Mobilising Men and Women in Support of Workplace Gender Equality

<p>The burden of achieving gender equality is typically placed on women limiting men's</p><p>involvement in the movement. In contrast to work focusing on women's experiences as targets of</p><p>discrimination we propose a solidarity-based approach positioning men and women as agents of</p><p>change which relies on two key processes: leadership - particularly leadership as a form of</p><p>influence based on shared identities among leaders and followers; and political solidarity as a way</p><p>to mobilise the silent majority (men) to work as allies beside a minority (women) and embrace</p><p>equality as a common cause for both groups.</p><p>This thesis examines how to mobilise a broader audience for gender equality and how</p><p>leadership and social identity dynamics affect that mobilisation. Three empirical programs</p><p>(totalling six experiments) investigate how best to increase women's and men's support for</p><p>equality. Key independent variables of interest are leader gender message framing and social</p><p>identity. Program 1 examines whether solidarity-based frames are more effective than traditional</p><p>frames which focus on either fixing (Experiment 1; N = 338) or blaming women (Experiment 2;</p><p>N = 336). Program 2 investigates how emphasising different levels of subgroup and</p><p>superordinate identities (Experiment 3; N = 251; Experiment 4; N = 319) affects men's</p><p>mobilisation. Program 3 investigates whether positioning men as being responsible for gender</p><p>inequality (Experiment 5; N = 258) or being fellow victims of gender inequality (Experiment 6;</p><p>N = 543) affects their mobilisation.</p>