Over the past
several years the focus of the business community is on minimizing the gender
equality within organizations. The fact that a handful of Indian women have
already made a mark in history by redefining corporate leadership, business
landscape, and even the political arena has further fuelled this idea. However,
for every successful woman, there are tens and thousands of others, who are not
even given the opportunity to showcase their skills as a potential leader. In
fact, the organization development
consultants in India are of the opinion that the absence of a level
playing field for most women in business organizations is a cause of major
concern.
Getting To Know The Challenge
India is currently
placed at the 87th position in the Global Gender Gap Index and has
only 27% of its female population as a part of its massive workforce, which is
one of the lowest in the world. The good thing is that of this 27 %, as much as
11% of women are placed in top management roles within the major private,
multinational and even state-owned organizations. Despite this, various
researches have proved that the overall participation of women in senior
leadership roles within the workforce is quite dismal. The most common factors
that have been responsible for this limiting placement of females at the senior
position are discussed below.
Societal Norms And Traditions : Women in India are expected to give
topmost preference to their husband and their kids irrespective of the level of
professional success they might have achieved. This often leads them to quit
their jobs after marriage or the birth of a child. Hence business organizations
generally feel uncertain about employing females in top management positions
irrespective of them being more skilled and competent.
Bias About Capabilities Of Women Leaders : Companies providing leadership consulting
services are of the opinion that most organizations are biased about hiring
women for leadership roles. They feel that the top management within such an organization
tend to have a more orthodox view about women having the capabilities and the
competence to fulfil their responsibilities as a business leader. They doubt
the ability of the women to make strong business decisions and take calculated
risks to ensure the growth of the organization as a whole.
Ego Issues Of Junior Managers And Other Male
Employees : Most
organizations limit the growth of their female employees to prevent any ego
issues in other male members working at similar positions. Moreover, being a
male-dominated society, a majority of men in India are still averse to the idea
of working under and taking orders from a female. Hence, business organisation
take the safe way out by promoting male employees even if they are less competent.
Finding The Right Solution
The problem of
gender disparity is a complex one and finding the right solution is not that
easy. It is important to first eliminate the causes of this disparity and
includes creating awareness within the society about women being as capable and
as competent as their male counterparts. In addition, organizations need to
adopt a skill-based growth system making it easier to promote females with the
right expertise and skillset.
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