Dr. Michael Kimmel

The Gender Equality Advantage

Many corporations are committed to increasing gender equality in the workplace, but most of the time we think that means simply developing better policies for women.  Men rarely see themselves as stakeholders in the gender equality discussion.

For more than 30 years, Michael Kimmel has been working with corporations, governments, public sector organizations and NGOs, to engage men to support gender equality.  Not only because it’s the right thing to do (which it is) or even because it’s good for business (which it is), but because it’s also good for men themselves.

Audience takeaways:

• Kimmel also offers a broader discussion of Diversity and Inclusion that shows how greater diversity by race, ethnicity, and sexuality, also benefits profitability and return on investment, corporate culture, and everyone’s working experience.
• Kimmel shows that gender equality is not only right and fair, but it’s also smart.  It’s not zero-sum, but a win-win all around.

From #metoo to #meNtoo: How men can understand - and help end - workplace sexual harassment

The explosion of #metoo has circled the globe, as women have come forward to describe a range of behaviors that have made them uncomfortable, afraid, and threatened their working lives.  The list of celebrities who have been accused grows daily.

How can we men understand this seemingly spontaneous eruption of anger and pain?  How can we support women, to make sure that the workplace of the present and future enables all of us to be fully present, productive, and proud of the work we do?

Audience takeaways:

• This presentation engages men as allies, and doesn’t demonize them, and therefore encourages and enables women and men to begin a dialogue about workplace dynamics that are based on trust, collegiality, and mutual respect.

Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men

In 1950, most Americans had completed the transition from adolescence to adulthood by age 21 or so. Today, it’s more likely to be by age 30. It’s a new stage of development, and Kimmel is our tour guide in this presentation based on his best-selling book, GUYLAND.

Audience takeaway:

• Based on interviews with more than 400 young people across the country, Kimmel offers a glimpse of why so many guys are adrift through their 20s and offers a road map towards more conscious adulthood.

Mars, Venus, or Planet Earth? Women & Men on Campus in a New Millenium

We’re often told that men and women are so different we might as well come from different planets. In this engaging and entertaining lecture, Michael Kimmel strips away those myths and suggests that women and men aren’t so different after all.

Audience takeaway:

• Surveying the landscape of current controversies about gender, he shows how men and women are transforming our campus and our culture — and why gender equality is actually a good thing for men!

ANGRY WHITE MEN: American Masculinity at the End of an Era

Everywhere we turn, there are pockets of rage among American men. Why would middle-class white men be so angry? This lecture drawn from the book ANGRY WHITE MEN.

Audience takeaway:

• Kimmel will discuss why men seem so angry, and the different groups that organize and express that anger — from men’s rights groups to men who “go postal” in their workplaces, to angry white boys, to the extreme right-wing.

ANGRY WHITE MEN: Gender, Race, and Class on the Extreme Right

In this multimedia presentation, Kimmel offers a look inside the extreme right-wing (neo-Nazis, White Nationalists) in the United States, with a glance also to Scandinavia and Germany.

Audience takeaway:

• Kimmel discusses the ways they use gender (masculinity) as a way to frame their political discontent and express their racist politics.