In Focus: Diversity in the profession  

Avoiding male alienation when discussing diversity and inclusion

“If a woman was being constantly interrupted in meetings, an ally would coach her to speak up and have more presence.

“However, an inclusion leader would change the way a meeting is run."

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Explaining how these leaders are made, Freed said: “The first thing we recognise and understand is that the female lived experience in the workplace is poorer than the male lived experience.

“Women are more likely to be interrupted in the workplace, more likely to be given admin tasks, more likely to not have access to social networks etc.”

Building on this foundation, Freed said that Men for Inclusion make men aware of this gap and of their relative advantage and build a desire within men to move from being passive to inclusion leaders.

“We help them understand what it is they can do to become an inclusion leader and build the capacity to do it,”

tom.dunstan@ft.com