What’s power got to do with it? Seeking gender-equity in organizations through male ally initiatives

Abstract

With the persistence of women’s limited advancement into senior leadership, organizations have employed an arsenal of diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies such as implicit bias training, intentional mentoring, and efforts to authentically support work-life policies. Male allyship has emerged as a recent strategy aimed at gender equity. Yet the outcomes of those efforts, usually measured by women’s advancement and/or retention, have often been disappointing. As we worked with male allies in organizations and witnessed the time, energy and commitment devoted to their work, our research question emerged: In what ways might organizational issues around power play a role in the outcomes of male ally initiatives?” Central to allyship is the asymmetry of power between advantaged and disadvantaged groups. This is evident in studies across disciplines, such as sociology, social justice and economics. Management scholars have identified power, specifically the requisite sharing of or fear of diminishment of, as a barrier to men participating in gender equity initiatives to advance women. In promoting gender equity, organizations are essentially seeking to distribute power more broadly to enable both men and women to fully contribute. We draw on the literature, and ongoing work with men and women engaged in male ally initiatives. We use two frames of the Bolman and Deal Organizational Model to understand the collision between well-meaning human resource efforts and the reality of power in the form of organizational politics. We argue that practitioners must understand the role that power plays in both advancing and hindering male ally endeavors. We conclude with recommendations for practitioners, male allies, and women in addressing power while building gender-equitable organizations.