U of Minnesota Women's Center Involves Male Allies

D the last several years, an increasing number of male-identified students, staff and faculty have asked the Women’s Center at the University of Minnesota the same question: How can men become more involved as advocates for women’s equity on campus? There were few answers or resources to provide. Sporadic programs have educated men about patriarchy, issues facing women and transgender individuals, or effective ways to interrupt sexism in everyday interactions with friends, family, and colleagues—but it was far from enough. Leaders at the Women’s Center appreciated men’s growing interest in both women’s equity and reinventing masculinity, and wondered how to fill that void. Last spring I inquired with the Women’s Center about doing my Master of Social Work practicum with them. We connected about the need for men to take responsibility for their sexism and have access to resources on campus where they could learn to be allies for gender equity. However, I was cognizant of the identities I would bring with me to the Women’s Center. As a white, able-bodied, gay, male-identified person entering a unit that had been historically staffed by female-identified individuals, I’d face challenges that would require me to reflect on my privileges and how to negotiate my identity in certain spaces. But I was very excited about working with the amazing staff at the Center and creating pipelines and avenues for men to become gender equity advocates. In the beginning When I started in fall 2011, the staff and I began to look for strategies and opportunities to involve men in our work and for similar initiatives across campus. We knew that this task would not be easy. By the time they reach college, men have been inundated with messages that promote ideals of what it means to be “a man,” often by devaluing and exploiting women. Additionally, at a large university like Minnesota—with about 52,000 students and 20,500 employees—it’s difficult to connect and to partner with other students, staff, faculty or units in sustainable ways. We realized that we needed to talk to people—not just male-identified ones but also many of the women who participate in our programs. So we began by conducting a needs assessment to explore these research questions: Should the Women’s Center house programs designed to help men to become advocates for gender equity? In which kinds of programs are male-identified individuals interested in participating? What was needed? Our research design was a needs assessment with mixed methods, using an online survey format consisting of both quantitative and qualitative questions. A total of 424 people completed the online survey needs assessment, 131 of whom were male-identified. The results gave us some fascinating insights into our research questions: • Most respondents (49.8%) agreed that the Women’s Center should provide programming for men; women and people of other gender identities tended to agree more than men. Those who agreed indicated that men have a need for education around issues of sexism, patriarchy and masculinity that is currently unaddressed at the university. • Those who disagreed (22.5%) responded that they believed the Women’s Center should focus on programs specifically aimed towards women. Some also worried about our capacity and resources to run such programs for men without reducing current programs for women. • Participants agreed that cross-departmental and university-wide collaborations around male-specific programs were lacking—whether or not they thought the Women’s Center should house such programs—and many discussed the need for departments to provide social justice programming for men. • Men indicated that they found the most engaging types of programs around these topics to be speakers who discuss gender equity, and classes that focus on masculinity and male gender roles, and discussion groups that talk about gender. Men said that free incentives and relatable messaging were key marketing strategies to attract them to programs on gender equity. Practical implications This needs assessment has a number of implications for practices and policies within the Women’s Center: First, it showed that there is a stated need for men to be educated about the issues and challenges facing women today, including the ways that patriarchy harms people of all gender identities—though in profoundly different ways. Second, if the Women’s Center provides such outreach to men, it needs to be clear about why such programming is necessary and how it relates to its mission of advancing equity for women on campus. Finally, it illustrated the importance of collaborating with other departments across campus rather than trying to go it alone. To address the needs vocalized in our survey, the Women’s Center has created a number of programs that aim to increase collaborations among departments and to address the lack of anti-sexism education for men on campus: • We established a Men’s Advisory Board this spring as a way of connecting male-identified students, staff and faculty from across campus who are passionate about issues of social justice and gender equity. Modeling what several universities across the country Michael Grewe