Why engaging men is critical to driving sustainable change in workplace gender equity

For many workplaces making progress on gender equity, the question remains of how to bring everyone into the effort.  Engaging men in gender equity is emerging as a key component in creating lasting change. When men lead as active allies, gender equity stops being a “women’s issue” and becomes a shared responsibility—one that transforms workplace culture and accelerates progress and creating fairer workplaces for everyone.

That’s why People Measures and The 100% Project partnered to host a webinar exploring how men can play a meaningful role in advancing inclusion. We discussed what drives men to engage, what holds them back, and how organisations can support genuine, sustained allyship.

About the webinar

On 23 October 2025, People Measures and The 100% Project co-hosted a webinar exploring the role of men in creating gender equity at work.

Moderated by journalist, author, and Walkley Award winner Catherine Fox, the conversation brought together leaders who have shifted their thinking and practice around inclusion:

• Justin Untersteiner, CEO, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

• Mark Morris, Director, The 100% Project

• Paul Starr, Director, People Measures

The panel discussed how to overcome barriers that prevent men from getting involved, the impact of visible allyship, and the practical actions that make a real difference in workplaces striving for equity.

Watch the recording

If you missed the live discussion, you can watch the full recording below:

Key take-aways

• Gender equity is not a zero-sum game. Equity expands when it is shared, and fairer workplaces benefit everyone.
• We need men to be vocal, visible, and values-based. They can support gender equity by modelling balance, calling in those around them and calling out inequity.
• Diversity isn’t just an economic issue. It’s a human one.
• Silence is loud. Not speaking up feeds bias, and progress needs people willing to embrace the uncomfortable and speak up.

Questions we didn’t get time to answer

Audience engagement during the session was outstanding. So much so that not every question could be answered live. Our moderator and panel members have since taken the time to respond in detail to the questions submitted. You can read their responses below.

 Question: “I do a lot of work on women’s empowerment and financial literacy and constantly come up against, “when will men’s day be?” as mentioned on the panel. I’m really keen to understand more ways, like the meeting example that was given, that can help us overcome this and change the way men who make these comments think.”

Responses

   Mark Morris

This is a great question and great timing with International Men’s Day approaching soon on 19 November with this year’s theme being “supporting men and boys”.

I think the best way to engage staff in workplaces on any day like International Women’s Day, International Men’s Day, or similar, is to think about the ‘why’ and the goals. If it feels tokenistic then it probably is. Make a connection to your organisation’s values and strategic goals. Demonstrate through action that it’s important to your workplace and why. Accept that behaviour change is incremental and takes time. And understand that not all men are the same, so it’s not as simple as “how can I engage men”.

Like any population consider groups and cohorts. Respect Victoria and Jesuit Social Services described 7 different cohorts of men in developing strategies to engage and change behaviour. And like any change management initiative, consider the WIIFM (What’s In IT For Me?) from their perspective. Why should they care? What motivates your audience? If you think deeply and authentically you have a much greater chance of success.

   Paul Starr

Agree with all Mark has said above, and my approach to this has changed for the better over the last 10 years. Previously I would have responded by pointing out the inequities women still face and that when those inequities are removed our work is done, and we don’t need to have an IWD.

But in hindsight that’s not helpful. I think a much more positive approach, as Mark says, is to be clear about the ‘why’ of any work you are doing in the DEI space. What sort of organisation, community, and society are we hoping to build, and how?

At the same time, I think it’s also important to acknowledge that men can feel ‘left out’ and that marking men’s day (or other male initiatives) can be important – and likely with a different focus (for example on suicide prevention, men’s health issues etc.).

   Catherine Fox

Because IWD draws attention to the barriers women still face – it’s women who still get paid less, are less likely to be leaders, and face high levels of domestic violence. And women aren’t a minority they are half the population. IWD is a chance to look at what needs to change and improve outcomes for women and men. And by the way, there is an International Men’s Day on 19 November.

   Justin Untersteiner

I have concerns that some men think it is ok to make such a statement – I would have hoped we have moved on further than that by now.

As noted above, there is an enormous amount of evidence that shows objectively the inequity that still exists between men and women in the workplace. However, as pointed out, there is an opportunity to remind those who have concerns that we should be, and do, celebrate a number of key events/days all aimed at supporting education and inclusion for any person in the workplace.

We should be encouraging curiosity and engagement of these events to better educate those who may have a blinkered view of the world.

Question: “If you could change any societal system levers to address the issue of gender equity and safety what would they be?”

Responses

   Mark Morris

For me it would have to be schools and early childhood education. If we could ensure that gender equity and safety were embedded principles in every school and childcare centre, this would go a long way to proactive prevention and positive culture change across our society.

At the moment, the focus on gender equity and safety is significantly less in private schools, which make up 35% of our schools, and our public schools are so under-resourced they can barely survive.

Many childcare centres also continue to enforce entrenched gender stereotypes through not only for example having gendered toys or games but also assuming the mother is the primary contact perpetuates gender inequity in parenting roles. An environment in which kids cannot feel comfortable to be themselves or that they must conform to a stereotype is not inclusive and is not psychologically safe.

These foundational influences impact how children grow and move into the workforce and their own parenting choices.

By embedding gender equity in schools as workplaces we could also ensure equity in leadership and reduction of the gender pay gap. For more information, see the recent article from The 100% Project.

   Paul Starr

Before I even read Mark’s response my answer was education. Instilling in our children values such as respect for the individual, acceptance and celebration of difference and diversity, the right for boys -and girls- to have the same opportunities etc. is critical.

The challenge is if they are hearing contradicting messages at home that can get very tricky. So, there’s also something about educating adults. The Victorian Governments recent advertising campaigns regarding domestic violence are a good example of this.

   Catherine Fox

Value unpaid work (including in GDP) and distribute it fairly.

   Justin Untersteiner

As mentioned above, we need to intervene in the systems which shape early development of our kids.

It can be very difficult to change the perceptions of someone who has had their values shaped in a particular way for 50 or 60 years – however our kids are sponges and can be supported to have diverse and contemporary views. For example, my own children have a great deal of understanding and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and history. We talk about these cultures at home, but they are reinforced and taught at their public primary school – this is very different to when I was in school.

Already I am seeing the positive impact on how this education is shaping their views on Australia and the First Peoples.

Question: “When initiatives supporting women’s health (like menopause leave) are introduced, they can sometimes be misunderstood as preferential rather than equitable. How can leaders respond to male employees who question the fairness of these policies and help them see the bigger picture of inclusion and workplace sustainability?”

   Mark Morris

When I hear of cases like this I wonder if people understand that a 1-size fits all approach isn’t actually fair. So fairness and equality aren’t the same. And perspectives like this often come from a place of ignorance or a lack of understanding, so the goal should be to educate and help everyone understand the why.

Ideally the why will link directly to your organisational values and/or strategic goals which then help you to explain why.

This reminds me of our (The 100% Project) study “Navigating Loss: Understanding the impact of psychological safety on men’s attitudes towards gender quotas” that digs into this in detail to help us understand why some people feel this way.

Industries in which the leadership gender imbalance is greater tend to show a higher trend of pushback on strategies toward equity due to the perceived loss. Again here, accept that it may not be all men who are pushing back, as I find strategies that group all men together in 1 bucket tend to fail. Which are the groups where you’re seeing or expecting the push back? In implementing this change have you completed a stakeholder impact analysis?

I recommend being proactive as much as possible to anticipate and address issues before they arise. It’ll never be perfect, but it’ll help. Again think about the WIIFM, and use the change as an opportunity to educate and build empathy, using facts, figures, real stories, evidence and research to support your why.

   Catherine Fox

It’s not about favoritism but flexibility and fairness. Menopause leave is actually a way of keeping women attached to the workplace instead of taking early retirement which wastes their talent and experience and can have a major impact on their retirement savings. Paternity leave is recognising the need for men to have time off for fatherhood but we don’t hear objections (usually) from men who are not parents.

   Justin Untersteiner

We should start from a place that we want everyone to ‘belong’ and feel safe in the workplace. Our workforce is diverse as it is a representation of the Australian community, and therefore policies will be tailored to support everyone.

Having a one size fits all policy is not equitable as our people are coming from different backgrounds, experiences and have different attributes. A contemporary organisation will acknowledge and promote this.

Question: “While people like Michael [Flood] certainly do a lot in all domains – online and offline – I’m still surprised by the low-levels of allyship at our most senior levels online (e.g. LinkedIn). Why aren’t we seeing more senior male leaders speaking up and role modelling/amplifying good behaviours online, not just in the workplace?

It feels like whenever there are conversations about equity and empowerment in the workplace online, they’re often either led by women, or generate comments from women (much like your presentations by the sound of it, Catherine!). What’s holding these leaders back, and how can we change this?”

Responses

   Mark Morris

In my opinion, there is no ‘one thing’ holding male leaders back from stepping in and speaking up in advocating for equity.

Like what has been mentioned in other responses both during and after the webinar, all men aren’t the same, all male leaders aren’t the same, and all workplaces aren’t the same. So, any approach must be somewhat tailored and bespoke to the circumstances but also the goals.

For male leaders to activate there needs to be enabling factors and some examples to follow. Those examples might be outside the organisation but they could be celebrated within.

Again, I come back to ensuring alignment with values and strategic goals otherwise initiatives can feel tokenistic and unauthentic and these often fail. If you want to engage more men on these topics of equity and if you want more male leaders advocating for equity, set those as goals, which might be long term, depending on your starting point.

And think about a multi-faceted approach for different types of men, for example, dads and male caregivers are often an easy choice to start with. Breaking Dad, another of The 100% Project’s research initiatives focused on the gender equity of parental leave, but included a variety of enabling issues as to how you set dads up to be equitable caregivers by your policies and ways of working.

   Paul Starr

I think that’s often a deep and personal question for individual men. I think a key issue is that many men experience or are scared they will experience a ‘loss’ if they speak up for women. That ‘loss’ can be their perceived masculinity being questioned (by peers), or ridicule for being ‘soft’ (by other men – or often women).

At its core is a risk to your sense of ‘belonging’ that is hard to break. But I think as Justin discussed in the webinar the avalanche of vocal, public criticism when the US political leadership connected Tylenol with Autism was a great example. Once enough voices speak up about something it seems to have an exponential effect on other people speaking up – because there’s ‘safety’ in numbers and the risk of not belonging is clearly mitigated.

So, there’s something about who are the powerful men who can be encouraged to speak up – as once their voices are in so many other men will find it easier to also contribute.

   Catherine Fox

I think there’s two key reasons: either they don’t really see the need to change anything and think women have every opportunity already (so if they are not getting the same outcomes as men then it’s their fault); or they are simply too concerned about backlash from peers, employees, customers and the market to stick their neck out. Or a bit of both.

   Justin Untersteiner

As Mark has called out, the research shown in Breaking Dad highlights the barriers which prevent or deter men from taking on a greater role at home. We want to see more men breaking the social barrier that creates traditional pigeonhole placement for gender roles and stereotypes. And the more we do this, the more other men will feel safe to do the same.

I believe this is one (of many) levers that will see more men playing an active (and public) role in speaking to gender equity issues.

Question: “In a time when systemic suppression of women appears to be resurfacing globally, how can we embed gender equity into education from the earliest stages, so that future generations grow up with the tools to challenge inequality rather than perpetuate it?”

Responses

   Mark Morris

I’ll respond to this from 3 perspectives; a system level, organisational level, and an individual level.

At a system level, if we care about gender equity in Australian society, in workplaces, in families and communities, then equity cannot be optional, and must be a minimum requirement. To enable this, we need updates to legislation, governance, and reporting, but we also need to continue to educate and articulate the why, otherwise some people won’t engage or will resist. In schools for example, currently, private schools are not required to enable gender equity, and in fact many enforce rigid gender stereotypes on students and staff. This is enabled by habit, fixed mindedness and change resistance (the way we’ve always done things), but also by a series of legislative and governance exemptions where private schools are not held to the same high standards on equity and inclusion that public schools are.

So, at a school level, we need more schools stepping up to embed gender equity as a part of a whole-of-school approach including positive duty, respectful relationships, coercive control, consent and broader human rights. Schools shouldn’t wait until they have to, and there are plenty of examples of private schools following the public sector leadership not because they have to, but because it’s the right thing to do.

And at an individual level, if we as parents, caregivers and consumers of education value gender equity then we must demand this of our systems and institutions by asking schools to update their policies, or simply not supporting businesses that don’t demonstrate a commitment to Australian values of equity and inclusion. Over time, if we all do something, we will shift the culture.

   Catherine Fox

Interventions in primary education pays big dividends. Research shows that role modelling and stories that feature women in non-stereotypical jobs, ensuring fair allocation of classroom tasks, and there are girls and boys appointed as prefects etc. are all helpful. The good news is that this kind of education and socialising in formative years can have lifelong impact.

Question: “I appreciate the commitment behind what you have each shared. I have been conflicted around speaking about gender equality – specifically, “how can I be inclusive of men when speaking about gender equality” and feel today, I can hear men’s inclusion in this conversation.”

Responses

   Mark Morris

For me I think this comes back to my Oprah reference and that equity isn’t a zero-sum game. With greater equity, everyone wins, and no one loses, but there can be perceived loss. There can be fear. There can be change resistance. And I think even though in this event conversation we’ve been focused on engaging men specifically, encouraging men to activate and advocate for equity, the best initiatives do that as a part of an even broader strategic mission of equity for everyone, aiming to engage and involve everyone, regardless of gender.

I find the most polarising initiatives are those that purely focus on men alone or women alone, for example, because ultimately in efforts like that, some people feel excluded. So if in your workplace you’re concerned about men not feeling included or even feeling excluded then my advice would be to structure your strategic initiative around equity for everyone, but within that you might need specific actions to engage men differently, and again, not all men are the same, so you’ll need different tactics for different types of men.

When speaking about gender equity I encourage people not to blame or segregate but come from a place of kindness and genuinely trying to educate and understand. By understanding others’ perspectives not only can we achieve better outcomes, but we can tailor approaches that everyone can engage with. Think about empathy, think about the WIIFM and think about the value-add, for everyone.

   Catherine Fox

I always mention the impact of paternity leave when I talk about this. So important to show that breaking down stereotypes has a huge upside for men too.

   Justin Untersteiner

There is a book that I have read to my kids many times called ‘How to be a lion’ by Ed Vere. It’s about a lion who becomes friends with a duck due to their love of poetry amongst other things. The lion is regularly reminded by the pride that lions must eat ducks. The Lion and the duck write a poem to explain to the pride that there is not just one way to see the world and that each individual is different (and therefore lions can be a friend of a duck). The book ends by emphasising the power of words. I have always believed in the power of our words as they provide the opportunity to plant doubt in long held views, promote critical thought, and create allyship. Having men and women involved in discussions about gender inequity is absolutely critical.

Question: “I reflect that Justin said both that we need to be vocal even if it’s just a few voices, and also that the really entrenched may not move and it’s more bang for buck to work on the majority of more flexible people. So, we need to do both at once, surely?”

Responses

   Mark Morris

From a change management perspective yes, focus your energy on the moveable middle, because the champions are already there and leading the way, and if you focus on the resistors then you’ll use 90% of your energy on 10% of the people and even then, you might only change 10% of mindsets.

But by shifting where the median and average perspectives sit in your workforce spectrum, the moveable middle will also influence and drag up some of your resistors. You might always have 10% of your workforce resisting but where they are on an equity maturity spectrum can shift if you shift the moveable middle.

Some might opt out or move on over time, which is why I recommend organisations understand their values and strategies and ensure that every aspect of policy and practice is aligned. If your workplace behaviours aren’t aligned to your values, then your values are meaningless. Once they are, also ensure that every new hire represents where you want to take your culture, so over time, you’re building a workforce that will lift your culture, not hold it back.

And yes, there is no silver bullet, so I would even go further than “both”, broader than simply “top-down + bottom-up”, because the most effective transformations are driven by multi-faceted approaches that include everything from quick wins to long term goals.

   Paul Starr

Yes, I agree with Mark

   Catherine Fox

You need leaders to speak up and also to put particular effort into addressing the malleable middle where you have more chance of changing minds.

   Justin Untersteiner

We must speak up, we must be persistent and we must call out the wrong behavior. However we should recognise where we can have the broadest impact – and sometimes this isn’t over investing in the smaller group who have extreme and entrenched views. This can be exhausting, and at times come at the opportunity cost of educating and supporting many others to change.

Continue the conversation

If you’re working through a workplace gender equity challenge or looking to strengthen how male leaders engage with equity, get in touch — we’d love to have a conversation.

About The 100% Project

Since 2008, The 100% Project has been driving gender equality in leadership across Australia . They are a not-for-profit organisation that equips leaders and organisations with evidence-based tools to understand gender inequity, shift mindsets and drive meaningful change. Their research is both rigorous and practical, empowering those in positions of influence to act. You can find out more about the excellent work of The 100% Project on their website.