A work in progress

Systemic prejudices, cultural norms, and a lack of role models continue to tilt the balance against women in leadership roles, writes Schenelle Marshall

“Women have sat indoors all these millions of years, so that by this time, the very walls are permeated by their creative force, which has, indeed, so overcharged the capacity of bricks and mortar that it must needs harness itself to pens and brushes and business and politics,” wrote Virginia Woolf in A Room of One’s Own.

Just one problem with that — beyond those doors, a woman must navigate myriad issues before she can be a force to reckon with. So, no surprise that India’s female labour force participation is still at a meagre 33 per cent, having seen only a three per cent rise since Covid.

Aarthi Singh, senior director, Magic Bus India Foundation, says, “According to global statistics, India ranks 17th in women’s workforce participation. For India to emerge as a global power, we need a dramatic improvement in the inclusion of women in the workforce.”

So, what can these dramatic improvements be? According to Aarthi, “Empowering women demands strategic initiatives, such as providing financial backing for women entrepreneurs, enhancing educational and training opportunities, promoting gender equality, expanding job prospects, and refining employment policies.”

Pooja Sharma Goyal, the CEO of The Udaiti Foundation, says: “To create a female-friendly environment, we must look at the enabling infrastructure, such as safety, mobility and child care and should improve them to decrease the number of women dropping out of the workforce.”

Women’s safety

According to Forbes, “The number of pending sexual harassment cases at workplaces in India’s largest companies shows an alarming rise of 101 per cent in the year ending March 2023.” Countless pending complaints and lenient actions towards harassers will most likely push a woman to quit her career.

And here, we are talking only about the largest companies, where reporting sexual harassment is encouraged. Imagine smaller companies and the unorganised sector where things are largely hushed up, forcing women to quit their jobs.

Challenges of mobility

Mobility is another cause for concern for all working women, with inadequate transport facilities. The problem is compounded for those in rural areas and those travelling at night. For instance, about two months ago, a woman in Bengaluru was harassed by a Rapido auto driver late in the evening. She was first molested and then pushed out of a moving auto when she rejected the driver’s advances. Naturally, when it comes to hiring for posts that require late hours at the workplace, employers would rather go with men than find solutions to women’s problems of mobility.

Child care

Bearing a child is considered a topmost priority in Indian society after marriage. Funnily enough, the provisions to take care of the said child are vastly lacking. Despite mandates on maternity leave being doubled, and crèches at large offices being compulsory, many companies do not comply. And there is little will to hold companies accountable for their compliance.

There’s also the issue of paternity leave. For instance, Government of India employees are entitled to only 15 days of paternity leave while private companies have no law or mandate concerning this. Contrast this with Finland which grants 164 days each to mothers and fathers!

It was only recently that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh greenlit a proposal that guarantees maternity leave, childcare and adoption rights for women soldiers, sailors and air warriors. This provision was previously limited to only officers.

Inadequate or lack of paternity leave shifts the responsibility of caregiving solely to the mother. And it’s a no-brainer about which gender is more likely to find employment.

Making things better

So, what can be done to make it easier for women to be a part of the workforce? Pooja Sharma Goyal speaks about how Udaiti works with numerous sectors in the work field to bring in more female labourers. “In sectors like manufacturing and construction that are large employers, the employment of a female worker is not very common, due to the manual labour aspect of the work. For instance, the foundation is working towards creating an all-female construction team or, in areas with heavy mechanisation, they plan to increase women in supervisory roles. Another surefire way to increase the participation of female workers is by having more women in leadership roles,” she adds. CXO.com states that there is a serious underrepresentation of women in leadership roles due to systemic biases, societal norms, lack of role models and lack of support.

With more women at the top, there will be a better understanding of female employees and a safer and more empathetic work environment for women, thereby increasing the number of women workers.

Though the Companies Act 2013 mandates that a specific category of companies must have at least one woman director on their boards, there has been very little evolution on the matter.

Looking ahead

Though India’s trajectory of growth has been impressive, its $5-trillion economy goal can only be met when a larger percentage of the female population joins the workforce. According to a recent report by Udaiti Foundation on Fostering Gender-Inclusive Workplaces, “73 per cent of organisations have reported that they have gender diversity goals. However, in contrast, only 21 per cent of them cited having internal corporate strategies in place to implement these goals.”

With the right methods and policies, India can increase the female labour workforce by 8 per cent by 2030. Fingers crossed.