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Many scholar-practitioners have studied gender mainstreaming as a policy tool to help achieve gender equality, but their work does not consider how the related gender equality change and its implementation impact men at a socio-psychological level in male-dominated societies. The impact of such a purposive social change has the potential to destabilize gender relations and even lead to negative reactions from men in such societies, particularly when the policy strategy primarily focuses on women and their empowerment to redress past disfranchisement. During its post-civil war environment, using a political and economic development lens to rebuild its society and reconstruct the country after its 1989-2003 nefarious civil war, Liberia is resolute to achieve gender equality given that constructive gender relations have not always permeated its communities, structures, and institutions because of the country's historical and pervasive male-dominant orientation.
This dissertation presents a mixed-method exploratory study to determine the reactions of Liberian men to this purposive gender equality social change and how its implementation impacts them socio-psychologically. The research took place in Liberia with male and female civil society leaders who are active in various sectors of the country's urban and rural areas. While filling a gap in the gender mainstreaming literature, this study seeks to generate tentative hypotheses as a foundation for further research about this topic. This study provides insights for policy-makers and conflict resolution in scholar-practitioners about how gender mainstreaming within the context of women in public leadership roles in male-dominated societies can impact men. It identifies areas of this purposive social agenda where actions can be taken to help Liberia in its pursuit to achieve gender equality. It highlights a few capacity building recommendations that can help both men and women learn conflict resolution skills so they can build their capacity for collaborative partnerships while working together toward sustainable peace and development to create a foundation for stability, growth, and security.