Good Guys

Progress toward gender equality depends on men, yet workplace efforts often ask women to change how they respond to inequality. Women carry an uneven load at home, with more housework and childcare, and at work they face smaller paychecks, their ideas being credited to others, blocked advancement, and harassment. Organizations are trying to fix these problems, but many of their programs treat the issue as belonging to women, which suggests that men, frequently the people with the most authority, can sit this out.

David G. Smith and W. Brad Johnson, both experts on gender at work, argue that men have an essential part to play. Their research found that 96 percent of women in organizations where men were purposefully involved in inclusion programs saw real movement toward equality, compared with 30 percent of women where men were not meaningfully involved.

The book is a practical, research-based guide for men who want to support women colleagues. It draws on first-person accounts from men and women and offers advice on where to begin. Its topics include dismantling entrenched gender stereotypes, recognizing and correcting unconscious bias, mentoring and promoting capable women, and building respectful, productive working relationships with them.