Female mentors make women more egalitarian. They also make men more conservative.

A new study finds that assigning female faculty advisors to university students has opposite long-term effects on gender norms for men and women. Women become more egalitarian, while men become more conservative, especially in religious or male-dominated fields.

Institutions have long assumed that increasing female representation in leadership would naturally lead to more equitable gender norms across the board. This paper shows that the reality is more complicated, creating a 'progress paradox' where gains for women can trigger backlash in men. It means that efforts to promote gender equality through leadership roles might need to consider these dual, long-term effects to avoid unintended polarization.