Let's not settle for less!

Women now outnumber their male counterparts in higher education of the country. While the labor force participation still remains abysmal, it has improved during the last two decades. As more and more women join the workforce, it is important to understand the gender dynamics at work place. As a professional with 10 years' experience of working in the corporate, public and international development sectors, I have a number of learnings and observations to share on this. I hope that some of these will find resonance with my fellow women co-workers, and would invite reflection from our male counterparts as well. It is only by sharing our experiences and calling out adverse practices that we can have any hope of improving the state of affairs.

First, it is important to note that the work environment in any country is largely shaped by the societal norms, values and systems within which it operates. A patriarchal society affects women in their personal and professional lives by limiting opportunities for education and career advancement, limiting control over their own bodies and reproductive rights, generating societal pressure to conform to traditional gender roles and stereotypes, increasing likelihood of experiencing gender-based violence and discrimination, ensuring greater economic dependence on men, limiting freedom of movement and self-expression and assuring lack of representation in leadership positions. These and many other factors lead to feelings of oppression, low self-esteem, and lack of agency and autonomy for women.

In the last ten years, I have witnessed first hand, through my and many of my colleagues' experiences, how challenges posed by regressive societal values affect professional women at their work place. In short, the whole social setup, including the work environment provides men significant leverage to assert power and control over women. The manifestations of this deeply rooted male dominance are multi-dimensional and widespread. These may range from threats and other forms of harassment, to bosses expecting favours in exchange for opportunities, and from partners asserting control over women's actions and choices. Our economic and social dependence gives them the satisfaction of being superior which feeds an underlying fragile male ego.

I have seen my fellow women colleagues treated in a variety of ways by their male counterparts depending on their specific insecurities and personality. They try to undermine our...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT