1. Practical Ways to Change Workplace Culture
Athena SWAN Research Institutes
March 2018

2. Why do we need to change workplace culture?
Women are still the minority group in positions of power
To have women more equally represented at the top means addressing barriers to women’s progression through the middle
Men and women need to work together to achieve gender balance

3. Workplace culture perceived barrier to career progress
38%
Factors attributed to workplace culture
22%
Factors attributed to balancing work and family life
2014 Murray Edwards College survey of almost 1,000 alumnae
Murray Edwards College: Collaborating with men for a more inclusive workplace culture

4. Sir Philip Hampton, Chair. Hampton Alexander review, 2017
“There should be an expectation in business that…the ‘best’ person gets the job. Given the disproportionate number of men to women in senior roles business should question the soundness of their meritocracies”
Sir Philip Hampton, Chair. Hampton Alexander review, 2017
Too few women get to the top and there is a “permafrost” in the mid-tier where women do not progress or they leave the [financial] sector. This is not just about childcare. Women are leaving because the culture isn’t right.
Virgin Money Empowering Productivity 2016
Murray Edwards College: Collaborating with men for a more inclusive workplace culture

5. Benefits for men Better relationships Involved fatherhood
Inclusive environments influence engagement
Benefits for men
Health
benefits
Engagement correlates with creativity and productivity
Murray Edwards College: Collaborating with men for a more inclusive workplace culture

6. 6 examples of workplace culture problems
Informal networks that are vital to accessing opportunities tend to be male-dominated
When male and female managers behave in the same way women are often more negatively judged
Benevolent Sexism
Well motivated men can ‘kill careers with kindness’
Double standards in the way potential and performance is assessed
Women are interrupted in meetings and presentations far more than men – which means women are less likely to be credited for the contribution they make
Women have less access than men to powerful sponsors of career opportunity
Murray Edwards College: Collaborating with men for a more inclusive workplace culture

7. MEC Research Process
Workshops with 40 men – 34 in middle management or early career
Mixed gender conference
Survey and workshops now running in 15 organisations
Why gender balance is still a problem and how to take action

8. 40% 81% of women feel they are judged unfairly of men
Double standards: Women are judged more negatively when they behave in the same way as men
40%
of women feel they are judged unfairly
81%
of men
think this rarely happens to women
Aggregated data from 4 science institutes – 337 men and 445 women

9. Informal networks influence opportunities but tend to be male dominated
57%
of women report that informal networks in their organisation are male-dominated
56%
of men report that informal networks in their organisation are male-dominated
Aggregated data from 4 science institutes – 337 men and 445 women

10. reported they had not noticed the issue
Informal networks influence opportunities but tend to be male dominated
75%
of senior women report that informal networks in their organisation are male-dominated
81%
of men
reported they had not noticed the issue
Data from a pubic sector organisation where women are in the majority and are well represented at the top

11. Murray Edwards College: Collaborating with men for a more inclusive workplace culture

12. Women report they are interrupted and talked over by men in meetings
100%
of women report they are occasionally (86%) or often (14%) interrupted by men
33%
of men
think this occasionally happens to women
53%
of men say they are occasionally interrupted in meetings
STEM company – survey response rate more than 70% of team

13. Murray Edwards College: Collaborating with men for a more inclusive workplace culture

14. Reverse Mentoring MEC Survey and Workshop
Ideas about how to tackle barriers to progression by merit
Reverse Mentoring MEC Survey and Workshop

15. Challenging double standards Amplification Tips on how to run a meeting more effectively & inclusively

16. Running Inclusive Meetings Tips
Conduct
Objectives
Notify
Value
Environment
Note
Evaluate

17. Informal Gender Mixed Networking Tips
Men mentor women
Fun social events that are inclusive
New joiners: coffee with 10 people in their first 3 months
Rules about eating only in social spaces
Pair up – ‘Take 2’; attend formal networking events together

19. Invitation to get involved
Male and Female survey to benchmark WPC issues Define your issues and take action Credited as a case study in our next research report