On International Women’s Day, Diversity Digest traces the story of Indian working women—from the time they were pioneers to now as equity seekers.
A basic search on the internet about the first Indian woman to breach male bastions will conjure up over a hundred pages of results across fields- medicine, engineering, aeronautics, banking, etc.
Be it in the agricultural fields or crafts and weaves, women have always worked for generations now. However, their presence in the organized sector, considered to be the forte of men, has seen a rise since the last century.
From Dr. Anandi Gopal Joshi, the first Indian woman to pursue medicine to Lalitha Ayyalasomayajula considered the first female engineer of the country, and Kiran Bedi, the first IPS woman officer who has inspired several generations of women- there have been many pioneers. They have left a lasting legacy and inspiration for many others to pick up and follow in their footsteps. Thereon, we have had role models like Indira Nooyi and Falguni Nayar scribing longer annals on Indian womanpower.
The barriers
Yet, many factors have held back the average Indian working woman. The gender gap has been stark and can be attributed to the 3Ms-marriage, motherhood, and mobility—apart from lack of safety, and societal disempowerment, to name a few. The factors that perpetuate discrimination are as impacting as the above. State-specific laws have barred women from taking up a few roles or working beyond a particular time and categorized some industries as morally inappropriate. Only a handful of states have given women the right to choose a vocation.
The capping of work hours for women in factories has been a norm since the pre-Independence era. While these may seem to be in the interest of protecting them, the ramification on women’s career progression is telling. According to researchers at the World Bank, allowing women to work at night has a positive correlation with the likelihood of women being top managers.
Leaps of change, more to go
The ball has moved to the court of companies and governments to ensure equitability. Avtar’s Viewport 2022: Top Cities for Women in India presents the city inclusion scores of 111 cities in the country factors that determine social and industrial inclusion scores. While the social inclusion score addresses ease of living, safety, women’s representation, and empowerment, the industrial inclusion scores address career enablers, inclusive organizations, and inclusive industries.
States have begun to revisit the regressive, outdated, and stereotypical laws and companies have stepped up to bridge the chasm. The manufacturing sector has opened doors setting gender diversity targets in the industry. Technology has enabled their entry into the shop floors and in the form of all-women-run units.
Avtar’s path-breaking work in diversity, equity, and inclusion has also involved a collaboration with companies to devise equitable practices and policies. The Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI), an annual gender analytics exercise conducted by Avtar in association with Seramount, recognizes the best practices towards gender inclusion of India Inc. and celebrates the Top 10 and 100 BCWI with the most impactful gender diversity initiatives.
Many organizations now see women as a catalyst in their growth story and not a liability.
This year’s International Women’s Day theme is #EmbraceEquity. While it is globally applicable, nothing can be more relevant for India. With its commitment to SDG 5, which seeks gender equality, ending discrimination is the beginning.
