The EA/PA profession is still heavily female dominated, with men estimated at roughly 5–6% of UK business support roles and around 10–13% of executive and administrative assistants globally.

In a landscape where visibility shapes who feels welcome, who advances and how the role is valued, more visible male PAs/EAs can help challenge old stereotypes and open the door for a more diverse future talent pipeline.

Thought leadership, role modelling and future talent

Thought leadership on representation in the EA/PA space is moving beyond simple headcounts and asking how diversity, gender, background, age and ethnicity all changes the way the role is understood and utilised. When men are visible and vocal in a historically pink-collar profession, it can disrupt the idea that support work is automatically women’s work and reframe assistants as strategic partners open to anyone with the right skills.

More visible male PAs/EAs create role models for people who might never previously have seen themselves in the job description. For younger candidates and career-changers, seeing different genders and backgrounds in senior EA roles signals that this is a credible long-term career, not just a temporary stop or a fallback option.

This visibility also matters for future talent because it broadens the skills and perspectives flowing into the profession. Mixed-gender teams tend to offer more diversity of thought, communication styles and challenge for leaders, which is exactly what modern executives say they want from high-level assistants.

Glass elevator effects for male PAs & EAs

In many female-dominated professions there is evidence of a glass elevator effect, where men progress faster and are pushed upwards into higher-status roles more readily than women doing similar work. Research on gendered careers and commentary from within the assistant world suggest this pattern appears in admin and EA/PA settings too: male

hires are often steered into operations, management or specialist tracks, while female colleagues remain associated with pure support.
This is not usually about explicit favouritism, but about ingrained assumptions that men are leadership material, while women are naturally suited to supporting and caring roles. That means a male PA may be more likely to be given stretch projects, invited into strategic conversations or recommended for promotion, even when women around him have greater tenure or expertise.

The glass escalator effect creates a tension in the argument for visibility: more visible male PAs/EAs can help destigmatise the role, but if organisations are not careful, that visibility can also reinforce inequality if men become the ones most rapidly elevated out of the profession’s core ranks. Thoughtful male PAs/EAs who recognise this dynamic can use it as a call to allyship – using access and influence to advocate for fair recognition and progression for their female peers, rather than quietly riding the escalator alone.

How are male PAs/EAs perceived in the industry?

The EA/PA role is still widely coded as a female job, so men choosing this career are often treated as both an exception and a curiosity. Some encounter outdated assumptions that a man must be on his way to a more masculine-coded role (like management or finance) or that there is something unusual about wanting to stay in a support position long-term.

At the same time, bias that associates authority and leadership with men shapes how male PAs/EAs are received by executives and stakeholders. Male assistants are sometimes perceived as more authoritative, more strategic or closer to leadership than female colleagues, which can translate into being listened to more readily or having boundaries and decisions respected more quickly.

This creates a paradox: male PAs/EAs can face stigma from outside the profession while enjoying unearned advantages inside it. More visibility can help normalise the idea that assistants come in many genders and styles, but it also makes it even more important to have honest conversations about double standards, stereotypes and the risk of centring men in a field built largely by women.

My roundup and evaluation

The assistant profession is evolving from traditional secretarial stereotypes to high-impact, strategic partnership roles, yet its talent pipeline and public image are still heavily shaped by gendered expectations. Bringing more visible male PAs/EAs into the picture can support that evolution: it challenges the notion that support is inherently feminine, provides new role models for future talent and brings additional diversity of thought into leadership circles.

However, visibility alone is not automatically equitable. Without awareness of the glass escalator effect, organisations may unconsciously fast-track men into senior or alternative roles while leaving women who constitute most of the profession to shoulder the bulk of emotional labour and undervalued support work.

A nuanced call to action is to argue that the industry needs more visible male PAs/EAs as part of a wider commitment to equity, not instead of it.

That means:

• Naming and challenging the structural advantages men can experience in female dominated roles.
• Intentionally showcasing women and men side by side in senior EA roles and at events.
• Designing progression pathways that recognise skill and contribution rather than gendered assumptions about who looks like a leader.

A conversation has been started with thanks to Emily & Eavolve, along with myself and 5 other incredible Male PAs/EAs.

We want to start conversation, to increase visibility and understanding. That no matter your diversity, gender, background, age and ethnicity, being an PA/EA can be a career for anyone.