One of the last glass ceilings has been shattered. Senator Kamala Harris is now Vice President Elect Kamala Harris. She will be the first woman to hold this office. In her speech on November 7, she paid 
homage to the women who worked to secure and protect the right to vote and the women still fighting to be heard as she said, “Tonight I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision to see what can be unburdened by what has been. And I stand on their shoulders.”
And to future generations, she said: “But while I may be the first woman in this office, I won’t be the last. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities. And to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others might not see you, simply because they’ve never seen it before. And we will applaud you every step of the way.”
The fight for women’s rights and equity is not one that women can wage alone. We need male allies. The good news is that we have many and probably many more that just need some encouragement.
I am seeing an increasing number of resources available on how men can be better allies and support women. Here are two recent articles worth sharing:
28 ways for men to be (better) allies with women – by Molly Gamble in Becker’s Hospital Review. This is a compilation of practical advice from both men and women that will lead you to even more resources.
4 Ways Men Can Support Their Female Colleagues – Remotely – by David G. Smith and W. Brad Johnson in Harvard Business Review. They point out the particular challenges that women face during the pandemic and the move to virtual work. They encourage men to:
- Include and sponsor women
- Ensure women’s voices are heard in meetings
- Practice transparency
- Evenly distribute virtual office housework
They summarize by saying, “We must decide to take personal action to evolve and improve ally-ship behaviors in remote workplaces so that talented women are retained and advanced. Anything short of this commitment will undermine recent gains in gender diversity. To achieve gender equity as we continue to live through this pandemic, the first step is to cultivate an awareness and understanding of the unique remote-work challenges that women confront now on a daily basis.”
A 2018 article by Smith and Johnson is worth reading as well – How Men Can Become Better Allies to Women. Since then they have co-authored two books – “Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace” and “Athena Rising: How and Why Men Should Mentor Women”.
I asked my youngest daughter who has two daughters – 5 and 7 years old – if they had a particular response to the fact that our next vice president is a woman. She said they have grown up feeling equal to the boys and she doesn’t want to be the one to teach them about sexism. Yet she knows as well as I do that they will face sexism in their lives. I wish it weren’t so. Am I optimistic for our young girls and future generations? Yes. But I am also a realist. So, I continue to advocate for women and encourage the men I know to be allies.
At StarBridge Advisors, we launched our C-change service to focus on developing women leaders in health IT. In addition to our one-on-one work with individuals, we work with leadership teams committed to focusing on a more supportive, equitable culture and work environment, leadership development and succession planning with a special emphasis on developing women leaders.
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