Workplace challenges faced by women

I am invited to an event tomorrow, where working women are coming together on a platform to discuss and deliberate on the challenges they face at work place. It is a support group that wants to help women not only cope with the issues but also do something concrete so that the challenges can actually be converted into strengths and it becomes a win win for all. Women are not making progress that they have a right to and are capable of.

Frankly speaking I never thought of these issues ever in my career of over two decades and having worked with 3 different organisations. I always believed in gender equity and thought that this is how things worked, that is being fair. Infact the talk tomorrow made be think of the issues and challenges that I have faced as a woman and it was actually like opening the Pandora's box. No matter how we think 'All is Well', it actually isn't! I have tried to list a few of the issues that I have faced and also some my lady colleagues and friends have had to deal with. Some of them were so bad that a lady who was well educated, qualified and extremely capable had to quit the job. Some losing their confidence and not joining the work force ever again.

Men versus women

It is said that the men are from Mars and women come from Venus, maybe there is some truth to it. I wouldn’t even like to think of men and women as being very different. They have their own set of issues to manage. Men might be stronger physically whereas women hold more of emotional strength.  Every journey comes with it's own ups and downs as well as the meandering path that it follows. You can’t question the path unless you have walked that journey. What is easy to either sex may come across as a major challenge for the other. We should be sensitive to that.

Equal opportunities and equal pay

Women around the globe continue to face wage and opportunities gap. The issue has been raised many a times be it in sports or the film industry. These two professions have higher visibility and bigger reach. The voices are heard on a global platform. Do you think it doesn't apply to other professions? It does and I have experienced it myself. Forget the pay even opportunities are not equal; which is worrisome. Each individual has unique skill sets and similar intelligence; will deliver similar results when an opportunity is provided. Women might do better for the gratitude that they feel as things don't come easy to them.

Gender bias and stereotypes

A woman has to face gender bias and stereotypes constantly. Her ability is not at the forefront but she is seen as being less serious about her job. What creates that opinion about her, it's out of my understanding. The work place becomes non inclusive, sometimes the need for a woman to work is questioned. More so if her husband is doing well professionally. Her reason to work may or may not be her husband, it's her own education and capabilities. Every career person has aspirations. It's just that a married woman with children might work on maintaining a work life balance rather than being highly ambitious. But her aspirations cannot be undermined.

Power play and ego clashes

Women team members too work hard and achieve the desired results but they may not be given the due credit. New York University's Heilman and Michelle Haynes of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell have shown that in mixed-sex teams, credit is far more often given to the male than the female team member. Specifically, female members were rated as being less competent, less influential and less likely to have played a leadership role in work on the task. Both women and men fell into the trap of giving higher marks to the male team member. Some men can't handle women doing anything better than them at work place. If the boss happens to have this kind of a mindset, the women can never grow in an organisation like that. Forget professional growth just survival in such work places becomes extremely difficult, it is toxic!

Sexual harassment

Women face unwelcome sexual behaviour, which could make them feel offended, humiliated or intimidated. It can be physical, verbal or written. Women around the globe spoke about #Metoo, letting the world know how large and how serious the issue was. Women face it everyday, they are treated differently just for being who they are. Having strong biases and not giving them what they work for, is a harassment. Mental harassment is a serious issue!

Empowerment and fair representation

In any work culture, relationships are necessary for employees to attain professional success. Women in particular need support from people in positions of authority who use their influence intentionally to help others progress. That support and empowerment are essential to ensuring career advancement and professional development. Women may have a lot of mentors but they also need advocates or supporters, who will give them visibility, talk about their accomplishments on the board and promote them for higher opportunities.

Competent woman, a threat

A woman is not considered worthy of promotions after a certain level. This is a major problem that still plagues women.  Specially when they are competent, they are also often judged to be unlikable  by both men and women. In fact the more accomplished women become, the more they may suffer in the workplace. Leadership is actually supporting the people below you and getting more joy out of their advancement than your own. A competent person is an asset to an organisation, not a threat.

Lack of women role models

There are very  few  examples of women role models in workplaces. You can’t be what you can’t see. Research shows that almost two-thirds of women reported a lack of senior or visibly successful female role models as a major obstacle to their career advancement. Not many women hold leadership roles in spite of a substantial representation at work place. Give them the wings and see them soar high. Not just them flying but they take the entire organisation to great heights.

We have come a long way but there are miles to go before there's fair representation and equal opportunities for women. Let's make workplaces productive and happy not just profitable businesses. Women dream to get equal opportunities and recognition for their work, which is long due. Let's all make that dream a reality. A woman has the power and ability to make castle with every brick thrown at her.

PS Pictures are taken from Google for representational purpose, with due credits.

Do women get things easier?... just by being who they are!

Why can’t we take a woman seriously?.... why does she need to prove herself often  and scream every now and then to be heard.

I am certainly not a feminist and neither am I taking about gender bias here… its just a matter of fact observation that I have made over the years and wish to put it on paper today (post on my blog!). A walk down the memory lane....

We are three siblings, I have a younger brother and a sister, while growing up dad always treated us sisters like princesses, never scolded us even if we made a mistake. But he was pretty strict with our brother. Dad was extremely protective about us… he still is. I remember when we were in Kochi, we used get a medical team visiting all homes to collect blood samples from the family members to test for malaria and filaria. They would generally come after 9 pm. We, the sisters were scared of the pain .... dad would hide us somewhere in the house and not allow the med guys to even know that there were more people in the house.  Mom wouldn't approve of it... but dad was always with us!. 

Today when I look back, being a mother now, wouldn't do that with my kids... again my kids are both boys, would it have been different if they were girls? I guess it wouldn't be. But I certainly can't be sure.

In school during the primary years, the girls were the more studious types, I am not talking about intelligence here...Girls were more into giving time to their studies, paying attention in the class and participating in the Co curricular activities (they liked to be in the good books of their teachers) whereas boys were more into the playground, spending more of their time and energies there whenever they could manage a little beak. They would even have a match or two of football after school. Academically the girls might have done better but boys scored on the all round development.

During the secondary and high school days, things start to change, boys too get serious in the class room activities, I speak in a general term here, I mean the majority of them, some are serious right from the kindergarten! The results and ranking in the class start having more boys on the list. During the junior college years I guess the seriousness or maturity, (is about the same in both the genders), The results are also similar (if they matter!). At this stage the priority starts to change in both the genders. Boys might head for the technical streams like engineering, medicine etc whereas more girls would choose the humanities and similar as their field for higher education. Any professional college you visit, there will be more boys than the girls in every batch. In India, this is also a kind of 'the face' of the society where women don't get the opportunities to go for higher studies, reasons can be socio-economic or any other from the array of issues. Many drop out of undergrad programmes, as they choose to get married or are asked to settle down at the right time(!?).. This is more prevalent in the rural areas and smaller towns. Metropolitan cities more or less are out of this stereotype.

During my college days, the ratio of girls to boys in my class was 1:5 as it was a professional course and not many girls were there taking it up. The boys always felt that it was easier for the girls, what I feel today, looking back is, it wasn't easier at all, the girls had to face a lot of opposition and challenges to be where they were and doing what they were.... the time was different then. Hotel Management was meant to be a course for the cooks .... chefs weren't celebrities then. What people didn't know is that there were 10 subjects in the first year, 14 in the second year and 10 again in the third year, that the students had to learn. The subjects were chosen from the faculty of Science, Commerce and Humanities and Management. Scoring wasn't like making an omelette! It was tough... I graduated from the institute that was considered to be the numero uno in the country.  

During campus interviews would often hear the boys saying, "Oh you'll get through, just by being a girl, there are so few of you getting through won't be difficult at all, you just need to smile." Didn't like that at all, we girls were among the toppers in the batch, worked equally hard, slogged during our internship... this was the least that we expected to hear. No one made things easier for us at any stage but everyone felt it was easier for us, as we were girls....

During the initial years of her career  a woman has to work on the double to enjoy her 'space' of being a career woman and putting in best efforts... not denying the fact that the men do that too. 

Then comes the domesticity, you could be a career woman so what? that's your choice. Home and family is also yours. I am not complaining here, again something that I often hear from girl friends and women colleagues. For a woman its, being good, both at home and at the work place. The balance has to be perfect otherwise there are accusations from both the sides. Sometimes that can lead to a lot of stress... again she needs to manage that. Does she get anything easier... just by being a woman?

The other day I was talking to a friend about the women's world cup cricket thats being held in India this year. There was hardly anything in the media, there weren't many spectators on the stands either... pat came the reply from him, "Oh has to do with their uniform". I was aghast! Do they need to wear something else to pull crowds? Can't people come to watch a good game of cricket, does it make a difference that the players are women. C'mon!!.......Can we say that the cheerleaders get the crowds for the IPL matches!! Definitely Not....

Even for events like the prestigious Wimbledon, the women tennis players had to fight to get equal prize money. I guess they get the same amount since 2007. Now some argue that men should be paid more as they stay on the court longer and play more sets.

Men and women are physically different in terms of strength and so are they when it comes to endurance. That shouldn't be the comparison ever, other things being equal.

Theres a saying, 'Don't judge my path if you haven't walked my journey!' It applies to an individual and is not specific to a particular gender.It is certainly not fair to say that women get things easier..... but its for the individuals to decide.

PS

I'll keep with my promise of writing about Abhilash Tomy in my posts till he is back from his historic voyage.

(Abhilash Tomy is attempting to be the first Indian on a solo non stop unassisted circumnavigation of the globe)

I have been following his voyage and getting to know a more 'mature' him, 'an officer and a gentleman' through his updates on his page and reading his blog posts. Today he celebrates his birthday. He has the vast Atlantic and his favourite boat the Mhadei for company that is taking him closer to the Cape of Good Hope, thats the next major point on his voyage. 

Wishing the skipper a very happy birthday!

To know more about Lt. Cdr Tomy and his boat the Mhadei, follow the link below.

Check: www.sagarparikrama2.blogspot.com

            www.Facebook.com/www.mhadei.co.in