Thoughts on men on 'Women in x' committees?

[CMOTDibbler]

Browsing LinkedIn just now, I noticed an acquaintance was tagged in a Women in STEM committee meeting post by another member of that group. Who is a bloke. Looking at his profile, I can see that he's been on several of these things, including at government level.

My instant feeling is that the people on this committee should be those living the life described, rather than a middle aged white man who is very unlikely to have experienced any barriers. But am I wrong? Though I can't imagine having anything useful to say at a (say) BME men in STEM group where the only connection is my profession

I think it depends on their role. I do think, unfortunatly, we need to include the people's whose attitudes we are trying to change. My work has loads of women in senior roles, for example. 20 years ago it didn't. That change included men who were making the hiring decisions, changing their prejudice.

Also Fathers are a huge influence on their children. If we want more women in STEM, as in your example, men need to be involved too.

But I do think that often their roles on these boards become one of 'I will mansplain what you need to do to get more women in STEM.' Or whatever their objective is.

Depends. In some professions there aren’t very many women in senior positions and it might be advantageous to have someone senior to hear the barriers and join in with trying to sort them. If you have a man on a committee about women in leadership who is adopting a listening posture and is in a position to influence/change policies then I can see the value.