In many places, boys and men are falling behind on education, mental health, and connection—and the consequences show up in families, communities, and the lived reality of women and girls. For funders looking to make gender equity gains more durable, integrating support for men and boys and backing longer-term, community-led efforts is integral to shifting norms and strengthening well-being—for everyone.

After a recent conference panel on gender equity, one of us (Nidhi) was debriefing with a prominent funder during a walk. The funder recounted driving her college-aged daughter and her teenage son to the airport, listening to a podcast that put human faces on the data about how social media harms adolescent girls. The mood was somber, and she felt a lot of empathy for all the girls who were brave enough to tell their stories on the podcast. Then her son asked quietly from the backseat: “But do they care enough about us to look at the data on what it’s doing to boys?”

His question wasn’t a rebuttal to caring about girls. It was a signal and a reminder that gender equity rises or falls on the relationships, norms, and systems that shape everyone. Supporting boys and men isn’t separate from gender equity for women and girls; it’s part of what makes progress sustainable and inclusive.

At The Bridgespan Group, we work on gender equity around the world, focusing much of our time on women and girls, and gender-diverse people, given persistent inequality and documented backsliding on women’s rights in many places. That focus remains essential.

At the same time, advancing gender equity requires paying attention to the conditions shaping boys and men. Entrenched expectations about masculinity can both impede progress for women and girls and narrow boys’ and men’s own well-being and opportunities. When boys and men lose connection, purpose, or hope, the effects can be profound—and they don’t stop with them. The effects show up in families, in relationships, and in the conditions in which women and girls live every day. Let’s look at the data.

Read the full article about bringing men and boys into gender equity work by Deborah Bielak and Nidhi Sahni at The Bridgespan Group.