Corporate ladder slippery for women

Pressure from kin, sexual harassment hinder growth

Family pressure, sexual harassment and lower financial gains prevent women entrepreneurs from solving problems, they said.

They highlighted these three key challenges in a workshop on ‘Action Learning’ held in Delhi.

World Institute for Action Learning (WIAL), an NGO working to encourage action learning in business organisations, had organised its first workshop for women.

WIAL founder Mike Marquardt said the action learning process if practised within a small group can become a powerful problem-solving tool.

“Problems solved in weeks or over a long period can be solved in a day. In the last five to ten years this concept has evolved by leaps and bounds making it a problem solving tool in the 21st century,” he said.

Over 40 women from different fields such as garment export, lingerie manufacturing units and others participated in this workshop to share their experiences and learn from mistakes and achievements of each other.

Rachna an entrepreneur from Gurgaon believes since women are expected to walk several steps behind men even if he is their spouse, it becomes difficult for them to prove their capabilities. Society does not accept women entrepreneurs readily, she said.

Rita, a Delhi entrepreneur said women are not given salaries at par with men.

 “If we manage to get more salaries or reach at a senior level people look at us suspiciously and assume that we are characterless,” she said.

WAIL has started the process of building institutes for action learning in India as well.
“We are targeting cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Chennai and Bangalore at present,” added Mike.