Building on recent discussion:
-Masculinity Contest Culture (MCC) has norms
-Workplaces w/ MCC more likely to report toxic leaders; bullying; gender, sexual, & ethnic/racial harrassment; burnout; turnover; lower psychological health for all genders
-What to do about it 1/

*Masculinity is not bad (neither is Femininity. They can mean diff things to diff ppl, thruout history, & many ppl exhibit traits socially assoc w/ either, both, or neither.) Here we’re talking norms assoc w/ a certain (unhealthy) type of masc that hurts ppl of all genders 2/

Part of the transcript for Scene on Radio s3, ep 5. Describing a woman’s experience in tech, but I was stunned how familiar it felt to Army organizations I’ve worked in (& other fields w/similar dynamics: medicine, first responders among them). /

The 4 MCC norms:
1. Show no weakness. Swagger & confidence ok; uncertainty or any tenderness is not. Questions, doubts, or even slightest dissent are discouraged & often met with ridicule or bullying. /

2. Strength & stamina are prized- obvious in jobs with physicality. In desk jobs or staff work, stamina by late or unreasonable working hours. Extreme hours, sleep deprivation are badges of honor. /

3. Work placed above all else, including family, breaks. Poor work/life balance. Health & family life are devalued. (Depending on someone’s family situation, interpretation of gender roles, women with families can be at automatic disadvantage here). /

4. Dog eat dog: constant competition. Everything in terms of winner/loser & win at all costs, even if thru sabotage. Ppl aren’t a team; they’re in fierce competition. trust. (Anyone who’s felt pitted against their peers, or watched boss’ boss pit boss against their peers.) /

Other common outcomes: higher rates of illness & depression among employees of all genders; innovation suffers; stress, burnout & turnover; poor psychological safety (feeling unsafe to express self, take risks, share ideas; ppl don’t feel accepted or respected). /

Counterproductive work environment, direct costs (job turnover, harrassment suits/investigations), indirect costs ( innovation due to low psych safety). Harms bottom line, effectiveness, reputation. MCC Enables toxic leaders. /

Low work or family support among leaders, sexist climates including hostility towards & patronizing women. Bullying, sexual & racial harrassment, social humiliation & physical intimidation. /

Contest culture can require everyone to behave along these specific norms, but not everyone is treated the same for buying in. White women & People of color cannot be angry or self promote the same way (see also recent reactions to congratulating a new CDR who’s a woman...)/

The system is rigged against women & POC who are more likely to be viewed with suspicion that they “don’t have what it takes” or are more likely to survive in supporting roles (to a “winning” man). /

Few ppl (incl men who do well in MCC) are actually comfy, even if complicit. Norms are always under threat & must repeatedly be defended. MCC breeds often unspoken anxiety+defensiveness: undermines co-op, psych safety, trust in coworkers, ability to be uncertain or make mistakes/

To be clear: this culture is toxic to all, including men more likely to succeed within it. /

Pls remember our brains interpret threats to social survival/standing similarly to how we interpret physical pain or injury. We can absolutely be in fight/flight/freeze/fawn/survival mode in response to a perceived social (including professional) threat. /

That may make it easier to see why people might enforce or stay quiet around things they hate (staying late, laughing at offensive jokes, etc) to try to prove they belong. Feeling accepted or like we belong = social survival. /

In this type of culture, adding diversity trng is often not helpful & may backfire, esp if training focuses on “what not to do” instead of how to support the mission, or is framed as “making things better for women & other marginalized populations” instead of better for EVERYone/

WHAT TO DO? (A list)
Examine & diagnose the culture. Generate awareness of Contest Culture & its role in organizational problems. Know & make clear: it’s not just “a few bad apples”; organizational culture can unleash, allow, even reward misconduct. /

Don’t tolerate harrassment or bullying of any type. Do you know who is bullied, harassed, left out, ostracized in your organization, & why? Keep bad apples in check & good apples from going bad. /

Establish focus on mission; connect to core mission, values, goals (If people are working extreme hours esp in a non-emergent environment, this hasn’t been done, even though extra hrs or other measures are often said to be for the sake of the mission). /

Leverage the right goals & values for healthier culture (i.e. what are the actual priorities that can be done within safer working hours, see article at end for other example) /

Leaders walk the talk. Publicly reject the toxic norms. Reward people for supporting each other. Call out misconduct (without belittling). Allow others to voice dissent. Model respectful behaviors. /

Don’t work late as the norm or condone/support those who do, don’t laugh at offensive jokes. Dispel misconceptions that everyone endorses MCC norm-related behavior. (Again, some ideas here) /

Make it clear what thoughts & beliefs are not tolerated, verbally (avoid shaming; teach instead) & in action. Good threads on some of that recently / https://twitter.com/scottjstephens/status/1303342962395566081

Cultivate psychological safety: ppl know when it’s appropriate & feel empowered to take risks. Empower others to ask questions, raise doubts or dissent w/o eliciting ridicule or rejection. You may have to publicly call out ridicule & rejection (try to educate, not shame/insult) /

This should increase innovation & creativity, & make an environment more hospitable to women & other marginalized populations (whose ideas were previously more likely to be dismissed). People feel psychologically safe to take risks, ask questions, share ideas & info. /

Change reward systems, model new behavior, punish previously overlooked or rewarded misconduct.
Leaders MUST ensure ppl who speak up against harmful conduct/norms aren’t punished or retaliated against formally (job consequences) or informally (reputation & ostracism). /

This is solved with meaningful commitment to culture change.
(I‘m impressed that actual, actionable steps and things to look for are given.) /

Notice simply stopping bad jokes/comments isn’t enough on its own if e.g. ppl also don’t feel safe to ask questions, or it’s accepted that ppl work extreme hrs or brag about how many energy drinks they have a day. Look at All MCC norms, All ways to combat them & change culture/

I know not everything has a perfect unifying theory, but there are a lot of dots connected here: mental health (ALL health); racism, misogyny & other discrimination against marginalized groups; family struggles... /

...sleep deprivation, long hrs, & as few breaks as possible as badges of honor; how culture self-polices, & divides different groups even if they’re acting the same. /

Individual issues still deserve care & attention, but (for example) rather than simply reacting to racist or sexist jokes & thinking of them as only separate issues, see them also as effects of cultural norms, & understand how positive culture shift can improve both areas & more/

Also remember intersectionality & how some people experience compounded effects based on belonging to multiple marginalized groups. How safe would a Black, LGBTQ+, Disabled, non-Christian woman or feminine presenting person feel in your organization? /

Certain organizations continue to struggle with things like health & family issues despite constantly insisting how much those things are valued (& I’m almost relieved to find cultural explanations & antidotes when I know many individuals do want to value those things). /

This overview was mostly from a few articles, a video, plus the podcast I mentioned, with a few of my own notes. I found this article most helpful: https://hbr.org/2018/11/how-masculinity-contests-undermine-organizations-and-what-to-do-about-it