Ep. 267 The Importance of Men as Allies for Women in the Workplace

I always had female bosses, and I never had problems with them; I learned a lot from them and had a great workplace relationship. Do I think there are machismo, sexism, and sexual harassment in the workplace? I do.

Did you know that a 2018 study revealed that 77% of men didn’t see harassment as a problem? According to the authors’ Brad Johnson and David G. Smith, many men claim to support gender inclusion and equity, but at the same time, struggle to see gender discrimination and harassment in their day-to-day work. Male Allyship Is About Paying Attention ~Harvard Business Review, Feb. 2021

My guest today is David Smith, an Associate Professor of Sociology in the College of Leadership and Ethics at the United States Naval War College and co-author of the books «Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace» and «Athena Rising: How and Why Men Should Mentor Women.»

In this episode, David Smith and I talked about male allyship, why men should be better allies to women in the workplace, what fields are more challenging, and how important it is to earn our colleagues’ trust.


David Smith, PhD, is co-author of the book, Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace and Associate Professor of Sociology in the College of Leadership and Ethics at the U.S. Naval War College. A former Navy pilot, Dr. Smith led diverse organizations of women and men culminating in command of a squadron in combat and flew more than 3,000 hours over 30 years including combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a sociologist trained in military sociology and social psychology, he focuses his research in gender, work, and family issues including gender bias in performance evaluations, dual career families, military families, women in the military, and retention of women. He is the co-author of Athena Rising: How and Why Men Should Mentor Women and numerous journal articles and book chapters that focus on gender and the workplace.

Learn more about David Smith at www.davidsmithphd.com and www.workplaceallies.com


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