Panel
How to Be a Man in 2018
- Addressing unconscious biases and distorted definitions of masculinity is predicted to be necessary to overcome culture-based impediments to inclusivity, health, and productivity, which currently harm the bottom line.
- Financial investors are expected to drive rapid gender representation improvements, with projections that women will run 50% of businesses if performance metrics are prioritized, as capital avoidance of exclusion-related reputational risks creates the path of least resistance.
- US GDP growth targets of 3.5% are contingent on accessing great management talent, requiring women to lead 50% of companies to remain competitive against Asia and prevent capital outflows within the next 20 years.
- Corporate culture adjustments are anticipated to resolve issues quickly, including men overcoming fears of being interrupted or misunderstood, with statistics indicating 74% of men currently cite fear of saying the wrong thing or women's reactions as barriers to championing equality.
- Specific behavioral statistics include women being interrupted three times more frequently than men and a projected 100% occurrence rate of women having ideas ignored before men repeat them.
- Generational shifts are forecasted for the 10, 20, 30, and 40-year horizons, with expectations that current conversations about toxic dynamics and emotional language will resolve gender gaps and that admissions of wrongdoing will be viewed as positive life events within 5 to 15 years.
- The panel notes that women alone cannot close the gender gap and requires men to stop avoiding mentoring due to fear, specifically regarding misunderstandings of female emotional expressions like crying, which often signal anger rather than hurt.
- A show of hands among women is expected to statistically reveal that 100% of them experience being ignored and then having their ideas repeated by men.