Male Allies Must Publicly Advocate and Sponsor

Recent evidence suggests that women are under-sponsored and, therefore, don’t advance as rapidly as men in many organizations. Sponsorship entails advocating by creating visibility, supporting promotions, and ensuring protégés receive developmental opportunities needed to succeed. Although men often treat women with kindness and offer encouragement, too often, theyfail them as vocal sponsors. In our research on men-as-allies for women, we find that public allyship skills include several key advocacy actions that help to overcomes systemic inequities in organizations. We provide an overview of these actions and implications for women, men and organizations