How Business Schools Are Part of the Solution Against Sexual Harassment

Next, the Forté Foundation developed a set of best practices and a toolkit to help anyone interested in organizing such a group. Aside from developing sensitivity to these issues, men join women for  conversations about tough topics, such as what constitutes harassment. The discussions have extended beyond gender gaps into other divides based on race, religion, ethnicity, and sexuality, says Elissa Sangster, executive director of the Forté Foundation in Austin, Texas.

Eight groups at business schools launched chapters of the Men as Allies program initially. Now there are 24. HBS, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University were among the first to have one of these groups.

What drew Sangster and the foundation into this movement was the idea that these men had initiated the activism themselves. They were willing to invest time and thought for the sake of their mothers, sisters, wives, and girlfriends. They saw things they did not like in the workplace, says Sangster, and they wanted to help cultivate change.

Many business schools rely heavily on case studies to teach students business frameworks. But some schools are using cases to bring issues around diversity and gender to life. For instance, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management used an exercise, Gender at Work, which is published by the Harvard Business School Press, as part of Lessons for Leaders: Gender Parity in the Workplace, a one-time, three-credit seminar that took place Oct. 23, 2017. During the Gender at Work portion of the course, students reflected on how gender intersects with work, according to an email from Kara F. Blackburn, senior lecturer at Sloan. The six categories on which they focus are job transitions, diversity and performance, compensation and promotion, bias and stereotypes, leadership, work/life balance, and relationships.

“The goal of the seminar includes: bringing the topic of gender equity into the academic curriculum; creating space for MBA students to examine and engage with the topic of gender equity and how it has impacted their personal and professional lives; exploring strategies for how, as leaders and managers, the MBA students can create more equitable work environments,” writes Blackburn in the email.  

Until now, Sangster adds, most people have been reactive to whatever injustice has fallen upon women. Even in the Weinstein story, people are stepping up to do the right thing now, after the damage has been done. On the contrary, the business schools, led by their students, are being proactive.

“They are educating future managers,” says Sangster. “They will have a voice and will be able to show their leadership in a unique way.”

Men in these groups and the women with whom they partner come away with awareness, sensitivity, and the language to speak knowledgeably about these issues, including sexual harassment. While having zero-tolerance policies for sexual harassment on the books is good, companies need to set a standard with action. That’s what these future business leaders can bring to the table.

“It is better to design and build a culture,” says Sangster, “that is proactively working toward inclusion and creating a safe environment from the start.”

Indeed, the business schools hope that they are on the right path now. But they recognize they still have a long way to go.

“This is a people issue, men and women together must continue to make the case for gender equity,” writes Blackburn in the email. “We need to continue to share the data to reflect the reality for women at work, implement structural changes to reduce the impact of bias in hiring, pay, and promotion, and address behaviors that perpetuate gender inequity at work. We must also recognize and address the distinct challenges at the intersection of gender and race in the workplace.”