According to the third CS Gender 3000 report released by Credit Suisse Research Institute, India pointedly lags in the ratio of women holding the senior management roles and chairs in the boardroom. It stands on 23rd position out of 56 countries with only 8.5% of women occupying senior roles.
All Indian women would have either faced it or observed other women facing differential treatment when it comes to gender in the household, it starts from the childhood conditioning when women face the issues of role compartmentalising like – the daughter must learn household work and the son would look after outhouse sourcing. Since childhood, they are only allowed to dream with limitations, tagged as temperamental, emotional and their brains are trained to define their career aspirations based on the milestones in life such as marriage, children and family welfare.
It is a fact that women in leading positions are considered as role models, mentors and inspirations by many other women who have been trying hard to make their way to the top. The trickle-down effect of women in the boardroom breaking stereotypes, challenging decisions, pushing boundaries, encouraging young girls to pursue careers, mentoring budding women entrepreneurs are some of the important steps towards achieving gender balance, inclusivity and growth of women across sectors.
Let’s ask ourselves if only having women in boardrooms and notable positions is enough or is there anything more to be done to make sure they are taken seriously in their position and their talent gets due respect? I consider preparing women first as an imperative step towards sustaining leadership roles with confidence, grace and results. In today’s times, there are various women-run committees, organisations and communities which promote effective networking, learning from the experts and round table discussions. It is a fact that no learning is bigger than learning from the self and experiences of others. Hence, having more women mentor women in a structured way can make a big difference.
In 2012, HBR decided to execute a systematic look at the issue of women not being heard in the meetings and town halls, further to which they conducted 7000 surveys examining 360-degree feedback on 1,100 female executives at or above the vice president level. Finally, they interviewed 65 top executives from both genders from companies such as; – JPMorgan – Chase – McDonald’s – PepsiCo – Lowe’s – Time Warner – eBay The output of the research indicated that according to men, women lack: – Assertiveness – Allow themselves to be interrupted – Are apologetic about their decisions – Struggle to articulate
I have seen men do this really well, they like to bond with the peers and senior management to understand the expectations, outcomes and the sentiment around the meeting. This helps them identify the purpose and break the ice well in advance so that they can be actively heard during the meeting.