discussion is needed among women promoting gender diversity and their male and non-binary colleagues. Women can encourage and acknowledge engagement by advocates and allies while recognizing and respecting differences in values and opinions. Women should not expect ‘perfection’ on the part of advocates and allies, since all of us will fall short of perfect consistency in our statements and actions.
At the same time, women need to identify and take a stand against ‘gender washing’, in which claims of supporting gender equity are exaggerated or misleading [18]. Women may be (even if inadvertently) disadvantaged by programs or measures that claim to support them [19].
To promote further discussion and engagement, we are planning a series of profiles of male and non-binary advocates and allies. If you have a suggestion for a profile subject, please write to us at: epistimiblog@gmail.com.
Questions to stimulate further thought, discussion, and action:
· For women, are you aware of male colleagues acting as advocates and allies? Have you discussed this with them? Are you aware of ways in which you encourage (or discourage) such engagement?
· For men and non-binary people, are you active as an advocate or ally for gender diversity? Why or why not? What would encourage you to increase your engagement?
· For everyone, are you aware of the resources for advocates and allies? (For additional examples, see [20].) Do you find these useful?
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Notes and references cited
[1] Diehl, A. and Dzubinski, L.M. (2023) Glass Walls. Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back, Rowan & Littlefield, 289 pp.
[2] Hofstra, B., Kulkarni, V.V., Munoz-Najar Galvez, S., He, N., Jurafsky, D., and McFarland, D.A. (2020) The Diversity–Innovation Paradox in Science, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 117(17): 9284-9291 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1915378117; Love, H.B., Stephens, A., Fosdick, B.K., Tofany, E., and Fisher, E.R. (2022) The impact of gender diversity on scientific research teams: a need to broaden and accelerate future research. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 9, 386 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01389-w; Yang Y, Tian TY, Woodruff TK, Jones BF, Uzzi B. (2022) Gender-diverse teams produce more novel and higher-impact scientific ideas. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 119(36): e2200841119. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2200841119.
[3] UNESCO (2022) Knowledge-driven actions: transforming higher education for global sustainability, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380519.
[5] https://betterscience.ch/en/#/
[6] Cheng, E. (2020) x + y: A Mathematician’s Manifesto for Rethinking Gender, Profile Books, 260 pp.
[7] Heidt, A. (2023) A Nobel laureate claimed antimale discrimination. An early-career researcher called it out, Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.adj5116; For a video clip of Wüthrich’s remarks with commentary, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suHu-InJfsg.
[8] Wilcox, C. (2023) Women faculty feel ‘pushed’ from academia by poor workplace climate, Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.caredit.adl4899.
[9] https://www.heforshe.org/en
[10] UN Women (2022) HeForShe Alliance Impact Report 2022, https://www.heforshe.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/HeForShe%20Alliance%20Impact%20Report%202022_1.pdf
[11] UN Women (2023) HeForShe Alliance Impact Report 2023, https://www.heforshe.org/sites/default/files/2023-09/HeForShe%20Alliance%20Impact%20Report%202023_0.pdf
[12] Center for Women and Business (2017) Men as Allies: Engaging Men to Advance Women in the Workplace, https://wit.abcd.harvard.edu/files/wit/files/cwb_men_as_allies_research_report_spring_2017.pdf
[13] Johnson, S.K. and Hekman, D.R. (2016) Women and Minorities Are Penalized for Promoting Diversity, Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2016/03/women-and-minorities-are-penalized-for-promoting-diversity
[14] Warren, M.A. and Bordoloi, S.D. (2022) What Women Faculty Want in Allied Men, Inside Higher Ed, https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2022/03/10/what-exceptional-male-allies-do-support-female-faculty-opinion#
[15] Pew Research Center (2018) Women and Men in STEM Often at Odds Over Workplace Equity, https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/01/09/women-and-men-in-stem-often-at-odds-over-workplace-equity/
[16] Sieghart, M.A. (2021) The Authority Gap, Penguin Random House, 375 pp.
[17] European Institute for Gender Equality (2022) Gender Equality in Academia and Research, https://eige.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/20220795_pdf_mh0922276enn_002.pdf.
[18] Walters, R. (2021) Gender washing: seven kinds of marketing hypocrisy about empowering women, The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/gender-washing-seven-kinds-of-marketing-hypocrisy-about-empowering-women-162777.
[19] Täuber, S. (2020) Undoing gender in academia: Personal reflections on equal opportunity schemes, Journal of Management Studies, 57: 1718-1724, DOI: 10.1111/joms.12516.
[20] Examples (listed chronologically) include: (2017) https://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/male-professors-can-and-should-promote-gender-balance, (2021) https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/nine_tips_for_being_a_male_ally_at_work, (2021) https://theconversation.com/why-women-need-male-allies-in-the-workplace-and-why-fighting-everyday-sexism-enriches-men-too-164384, (2022) https://hbr.org/2022/08/men-stop-calling-yourselves-allies-act-like-one.