While women and non-binary people have collectively opened their souls to share their experiences in the #MeToo movement, it seems that men are taking all of that emotional vulnerability and radical honesty in the wrong direction. And this might seriously hurt women in the workplace. How? As shown in a new survey, conducted by both SurveyMonkey and LeanIn.Org, more men have felt uncomfortable mentoring women at work in light of MeToo.
The survey, which collected data from 8,000 adults in February and March of 2019, suggests that 60% of male managers feel uncomfortable working alone with women. In this case, this includes mentorship, one-on-one meetings, and socializing. According to this data, this is a 33% increase from last year.
Senior-level men were 12 times more likely to express reluctance about meeting with a junior-level woman compared to junior-level men. Senior-level men were also six times more likely to pause before going to a work-oriented dinner if the junior-level colleague was a woman rather than a man.
Overall, 36% of men went actively avoided socializing or mentoring women one-on-one because of how it might “look.” Ugh.
Obviously, this can have catastrophic impacts on a woman’s career.
A cultural shift around how men (and especially men in power or other supervisory roles) interact with women at work is the ideal result. Unfortunately, men simply skirting the issue and avoiding women just means that men will continue having those advancement opportunities. In many industries, mentorship and well-rounded personal relationships are the keys to promotions, travel, and other opportunities for advancement.
This point of view also places blame and responsibility on women. For example, false accusations of harassment and abuse are incredibly rare, including in the workplace. If men behave appropriately while mentoring or socializing with women at work, it’s unlikely they have anything to worry about.
Another possible solution is to shift social norms around workplace interactions. For instance, if men aren’t comfortable having one-on-one dinners with women, they should stop having them with other men, too. The idea here is that this reduces the chance of men advancing up the ladder due to these unfair opportunities for connection and guidance.
Of course, it’s difficult to discuss any of this without thinking of our archaic vice president. Are men starting to go the way of Mike Pence, outright refusing to meet alone with women? Back in 2002, Pence told The Hill that he “never eats alone with a woman other than his wife and that he won’t attend events featuring alcohol without her by his side,” which is bizarre and problematic all at once. More than anything, it’s definitely stepping in the wrong direction.
The MeToo movement should encourage men to think deeply and reflect on their behaviors and actions, investigate internal bias, and own up to systemic sexism and misogyny. Instead, it seems that too many men are going the easy route by avoiding women. Talk about poor leadership, huh?