A new report by Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge has concluded that men are the missing ingredient in achieving equality for women in the workplace.
The all female college spoke exclusively to male professionals, in the hope that they could obtain a better understanding of men’s attitude towards women at work.
From the testimony of 40 male professionals at different stages of their career in both the public and private sector, the authors of ‘Collaborating with Men’ found that incremental change will benefit women’s roles in the long-term.
Dr Jill Edwards, who led the study, said: “Many men involved in this research have suggested ideas to help their understanding of the problems women report, to improve relationships between male and female colleagues and help level the playing field for women.
“Men and women in middle and early career stages have a lot to get done. The best solutions will be those that adapt easily into the normal working day and positively improve the workplace culture for men as well as women.”
Suggested solutions to improve workplace culture included organising supportive meetings for men and women to air their issues, hiring of more female mentors and role models, an active review of company diversity led by a mixed gender team and for men to champion the suggestions of their female counterparts.
Dame Barbara Stocking, president of Murray Edwards College commented: “Men’s willingness to work beside women to change workplace culture is crucial to getting more women into senior positions. Yet, until now, men have rarely been asked whether they see behaviours as a problem for women and what they think can be done about it.”