While some Davos notables had words of praise about Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech, Christine Lagarde, was more curt: "I would have loved to hear a bit more
about girls". The disapproving remark from the IMF managing director
testified to sensitivity on gender inequality that World Economic Forum
organizers have been trying to address. Lagarde is one of seven on a new
all-woman cast of co-chairs of the Davos meeting this year. For the first time
in the 48-year history of the World Economic Forum (WEF), this month's summit
in Davos, Switzerland is being chaired entirely by women. The speech by our PM
did impress the world leaders committed to environmental, social &
governance (ESG) issues but the IMF chief expected more in terms of gender
equality. This year's Davos forum has the event's highest-ever proportion of
women participants a fact that the PMs advisors probably overlooked.
Earlier this year, over 100 companies from 10 sectors
headquartered in 24 countries and regions joined the inaugural 2018 Bloomberg Gender
Equality Index (GEI).
Among the total 19 companies listed in Asia Pacific this year, there's only one
Indian company — Dr Reddy's laboratories and this is the first year that Dr Reddy’s
Laboratories has been included in the index. The reference index measures
gender equality across internal company statistics, employee policies, external
community support & engagement, and gender-conscious product
offerings. As investors continue to seek more information on companies'
approaches to ESG factors, the GEI allows investors to compare companies'
commitments to gender equality across industries. More data and greater
transparency in this space will allow investors to make better-informed
decisions and help companies better understand their own progress towards
gender equality.
Research from McKinsey, Catalyst and other institutions has
documented the fact that when a significant number of women (30 per cent)
participate in an organisation’s leadership, that organisation is more
productive, profitable and sustainable. These findings are also consistent with
research conducted by The World Bank. The fact remains that the Indian economy
has a lot of untapped potential and therefore, a unified effort blended with
gender equality would greatly enhance India’s GDP, which would certainly be
higher than the five-seven per cent that we are currently talking about. Women
make up a little over half of the world’s total population, but their
contribution to measured economic activity, growth and well-being is far below
the potential, with grave macroeconomic consequences. Christine Lagarde has put
the figure of productivity increase at 27 percent if gender equality is
achieved in India at the level of labour force.
Wage gap is an important
factor, going from employer perception to differences in the occupations men
and women choose. The wage gap isn’t the real problem; it is just an outcome or
economic symptom of a greater problem of how much we value women in our
society. Although it is a major factor, simply reducing the wage gap is not
going to help in the long run; what is important is to create a society that
respects women for their capabilities and equal opportunities are offered,
irrespective of the gender. While attaining wage equality is imperative, what
is more important is crafting a new normal where women can equally compete. It
is time for us to start at his point as we welcome entrepreneurs the world over
to walk the red carpet to make in India.
Gender equality involves both men and women;
supporting female talent, and working together, equally. One of the major
barriers that prevent women from reaching to the top of their career is the
lack of childcare support. Again,
this ranges from complete stigma to deep-seated traditions in the role of
mothers. Career progression is considerably more difficult to achieve when
you take time off, which has a disproportionate effect on women who continue to
hold the lion’s share of childcare responsibility. To relieve working mothers
of the domestic and childcare burden, parental leave for fathers should be
promoted. Not only will this allow mothers to invest more time in their
careers, but research has shown that fathers want to be more engaged and
involved in child care duties.
Although men and women have an equal level of ambition early
on in their careers, the absence of strong role models and mentors throughout a
woman’s professional development can have a significant impact on how she views
her own capabilities and career prospects later in life. If they don’t believe
they can reach a leading position at high level, then they don’t invest the
time to structure their career plan to attain it. Introduce coaching and mentoring programs to provide women with
opportunities to assess professional growth, develop their leadership skills,
and identify a strategy to achieve this. Gender inclusiveness should involve
both men and women, as initiatives involving only half of the population will have
reduced results.
Workplace gender dynamics have come a long way in India, but
we have a long journey ahead in case we want to realise our dream. In my
opinion, three things could significantly promote gender equality in the
workplace and we need to assure our commitment to these in addition to ESG
commitment, at the global stage, in case we want to see success in our ‘Make In India’ dream:
Equal
pay for equal work
Childcare
options and flexible hours
Mentoring
programs for high potential women leaders
