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60% of male managers feel uncomfortable participating in work activities with women

I came across this article today which has some very alarming statistics in it. The article discusses the results of a survey from LeanIn.org which found that senior-level men say they are:

12 times more likely to be hesitant about one-on-one meetings with a junior woman than they are a junior man

9 times more likely to be hesitant to travel with a junior woman for work than a junior man, and

6 times more likely to be hesitant to have a work dinner with a junior woman than a junior man.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/17/60percent-of-male-managers-now-say-theyre-uncomfortable-mentoring-women.html

The article discusses these findings in relation to being a possible consequence of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, which they imply may have had a negative impact on relationships between men and women at work. This is countered by suggestions that any man who doesn’t want to have work dinners with a woman should also not have work dinners with a man. Instead, they should have group dinners so that everyone is included. But at a group dinner, is it harder to be heard if you have a new idea you want to pitch or have some personal thoughts you want to discuss?

Has the workplace changed following the #MeToo and Time's Up movements? Are men more wary of coming across in the wrong way? And is this affecting women's access to mentorship programmes or other opportunities?

I would be interested to know if anyone here has felt reluctant to have one-to-one meetings, work dinners or make travel arrangements with colleagues/managers/employees of the opposite sex? Do you feel more comfortable with colleagues of the same gender or is it irrelevant to you? Or does it depend on the relative seniority of the people involved?

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0 Amber Thomas over 4 years ago

Lisa Miles:

To be honest Amber, I can completely understand why men are reluctant to be in any kind of 121 environment with a woman these days given the amount of bad press lately!

But do you think it depends on the age or the seniority of the people involved? Would a junior man feel as hesitant about having a work dinner with their female boss? I doubt it. Would a 50 year old male manager feel more comfortable having a work dinner with a 50 year old female employee than they would an 18 year old female employee? Quite possibly. They would still be in a 1-2-1 situation, but the balance of power would arguably be different in either of these situations.

I really can't blame them for not wanting to put themselves in the line of fire or leave themselves open for accusations of wrong doing.

The flip side of this argument is a junior female employee refusing to have a 1-2-1 with her male manager because she doesn't want to be in a situation in which wrong doing could happen. But at work, a junior person does not have the luxury of refusing a meeting, whereas a senior employee does. We all have responsibilities at work that are external to our personal attributes. Surely if you are a manager, one of the duties in your job description is to know what your employees are doing and that involves having catch-ups with your staff (male and female). If you are an employee, you have a duty to update your boss on the projects you are working on.

If these figures are true and reflective of work-based attitudes, then perhaps employers need to put other systems in place, for example having break out spaces in open plan offices where people can meet, rather than having to go into a meeting room with a closed door. But I do agree with the article insofar as if a manager doesn't want to have a 1-2-1 with a female employee, he should be consistent with his male employees and find another way to keep abreast of what's going on in his team (eg. written reports, phone calls etc.). I don't know what the work-around would be for travel situations! If you need to travel for work, you need to travel for work, no?
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0 Amber Thomas over 4 years ago

Lisa Miles:

To be honest Amber, I can completely understand why men are reluctant to be in any kind of 121 environment with a woman these days given the amount of bad press lately!

But do you think it depends on the age or the seniority of the people involved? Would a junior man feel as hesitant about having a work dinner with their female boss? I doubt it. Would a 50 year old male manager feel more comfortable having a work dinner with a 50 year old female employee than they would an 18 year old female employee? Quite possibly. They would still be in a 1-2-1 situation, but the balance of power would arguably be different in either of these situations.

I really can't blame them for not wanting to put themselves in the line of fire or leave themselves open for accusations of wrong doing.

The flip side of this argument is a junior female employee refusing to have a 1-2-1 with her male manager because she doesn't want to be in a situation in which wrong doing could happen. But at work, a junior person does not have the luxury of refusing a meeting, whereas a senior employee does. We all have responsibilities at work that are external to our personal attributes. Surely if you are a manager, one of the duties in your job description is to know what your employees are doing and that involves having catch-ups with your staff (male and female). If you are an employee, you have a duty to update your boss on the projects you are working on.

If these figures are true and reflective of work-based attitudes, then perhaps employers need to put other systems in place, for example having break out spaces in open plan offices where people can meet, rather than having to go into a meeting room with a closed door. But I do agree with the article insofar as if a manager doesn't want to have a 1-2-1 with a female employee, he should be consistent with his male employees and find another way to keep abreast of what's going on in his team (eg. written reports, phone calls etc.). I don't know what the work-around would be for travel situations! If you need to travel for work, you need to travel for work, no?
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60% of male managers feel uncomfortable participating in work activities with women

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