In a landmark legislation passed last year, India has made the corporate big wigs run helter skelter in search of women to chair positions in the Board of Directors. The legislation mandates that all publicly traded companies are required to have at least one woman on their board. During this search, we made an astounding realization that two-thirds of such publicly traded companies had no women in their boards and the search was getting increasingly difficult.
Now, if you derive that we have a dearth of highly skilled, smart women in India, I’d be disappointed in your ability to look beyond the obvious. India boasts on some of the best universities in the fields of engineering, management etc. The growth has been phenomenal. Although the gender equation is slightly biased, we still have thousands of women graduating from the IIMs, IITs and other such reputed universities.
So why is it that corporate head hunters are losing their sleep over finding specialized candidates from such female talent pool to fill high ranking positions?
It is in fact found that women at their peak of their careers are better performers than their male counterparts. They are motivated, hardworking and more passionate than their peers from opposite sex. In spite of this, the female labour participation rate in India was only 33 per cent as compared to 81 per cent for males. In China, the female labour participation rate was 68 per cent during the same period.
As I spoke on this issue to a number of women I know – friends, relatives, acquaintances – I got my answer.
Women in India are burdened with greater household responsibilities as compared to their male counterparts. Doing this balancing act is the primary deterrent in their professional growth. But women mostly have confessed that the bigger challenge is post-partum. This is where I blame the corporates in India for not being more sympathetic. Developed countries like Australia, USA, to name a few, have very women friendly laws, which enables women to pursue their careers stress-free even after motherhood. The Flexibility for Working Families Act introduced in the Parliament in the USA or the Fair Work Act 2009 introduced in Australia shows the intent of the Govt to appreciate and care for the need for flexibility for a working woman. While India has initiated the Maternity Benefit Law after 70 years of Independence, offering 6 months maternity in lieu of 3 months, it provides only a superficial relief for being limited to the organized labour of the country. 90 per cent of the overall female workforce contributes towards the unorganized sector, making the effectiveness of this ruling very glib.
Analysing the primary challenges that restrict women from pursuing challenging careers in India?
Unsympathetic Employer:
Employers in India are very client-focused, with employees and their needs being last on their agenda. Working mothers, particularly with inadequate or no family support, have definite limitations. A Senior VP of a Multinational Company in India sited the indifference and insensitivity showered by employers that compels the women to quit their positions, adversely affecting the growth of the company due to loss of valuable talent. Although a few MNCs like Hindustan Lever have come to realize this issue and tried to provide a solution by opening in-house day care units for the moms, there is still a slip between the cup and the lip. Without adequate handling of issues to improve employees’ morale and motivate them to make a smoother transition as they come to the cross road of their lives, the shift becomes difficult or impossible for many.
Lack of ‘GOOD’ external child care options:
Now, most employers in India do not have in-house child care facilities. Unlike western countries, where certified day care centres with professionally trained staff, units equipped with child friendly gadgets and furniture, nanny cameras etc. are mundane; Indian scenario features limited options. In B-class cities, the situation becomes grimmer, resulting in most working moms quitting their full time positions to look after their child.
‘Senior Care’ options non-existent
Although efficient child-care is still a possibility, but adult care options for working daughter/daughters-in-laws are totally absent. As women start to peak at their careers, they shoulder responsibilities of aging parents or in-laws. The guilt of leaving an old parent to pursue your career aspirations has been the second most important cause for women in high positions to quit or choose an alternative, softer option, says the founder of a top Research and Talent Acquisition firm headquartered in New York.
Patriarchal Culture
India is a patriarchal society where men earn the livelihood and women care for the family. In situations where both husband and wife work equally challenging jobs, women face additional burden managing her personal and professional commitments. While the contribution of men in the household front has been on the rise in recent times, the onus of chores rests on his female counterpart. In such circumstances, when a baby is involved, the woman’s workload are sometimes impossible to bear and results in the professional front getting negatively affected
But every cloud has a silver lining. Talent never goes waste. There are numerous cases where meritorious women have chosen alternate careers that help them cater to their familial needs and earn a livelihood. You have examples of IIT graduates running day care centres and HR and recruitment agencies springing up or freelance writers and columnists on the rise. India is soon becoming a Start-up hub with many smart, intelligent women with bright ideas heading the fore. Armed with flexibility and better work-life balance, these women are now ready for more.
