How would you want a male coworker to respond to sexism in the workplace, if at all?

7 comments

1. I dont expect it other than maybe just acknowledging that its weird. Its not their responsibility unless they’re management

2. Not encourage it (laughing, contributing etc). Other than that, I don’t really have any expectation to how they respond. It would be nice if they went to me later on and was like “hey, that interaction was weird. Are you okay?”. But that’s about it.

3. Call it out when it happens and report it to HR if appropriate.

4. If a male coworker witnessed sexism in the workplace, he should speak up and confront the person exhibiting sexist behavior. He could also report the incident to a supervisor or human resources.

5. It would be nice if they didn’t treat it as another joke, treat it as a joke and then make passive aggressive comments in which they imply that if I react negatively then I am a wretch, It is the worst

6. Speak out against it.

7. I really appreciate a direct response, if it’s impossible, then an acknowledgement that someone else also saw the sexism and is bothered by it is nice.

   General guidelines for promoting collaboration in diverse teams benefit women, as well as other minorities, and diverse teams have been shown to be more effective.

   Notice if someone got interrupted and re-direct the conversation back to them. ”good thought Mark, Sam, what was that you were saying earlier about the widgets?”
   If a quiet team member is being spoken over or never gets a chance to get a word in, ask them directly for their input.

   When people default to crediting other colleagues for someone else’s work, notice it and point it out:
   ”you know, Sophie suggested something similar last week”
   ”Alex is the lead for this project, I’m gonna CC her to answer your question”

   When it comes to sexist jokes and comments, it’s amazing how blunt you can be if you use a courteous tone and change the topic to something positive right after.