Diglidis, Julia; Feenstra, Jeltje F; Rosenberg, Caroline; Harris, Gillian; Stevenson, Kathryn

In 2024, the benefits of gender-balanced leadership are generally understood and recognised by organisations, government at all levels, and many leaders. However, despite efforts to achieve better representation and equity in the workplace, barriers continue to persist that prevent Australian organisations achieving gender parity in senior positions.
In January 2023, The 100% Project published a White Paper titled ‘Men and Gender Quotas: What’s loss got to do with it?’. This paper outlined research which found that men are less likely to support gender quotas, and may in fact actively resist them, when they associate gender quotas with loss of meritocracy and loss of leadership identity.

Given men’s power and authority within organisations, they have a critical role to play in the battle for gender equity and equality, and their potential resistance to gender equity initiatives such as gender quotas is not helpful. Yet, this resistance is not well understood and we lack understanding of how men can best be supported to take up a champion role.

Our 2024 research, and the focus of this workshop, extends upon the findings of the 2023 research, by investigating psychological safety as a potential strategy to alleviate resistance towards quotas. Previous research suggests that aspects of psychological safety may assist individuals to explore new possibilities, experiment with different approaches, and collaborate effectively, while also being more willing to step into vulnerable conversations, such as what is required when discussing feelings of loss.

The 2024 study found support for our previous research, and in addition, showed that when men experience high levels of loss of leadership identity but are also in an environment that is psychologically safe they are less likely to resist gender quotas.
This workshop combines research with application; research and findings are discussed, and implications of the results for organisations are examined. To ensure our findings are translated into practical actions for workplaces, and indeed take a step toward workplace transformation, we will take workshop attendees through a series of practical recommendations and helpful strategies that any leader (regardless of gender) can utilise when engaging in conversations about quotas or gender equality in the workplace, and ultimately assist in making real change.

All workshop presenters/facilitators were directly involved with the research conducted by The 100% Project and are also all organisational psychologists in organisations, which means they are focused on research that can be translated into immediate applicability.

1. Understand the role of loss in enhancing or impeding the success of gender DEI initiatives (with specific focus on quotas)
2. Unpack the mitigating influence of psychological safety on men’s response to gender quotas
3. Share a range of practical strategies leaders can utilise in the workplace to reduce resistance to gender diversity initiatives and increase psychological safety.