International Men’s day is November 19th.
As you know the broad objectives for all International Men’s Day are applied equally to men and boys irrespective of their age, ability, social background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious belief and relationship status, and each year they add an additional theme. This year’s theme is: “Making a difference for men and boys.”
- To promote positive male role models; not just movie stars and sportsmen but everyday, men who are living decent, honest lives.
- To celebrate men’s positive contributions to society, community, family, marriage, child care, and to the environment.
- To focus on men’s health and wellbeing; social, emotional, physical and spiritual.
- To highlight discrimination against men; in areas of social services, social attitudes and expectations, and law.
- To improve gender relations and promote gender equality.
- To create a safer, better world; where people can live free from harm and grow to reach their full potential[125]
Some of the things we do in ISG to make a difference for men and boys.
We showcase the exciting work our male student interns do.
We run regular Fathers Network events
- ISG Directors Tony, Alistair and Kevin have all attended our Fathers Network events to highlight the importance of understanding the workplace issues which face working dads. The sessions help to normalise experiences by sharing experiences and telling stories about fatherhood with other dads. They are valued as a chance to meet other fathers with the university and learning from how others deal with policies and flexibility. Some comments from our staff on the value of these sessions include: ‘Understanding updated policy on parental leave.’ ‘Hearing experiences from other working fathers’. ‘Raise awareness of issues facing fathers – as peer support’.’ Significant difference as it raises awareness of “invisible” issues’. ‘Anything that helps encourage dads to be involved and ask for help is worth it.’Strengthen families & hence benefit society is worthwhile.’
We run personal development programmes specifically for men
- This year develop a full day session:Men at Work: Expectations, experiences, and the workplace. We are partnering with Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) to host an interactive full-day workshop for male colleagues. This workshop will delve into the often tricky and sometimes complicated area of identity in the workplace with a focus on your experiences. Aspects such as society, career stereotypes, diversity and cultural norms in workplaces create a set of unspoken ‘rules’ that shape expectations of actions and behaviours. This workshop will explore how these expectations manifest themselves in ISG, the advantages and disadvantages this offers, and what (if any) steps we can take as a result.
We promote mental health
- Stewart is now bidding for funding for the third! edition of his mindfulness colouring book.
- The Healthy Working Lives group in ISG promote well-being.
- Lothian Health Services Archive’s UNESCO-recognised collections on the history of HIV prevention, treatment and care in Edinburgh reflect a widespread and co-ordinated response from a range of individuals and groups to an unprecedented crisis which reached its height in the late 1980s.
- We share openly available learning resources about LGBT+ men and Healthcare
We promote gender equality, diversity and inclusion
- Ewan runs regular wikipedia editathons which focus on celebrating hidden voices and changing the way stories are told.
- The Playfair steps programme runs staff development and engagement sessions which take an intersectional approach to workplace diversity.
- Kevin ‘s detailed and caring approach to developing processes has transformed the scale and quality of our student employment programmes, such that they are now award winning.
- Gavin our CIO has set equality and diversity targets for the whole of ISG and regularly calls out teams or areas which are being slow to change.
We support and encourage shared parental leave
We celebrate the contributions of men from history to modern thinking about community, family, marriage, child care, and to the environment.
- Charles Lyell’s thinking can shape the way we approach the climate change crisis.