Why change towards gender equality is glacially slow: Unpacking how men’s ambivalent manoeuvring sustains the masculine status quo

Abstract

This paper explores men’s ambivalent relationship with gender equality within the homosocial context of management teams. Analysing 10 group discussions with male managers about increasing women’s representation in executive roles highlights how the male-dominated setting influences their engagement with gender equality. The study uncovers a dynamic, often conflictual, shift between subject positions across discussions and explores how speakers navigate tensions between hegemonic masculinity and gender equality. Using the concept of ‘discursive manoeuvring’, the analysis identifies two key dynamics: first, a transition from ‘hegemonic masculinity’ to ‘benevolent’ and ‘veiled hegemony’, which serves to stabilise the status quo; second, ongoing efforts to challenge this stability by distancing from hegemonic positions. Because the latter dynamic also remains unstable, both dynamics tend to reinforce rather than transforming the status quo. The findings highlight the importance of collective interactions within management teams to explain men’s ambivalent support for gender equality. They also demonstrate, both empirically and theoretically, why progress towards gender equality remains glacially slow.