3 Ways Men Can Help Close the Gender Gap

I recently read an article on Entrepreneur about how the two female founders of Witchsy created a fake male co-founder to fight sexism. At the same time I recently saw the World Economic Forum’s report on The Global Gender Gap Report which found that the gender gap will not be closed for another 170 years. That means my great great great great granddaughter may get the same pay as a man in 2186. How can that be possible?

As the founder of Monstapreneur, my mission is to enable other entrepreneurs to find their distinct purpose and use that in a way that creates value. Not just personal value but economic value that is scalable and profitable. In my years working as an entrepreneur, I realized how many men I usually work with. Despite knowing many female entrepreneurs, it still seems difficult to connect with them but I know how crucial their diverse perspectives are to our success.

So what am I missing? What am I doing wrong that I’m not connecting with women in a way that can help bridge this terrible gender gap?

To answer some of my questions I chatted with Rachel Braunstein, a Partner Channel Marketing Manager at Microsoft who also created a community of women called Rhea. Rhea is a group of 'ladybosses that support each other to become more confident and find ways to work alongside men to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce'. Rachel’s perspectives from a corporate tech company and her passion for women, made me realize 3 things we need to do better to bridge the gender gap:

1)   Know when we have unconscious biases and do something to fight past it

Rachel spoke about many instances as a women in tech where the room was filled with men and where men have made inappropriate comments. From blowing kisses to assuming Rachel only wanted to speak about hair and makeup, many men have lacked the awareness and discipline to be respectful. I would hate for my daughter to experience this kind of sexism. As men we need to take a second and look around the room when women are outnumbered 10:1 and make an extra effort to make them feel welcome. Look at your invite lists to major events. Look at the amount of people your interviewing and hiring. Be honest with yourself and do something to include more women.

2)   Create safe zones for open discussions with her

There are many times when our boys club is underway, and as men we are talking about sports, beer and hunting says Rachel. Topics that many women can’t relate to. We need to make time for 1:1 lunches and smaller groups with men and women, so that we can find shared experiences together. Rachel mentioned that she understands that men can be worried about taking a female coworker, employee, or friend out, in fear that the meet up may be misconstrued. But she said to stop thinking about it, and we still need to do it. Don’t take the same girl out every time or create events like cooking or movies that both genders can relate to. Those safe zones are crucial for her to open up, feel more confident, and ultimately be successful.

3)   Celebrate her successes openly and frequently

Rachel said that the reality is many women are self-conscious and have a lot of self doubt. They do make decisions differently and at times have different fears and pressures than men do. When a manager can support her success and give her the confidence to progress in her career, the outcome can be huge. Men hold most of the powerful positions in corporate America especially when it comes to venture capital funding, so we need to support women in every way possible. Just saying great job or recommending her, can change the outcome for a woman’s entire life.

So what do you say guys, we have daughters, wives, mothers, and friends that are women in our lives and I want to hear your thoughts.

Thank you for taking the time and look forward to connecting with you more. Please click on any of the links to follow me on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Joshua B Lee