There is much concern about why women are not making it to the top of organisations and professions.

有一个备受关注的现象：为什么女性没法晋升到组织和专业的最高层？

Equal numbers of men and women are recruited and a reasonable percentage are there at mid to senior levels, but there are few at the top.

招聘时男女人数相当，而中高层的女性比例也还合理，但在顶层就几乎没有。

When asked why this happens, I say with some confidence that it is about workplace culture.

在被问及为何会这样时，我可以有信心地说，是因为职场文化。

Two years ago we surveyed all our alumnae² from Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.

两年前，我们调查了剑桥大学默里•爱德华兹学院(Murray Edwards College, Cambridge)的校友。

When asked what had been the biggest challenge to their career, 22 per cent of those women said it was combining work and family; 38 per cent cited an unsupportive workplace culture.

在问到他们职业中最大的挑战时，22%的女性说是兼顾工作和家庭两头；38%的女性称职场文化缺乏支持。

This is not all about gender³ bias⁴, but a lot was summed up by a woman in her mid-30s: I was surprised by how male-dominated the workplace is, designed by men, for men, with a male culture and set of values.

原因并非全是性别偏见，但一位35岁左右的女性总结得很到位：让我吃惊的是，职场竟如此为男性所主导、由男人设计、为男人服务，拥有一整套男性的文化和价值观。

If you ask women, they can describe the behaviours they find disturbing.

如果你询问女性，她们可以描述出让她们觉得不安的种种行为。

Many will say that their voice is not heard, they are interrupted or ignored in meetings; that much work takes place on the golf course, at football matches and other male-dominated events; that progress is not based on merit and women have to do better than men to succeed, and that questions are raised in selection processes about whether a woman is tough enough.

很多人会说，她们的意见无人聆听，她们在会上被打断或忽视；很多工作是在高尔夫球场、足球赛和其他男性主导的活动中进行的；职业进步不是基于成绩，女性必须比男性做得更好才能成功，而在选拔过程中会有人提出这名女性是否够坚强之类的问题。

In my experience, many women think it must be something wrong with them, and are mightily⁵ relieved that so many others have experienced the same thing.

根据我的经验，很多女性都以为这必定是自己的问题，而当听到很多人都有类似经验时都颇感宽慰。

It adds up to a confidence-sapping environment where what might seem to be small issues gradually wear women down so that they leave or lose any aspiration⁶ for advancement⁷.

这一切形成了一个让人信心动摇的环境，形形色色貌似的小问题逐渐让女性心灰意冷，最终离开或丧失任何升职抱负。

After our survey, we began to wonder what men see of these workplace behaviours.

在这次调研之后，我们开始纳闷男性是怎么看待这些职场行为的。

Reviewing the literature from management studies, psychology⁸, and organisational sociology, we found very few studies about what men see.

在审议了管理学、心理学和组织社会学的文献后，我们发现很少有关于男性看法的研究。

So we began interviews and workshops with men from public and private sectors⁹ and of different ages including, in the older group, senior men who had championed gender equality.

于是我们开始对公共部门和私营部门的不同年龄的男性进行访谈和开展研讨，年纪较大的男性这一组包括一些曾倡导过性别平等的资深男士。

Most men think women only experience difficulties in the workplace with older men.

大多数男性都以为，女性在职场中只有与年长男性相处时才会遇到困难。

They were surprised that female colleagues reported experiencing some of these everyday behaviours from younger male colleagues.

他们意外地发现，女同事反映其中一些日常行为来自年轻男同事。

The challenge with some older groups was to get them to focus on behaviours.

对于年纪稍长的人群来说，挑战在于让他们关注行为。

Senior leaders were more likely to leap to system change as a solution: We should get 50 per cent women at every level of the organisation¹ and that will solve it.

高层领导们更倾向于一步到位的系统性改革作为解决方案：我们应该在组织的各级管理层都安排至少50%的女性，这样就能解决问题。

I certainly hope that will happen in the long term but it leaves the problem of women’s current experience of the workplace, which often stops them wanting to aim for more senior management and leadership roles.

我当然希望这在长期内终能实现，但女性在当下职场所面临的问题仍未得到解决，这些问题往往阻碍她们向往更高层管理和领导者角色。

We need real changes in behaviour.

我们需要的是行为上的真正改变。

It would be good if men and women could be more aware, for example, about what happens in meetings, making sure they speak up when women are ignored or patronised.

例如，最好是男性和女性都更多地意识到会上的情况，确保他们在女性被忽视或敷衍时仗义执言。

There should be more women in the chair, whatever level of the meeting.

不管是何种级别的会议，都应该由更多女性来主持。

It is also important that socialising and networking take place in the working day and not in the pub.

职业社交和交流应该发生在工作场所而非酒吧，这一点也很重要。

The best way to find out what women think is to ask them.

要想知道女性们怎么想，最好的办法是亲自问问她们。

One effective way to do this is for younger women to reverse mentor¹⁰ senior men and describe to them what it feels like to be a young woman in the organisation.

其中一个有效的办法是让年轻女性担任年长男性的反向导师，向他们描述作为一名年轻女性在组织中会有什么样的感受。

None of this change is impossible, though the history of male power in the workplace means that it is not necessarily quick or easy.

所有这些改变都并非不可实现，尽管职场男权的历史意味着这不一定能快速或轻易实现。

What we found most motivating to the men who took part in our workshops was collaborating¹¹ with women to challenge and change typically masculine behaviour so that all employees are respected and given more space to shine.

在参与我们研讨活动的男性中，我们发现最能激励他们的做法，是跟女雇员一起挑战和改变固有的男性化行为，让所有雇员都受到尊重，都有更多闪光的空间。

We might then find that more women are making their way to the top.

那时，我们可能会发现更多女性晋升至最高层。