“What would you change, if you could, in your life?”
“Act like a man!”
My friend posed the query to his mother, a distinguished leader who stepped down from her position as Business Head at her company. I saw her as a superwoman in every way. She had excelled in her job, raised wonderful children, and fulfilled a variety of roles in her life, but one thing she wished she could alter was her gender! She was probably thinking about how she had to sacrifice her work to travel the world when her husband’s career needed the support, and how she had to give up exclusive leadership training initiatives and international assignments to spend more time with her children.
She is currently 80 years old, and she completed all of her accomplishments in the corporate world without any laws or regulations supporting working women. Indian society was still coming to terms with women’s emancipation. The concept of diversity and inclusion was not well understood.
Now, half a century has passed. Have we actually made a difference?
-Yes, our rules and institutions have allowed us to access more places.
There are, in fact, plenty of reasons to be happy. More women are opting to work after graduating from college. The reality that there is a diverse talent pool and that businesses with diverse workforces benefit from it has become indisputable.
All listed firms are required by SEBI to have a minimum of one woman on their board of directors. The majority of businesses have a procedure in place for tracking diversity metrics. Leaders on this path keep raising the standard by adopting innovative techniques. Diversity now encompasses not only women but also LGBTQ+ people and those with disabilities.
However, when it comes to opening our brains, we are still far behind. One of the executives I spoke with bemoaned the lack of participants in the mentoring programme he created especially to develop female leaders. There is still a common belief that a woman’s profession comes second in her life. Men and women alike still need to get used to setting aside time to own and develop their careers.
Example in point. Like I typically do, I struck up a conversation with my Uber driver. His hometown was Mysore. His wife holds a B.Com., and he was really proud of her and desired she could pursue a job. “I didn’t graduate from high school. Given her college degree, she ought to be employed. I was really impressed. The shift in society has finally arrived. That is, I believed.
But she isn’t getting paid much for the jobs she is receiving. If I take ten extra trips in a month, I can make the same amount of money. Why am I making her put forth effort to get that? So, he explained, quite unhappily, she stays at home.
I feel like the playing field has shifted, presenting new obstacles for those of us who seek equal opportunities to overcome.
The other factors we address at this time are:
- Mature wives whose husbands make a fair livelihood should not work outside the home, according to a sizable portion of both men and women.
- Highly educated women are more likely to marry wealthy, well-educated men, staying out of the workforce in the process.
- A woman’s likelihood of working in a salaried position increases with her educational attainment, but her likelihood of working on a farm or in a family business decreases.
Therefore, even with increases in education, women’s labour market participation fell sharply from 43% of married women working in 2005–06 to just 28.5% in 2017 (compared to 82% for men).
Therefore, the goal is no longer limited to opening up the system; it also includes teaching young children to be polite and to recognise and utilise their own ability. Take action rather than just adhering to the rules.
More than ever, it seems like we need role models. Different individuals taking the lead and imparting their wisdom and experience. to increase visibility and awareness, which offers up new professional alternatives and avenues.
so that none of us believe that we need to “overcome” anything related to our gender, disability, or race.
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