As part of the on allyship, I led a panel that looked at efforts to redefine leadership through the lens of allyship. The online webinar event, , sponsored by 成人VR视频, discussed our research report, , at length. The panel also included speakers from academia, such as聽 from Harvard Law School,聽 from Stanford Law School,聽Sanjay Sarma from MIT, and聽 of the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law.

Key highlights from the conversation included:

• • • • A call for a new theoretical understanding of equality in the current state of the world where three crises 鈥� the pandemic, the economic downturn, and the spotlight on systemic inequality 鈥� have converged, according to Wilkins. More specifically, the underlying social and institutional mechanisms that have been relied on in the past won鈥檛 work now because new driving factors such as global digitization and rise of globalization are forcing people to re-think current solution paradigms. (I also would like to add a fourth crisis to the three mentioned, that of a crisis of leadership.)

• • The reconsideration of harmful language used every day in Corporate America that negatively perpetuates and normalizes these terms. For example, MIT鈥檚 Sarma said that master-slave labels that are widely used in computing and other technical contexts to refer to situations where one process or entity controls another, have a damaging effect when viewed through a 21^st century lens of equity and inclusion.

• • The need to increase allyship among white men to advocate for change. Penn Law鈥檚 Ruger observed that white men, in particular, have been allowed to abdicate this responsibility for far too long. This has meant that the responsibility for allyship has been unequally distributed with the burden of advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion primarily falling on women, people of color, and individuals from other diverse communities. Further, I pointed out that often white men are valorized for being champions of diversity and have received external recognition and validation for this effort while women of color are often sidelined for making it their life鈥檚 work.

Upstander actions & intersectional allyship

As part of this event, intergenerational speakers 鈥� including members from the Penn Law research team, interviewees who participate in the research, and Millennial and Gen X lawyers 鈥� discussed the need for expanded, . (All of the speakers demonstrated the intersectional approaches to allyship, for example, being members of the LGBTQ community, women of color, and colleagues with a disability.)

Some key points included:

Being allies to gender nonconforming individuals 鈥� , who is Co-Chair of the Men in the Mix research, being conducted by the American Bar Association鈥檚 Commission on Women, stated that proactively asking gender-fluid colleagues their preferred pronouns is an easy way to show support and respect.

Using influence to advocate for women and women of color 鈥� , who was interviewed as part of the research done by Penn Law School and 成人VR视频, pushed for men as allies to proactively notice the composition of any group setting, and if the group does not include women and women of color, to ask why not. Pendleton also pointed out that men鈥檚 socialization within American society has been one of domination, which has led to toxic masculinity and patriarchy that hurts both men and women.

Supporting differently abled colleagues 鈥� Yasmin Sheikh, who became wheelchair-bound at the age of 29 after suffering a sudden medical condition, described how to demonstrate solidarity with employees who have a disability. When her employer鈥檚 global head of HR invited Sheikh to start a disability community, it restored her confidence and self-worth after she initially questioned her firm鈥檚 commitment to those who are like her.

Looking ahead to what鈥檚 next

This examination of allyship, underpinned by the research done by 成人VR视频 and Penn Law, will continue with additional webinars and the ongoing need to normalize allyship as part of the leadership paradigm.

In the next online webinar, Setting C-Suites for Sea Change on October 20, our panel will dive deeper into to allyship鈥檚 impact on workplace policies and practices around work-family integration during the pandemic; and in (Un)Manning the Helm on November 19, we鈥檒l look at how to normalize leadership through removing gender labels from our vernacular and workplace culture.

In addition, we have begun the second phase of the study which will include 70 interviews to reflect on how allyship behaviors can create needed norms that will help entrench new cultural and leadership behaviors in the workplace.

You can listen to the webcast, , sponsored by 成人VR视频, now on-demand.

Bold new solutions are needed to alter the legal landscape on inequality, sexism, and the structures that reinforce these norms in the workplace. involving interviews with Gen Z men conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Law School (Penn Law) in collaboration with 成人VR视频, it鈥檚 shown that allyship serves as a potential way to reconceptualize our workplaces and institutions and as way to address stereotypes, sexism, and sexual harassment.

Allyship as assailing gender stereotypes

Apart from the business case for diversity, the fundamental fact of having a diverse workplace is considered an important way of reducing the level of implicit bias in the workplace. Our research participants endorse the concept of diversity to promote inclusion and disavow stereotypes. Indeed, one participant describes the benefit of diversity and representation by considering the immediate effect of 鈥渇ostering a sense of inclusion rather than otherising minority individuals.鈥�

The slow disruption of gender stereotypes comes from inclusion. This is why one participant, Ryan Plesh, 3L, said that 鈥渙ne of the most important things is making sure that there is a critical mass of women and women of color in the discussion. If there isn鈥檛, those voices will be unheard.鈥� And where their voices remain unheard, the stereotypes will remain. As such, another participant explains that through allyship it is of utmost importance that 鈥渢here is a representative who is able to speak or to represent a woman鈥檚 interest.鈥�

However, diversity for the sake of statistics will produce fewer results than using diversity to promote the inclusion and participation of women. One 2L participant claims that employers should have 鈥渁 more nuanced view of things so you鈥檙e not constantly isolating different statistics. Statistics of people of various intersectional identities that are very diverse and providing all of these different perspective on things鈥� can be wonderful, the participant adds, but 鈥渋f they are on the sidelines and not actually in leadership positions, then you probably haven鈥檛 achieved an idea of equality.鈥�

Views of sexual harassment quickly evolving

Many of our male allies identify that the #MeToo movement has been a positive step in changing workplace policies and culture. Some explained how they do not agree with the negative backlash and of the fear some men have expressed about being mentors or being alone with women in an office setting. In fact, most participants state how they themselves serve not only as allies but mentors to women in the office 鈥� ensuring more opportunities for women to advance and to speak out against injustices.

While workplace culture may be changing due to post-#MeToo activism, states have been slow to adapt to the sentiments of the movement and the beliefs that women and male allies hold. Currently, 78% of states have sexual harassment law that applies to employers with more than 15 employees. Furthermore, only 33% of states have laws that protect non-traditional workers 鈥� interns, independent contractors, etc. 鈥� in the sexual harassment laws. With more and more workplaces having interns or informal workers, the lack of protection provides a legal gap within legislation.

When looking to the intersectionality of gender and law, 51% of states include any LGBTQ+ protection and sexual orientation protection in sexual harassment laws. In the case of protecting gender expression, only 24% of states鈥� sexual harassment laws protect gender expression. The current laws do not go far enough to provide true workplace protections against sexual harassment to all individuals.

Most employment contracts include mandatory arbitration provisions that bound employees to take their claims against their employer to an alternate dispute mechanism. Arbitration largely favors the employer, especially compared to jury trials. Only six states have laws that limit or ban the use of mandatory arbitration in certain cases for employees, such as for sexual harassment.

Confidentiality is another challenge. Many non-disclosure agreements allow for employers to forbid employees from making comments that could harm the company, including a sexual harassment complaint. Only nine states generally prohibit or outright ban non-disclosure agreements.

What reforms need to happen

Based on feedback from our research participants, increased allyship along with changes in culture and sexual harassment policy and reporting mechanisms serves as a vehicle to promote all genders working together as equals. To improve outcomes, insights from our participants suggest reforms widespread policy and training programs reforms:

• • • Comprehensive coverage of part-time staff and contractors 鈥� 鈥淚n terms of interactive trainings, I have been to one of two and they have been uniformly bad. [Organizations should] have harassment policies that are strong enough to protect low-wage workers and contractors and everyone else. These policies need to cover everyone top to bottom.鈥�
    • Changes to arbitration clauses 鈥� 鈥淎rbitration clauses for sexual harassment must go if the culture of protecting sexual harassers and profit-over-people is to be eradicated. Interactive training that simulates examples of sexual harassment both minor and egregious will be mandatory,鈥� according to research participant Justin Pendleton.
    • Institute reporting hotline & blind review process 鈥� 鈥淪exual harassment policies should incorporate a hotline or blind review process, so that victims have the security of knowing that they will not be on the receiving end of punitive action,鈥� said Pendleton.

Based on insights from these Gen Z men interviews, building allies from top to bottom within organizations helps to minimize sexual harassment and implement a galaxy of initiatives aimed at combatting implicit bias, challenging in-group favoritism, and reducing work/life conflicts. Also, creating formal allyship initiatives sharpens organizations鈥� focus on聽intersectional identities and the way that gender interacts with factors such as race, class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation to reinforce patterns of subordination.

The author thanks Prof. David Wilkins at Harvard Law School for his inspiration and Dean Theodor Ruger of Penn Law for his support.

Now, a first of its kind study examined how emerging male leaders in law and business, specifically law students, construct their idea of what it means to be an ally to women, especially women of color. In this randomized study done , we analyze how these emerging leaders build allyship in ways that could alter the concept of leadership in the future.

Read the full report on covering all 34 interviews of men at Penn Law.

Our first major takeaway from this phase of the research is that allyship is about action. In this phase, our participants listed the ways in which they work to amplify women鈥檚 voices, to afford them the credit they deserve, and how they will work to push for policies that create equality within the workplace environment and for methods for proper evaluation that eliminates gender biases from evaluations for promotions.

In order to lift up women鈥檚 voices, participants indicated that they would put themselves 鈥渙n the line with a male of considerable influence and power over me if I feel that that male is perpetuating grave injustice against women,鈥� says participant Michael Machado. However, participants also recognize the need for evaluating situations and determining what type of action will be productive in different settings. For some, proactive allyship is indicative of this type of self-evaluation.

Changes in Workplace Policies and Practices

When discussing improvements that need to be made within the work force, several participants began by noting that law schools can and should first improve diversity in terms of women of color. Then, in discussing workplace policies, participants talked about hiring committees, parental leave, and flexible work:

• Hiring committees 鈥� One participant said that he would create a hiring committee that would be required to review several studies on what comprises a good hiring practice. In addition, he would make sure the committee is made up of people from diverse backgrounds and that it would include a trial period to ensure implicit bias was not being perpetuated in the hiring processes.
• Parental leave 鈥� Some men highlighted the necessity for maternity and paternity leave, allowing families the autonomy to choose which parent, if any, will be taking time off with the option of each parent being able to take a year off.
• Flexible work 鈥� Finally, a few men focused on the need for flex time both in terms of policy and practice with 鈥減art-time work commensurate pay鈥� being allowed, notes participant Ryan Plesh (3L).

Generational Responses to #MeToo

In large part, the #MeToo movement has pushed for several of the changes that our participants identified. However, #MeToo has also introduced fears and uncertainty about certain behavior. Justin Pendleton (2L), another participant, broke down the age ranges to explain how the #MeToo movement is affecting masculinity differently across generations:

• For 50+ Men, Pendleton states: 鈥淭here is a large backlash and fundamental misunderstanding of how women鈥檚 rights to not be harassed do not equal a lessening of men鈥檚 rights.鈥�
• For men age 30-49, the #MeToo movement has created feelings of fear and trepidation on how to properly interact with women in the new era.
• For men under 30, Pendleton notes that 鈥渕en of this generation have an easier time grappling with and engaging with protecting women and showing them the respect they deserve.鈥�

To build on this, this study calls upon the next generation of legal professionals to serve as allies that will steer changes and ultimately help advance women in leadership, as well as promote equality between the sexes and fair policies for all intersectional identities. As the research demonstrates, Gen Z men believe that it is the right thing to do and that it is equally good for business.

鈥淪omeone ought to be designated an ally not purely because they 鈥� from an internal viewpoint 鈥� believe in or support a certain unprivileged person or group, but because they have embarked on the conscious journey of allyship, which, as stated above, constitutes education and enacting change,鈥� explains participant (LLM 20).

leads the research on transformative leadership and allyship in collaboration with Penn Law students and 成人VR视频. The student-led research team: Zahra Keshwani (L21), Research Team Leader; Michael Machado (L20), Chukwufumnanya Ekhator (L20), May Alajlan (LLM 20), Margaret Gallagher (LLM 20), and Lindsay Holcomb (L21). Thank you to , Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School for his support of the study, and to , Lester Kissel Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, who inspired this study.

The study was designed to examine a new understanding of leadership that is defined by differences in gender, race,聽demographics, male allyship, and changes in the political economy, including understanding social mores as a cause-and-effect consequence of new social movements.

Rangita de Silva, the Associate Dean of International Affairs at Penn Law and the lead scholar on the project, stresses the urgency of this project and why completing it through an expanded, more integrated lens of leadership is critical. 鈥淟eadership at the highest level involves working on policies that address pressing public problems,鈥� de Silva says.

The role of men as enabler of women’s leadership was a consistent theme during the interview responses. 鈥淲hat you need is allies,鈥� explains Amy Weaver, President of Legal & Corporate Affairs and General Counsel of Salesforce. 鈥淓very group needs allies鈥� who are going to be mentors.鈥�

Growing out of that research 鈥� and in collaboration with the 成人VR视频 Institute聽鈥� the separate project on Leadership, Diversity & Allyship was created to study how male allyship can demystify masculinized notions of leadership, shape workplace policies that advance women鈥檚 leadership, and foster gender equality in the world of work.

Students involved in the project underscored the importance of the effort to their future in the legal industry. 鈥淎llyship is critical to the development of personhood and leadership development, across a broad spectrum of communities and industries alike,鈥� says Michael Machado, a student researcher from the project, 鈥淎s future members of the legal profession, we owe special attention to the subject from the moment we enter law school.鈥�

This research-based and data-driven model to diversify leadership from the law school classroom to public leadership, develops a first-of-its-kind leadership incubator that will allow researchers to test new approaches and advance transformative change in the law and in public life. In recent years, there has been a , but so far, there has been an absence of research on how an emerging generation of leaders view allyship. 鈥淥ur commitment to upholding and advancing our laws, as men, is largely shaped by the manner in which we treat all women at our law school, including our empowered and courageous colleagues, the ones who speak truth to power, whom we鈥檒l someday call coworker, friend, boss, and leader,鈥� states Machado.

This seminal research will not only focus on the next generation of leaders in the law, and the participant pool includes 60 male law students. Through a series of in-depth interviews, the research will:

• • • identify young male leaders from a diverse cohort and analyze their views of allyship;
    • examine male norms on allyship and ways to debias the workplace and move away from gender stereotypes; and
    • highlight workplace policies and strategies that can prioritize gender equal leadership.

The goal through this research is to better understand how the data and information gathered can be used to produce stronger, and more equitable policies in the world of work.

The research will also include another differentiating factor 鈥� an anonymous implicit association test designed by Zahra Keshwani (adapted from the Harvard implicit bias test) to study the role of implicit biases and how those biases have restricted allyships in the past. 鈥淥ur project provides a toolbox to聽design effective and inclusive policies on leadership, diversity and allyship,鈥� notes de Silva.

While the current pool of interview subjects is constantly expanding, the sample currently consists of at least 50% minority men, including diversity in religion, race, LGBTQ+ representation, culture, age, and year in school. These differences, as well as current social, economic, and political forces have shaped these males鈥� understanding of active allyship.

Studying these factors will help us 鈥渃hallenge some of the prevailing assumptions about allyship,鈥� de Silva adds.

Finally, de Silva and the research team will analyze how policies that are based on allyship can alter the shape of the human condition. 鈥淢ale allyship as a topic welcomes all voices and perspectives, united in the common goal of being a better lawyer, a better friend, a better teammate, a better partner, and simply, a better聽辫别谤蝉辞苍,鈥� Machado says.

This research project is developed and supervised by Associate Dean Rangita de Silva de Alwis and led by Penn Law students: Zahra Keshwani, Fumnanya Ekhator, May Alajlan, Michael Machado, Lindsay Holcomb, and Sarah Heberlig. The distinguished advisor to the project is David Wilkins, Vice Dean and Lester Kissel Professor of Law Harvard Law School whose seminal work on diversity in the legal profession inspired this research. This research is conducted under the auspices of Dean Theodore Ruger, Dean of Penn Law School.