Men in the movement

Many people think the feminist movement is solely concerned with women, women’s issues, and women’s problems. Actually, everyone stands to benefit from gender equality – and men’s commitment to the movement is needed to achieve real and lasting social change.

But what drives men to work for gender equality? For Rob Nimmo, a member of the Clayman Institute's advisory council, it’s an appreciation of his own opportunities. For Michael McMillan, also a member of the council, it’s a commitment to fairness. For Donnovan Somera Yisrael, a health educator at Stanford, it’s the awareness that gender affects all aspects of life.

Each in his own way, Nimmo, McMillan, and Yisrael believe that men are important allies in the fight for gender equality. Each has brought an awareness of gender injustice to his career and has sought ways to address it.

“I’ve certainly received a big education”

Rob Nimmo first became aware of how gender impacts opportunity in 1968 when he graduated from Stanford and took a job at Citibank.

“My wife was also a Stanford graduate,” says Nimmo, who grew up in Australia and went to boarding school in the United Kingdom before coming to Stanford. “I was recruited and made an officer of the bank from the first day, and women, like my wife, were not given those kinds of opportunities.”

Over the years, that awareness stayed with him. So as Nimmo moved up the corporate ladder, he tried to use his influence to open up opportunities for women. For example, while at Citibank he created a requirement that hiring committees consider diverse candidates, including at least one woman. “In the early days,” he remembers, “that was always a bit of a push.”

Nimmo is gratified to see that overall, the industry seems to be changing, albeit slowly. “In finance in particular, women have come a long way,” says Nimmo. Women have made more strides in areas more compatible with traditional women’s work, such as human resources and marketing, and fewer strides in areas like corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. But, he says, there’s increased opportunity in the industry than previously.

After retiring from his career in banking, Nimmo’s passion for gender equality found a natural home at the Clayman Institute. In 2006, he established funding for four doctoral fellowships in his late wife’s name, and he later joined the advisory council, where he works to amplify the research produced by Clayman affiliates.

“Interacting with scholars through Clayman has helped me understand a lot more about the many areas in which we still have to work harder for women to have a level playing field,” he says. “I’ve just been shocked. The more I hear, the worse the story gets in so many different areas. I’ve certainly received a big education in that respect.”

He encourages young men to learn more about the status of women. “It will make you angry and amazed and disappointed, but we’re moving in the right direction.”

“It’s about equality and fairness”

Gender equality, says Michael McMillan, “has always been a part of my DNA.” Growing up, he remembers that his mother was a “career woman” and his father supported her ambition.

McMillan graduated from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business in 1983 and is passionate about increasing diversity in the private sector. He is currently Director of Ethics and Professional Standards at CFA Institute, where he provides ethics education to investment professionals around the world. He has been a member of Clayman’s advisory council since 2011.

In a career that’s spanned across business, finance, and academia, McMillan has worked to encourage women and people of color to pursue careers in investment management. He’s been particularly drawn to figuring out why so few women are on corporate boards. McMillan contends business and finance can take a leading role in the gender equality movement, because they can influence other sectors through a ripple effect.

“If more non-finance professionals were working with more women and minorities in a financial capacity, I think that would then increase their willingness to hire women and minorities in roles of leadership within their own organizations,” he says. McMillan encourages people to integrate a commitment to equality with their own career aspirations, whatever they may be. “You’re going to encounter issues of fairness and equality whatever job or career that you pursue.”

Men, according to McMillan, have a vital role to play in the movement. They can use their influence to effect positive change and to serve as role models for like-minded men.

“There are a lot of men who also support this and I think by our supporting it we provide role models for other men who go, ‘Yeah, I support that too,’” he says. “Anybody who’s interested in fairness and justice should get involved. It’s as simple as that.”

“Men can’t be complacent”

Donnovan Somera Yisrael, who has undergraduate and master’s degrees from Stanford, traces his passion for gender equality back to his college years.

Two events changed the way he thought about gender, explains Yisrael, who is now the Manager of Relationship and Sexual Health Programs at Stanford's Vaden Health Center and an advisor for the student organization Men Against Abuse Now (MAAN). The first was watching Jean Kilbourne’s documentary “Killing Us Softly,” about the connection between media objectification of women and violence against women. “I remember that being pretty life-changing in regards to my sense of justice,” he says.

The second was a dorm program where students were asked what they like about being male or female. He couldn’t think of any advantages inherent in being male, which made him question why men were given so much privilege. “I remember that question started an avalanche of thoughts,” he says. “If there are no advantages, what does that mean? Why do men have power? It was a big paradigm-shifter.”

These days, Yisrael sees the effects of gender and gender inequality in everything he does. As a health educator with Stanford’s I Thrive, he leads dorm workshops, gives guest lectures, and facilitates leadership training related to all kinds of health issues. “You can’t talk about alcohol, body image, sexual assault, relationship abuse, without talking about gender expectations,” he says. “It would be hard to find a health issue that didn’t have a very powerful gender component. That system is everywhere.”

His college memories give him faith that personal interactions can meaningfully influence people’s consciousness about gender equality. “I believe in these one-time interventions that can really change people’s perspectives,” he says. “The person’s life is never the same again, because they can’t just fall back into that paradigm.”

He echoes Nimmo and McMillan in his belief that men have a responsibility to get involved and to challenge gender norms. “Men can’t be complacent,” he says. They have to open their eyes.”