Barriers And Bias: Women’s Growth in Leadership Roles
The past few years have seen a wave of advocacy for gender equality at work. From media coverage of the pay gap to a growing body of evidence showing that companies with more women in the executive ranks perform better, there has never been a greater awareness in the corporate world of the need and benefits of promoting women. Despite this consensus, however, the percentage of women serving in senior leadership roles remains exceedingly small.
In 2017-2018, India stood at the 87th position in the Global Gender Gap Index, with 27 percent participation of women in the labour force which was one of the lowest in the world. It is the only developing country which has witnessed a 10-per cent decline in women’s participation in the labour force in the last decade. There is no lack of qualified women to fill leadership roles. Women earn the majority of university degrees and more women are in the workforce today than ever before. There must be something inherent in the system that’s working against them.
Today, just as the status quo is holding women back from leadership roles, it is holding men back from embracing caretaking and support roles. Having gender equality at the top benefits everyone. It’s good for both men and women to shift stereotypical ideas around gender roles. It’s good for families, whether they rely on women as the sole breadwinners or share a two-earner income. It’s good for business to draw on the creativity of a diverse staff and recognize the purchasing power of women. It’s good for the country, because the more diverse the pool, the more talented our leaders will be.
Increasing female employment has played a role in reducing poverty, sustaining economic growth, and supporting women’s empowerment and independence. Within the workplace, having more female employees at different levels has contributed to diversity, innovation and has led to improved corporate governance and financial performance. The Travel & Tourism industry has almost twice as many female employers than in other sectors. Over the last decade, the sector has provided women with more opportunities for workforce participation, leadership, entrepreneurship, and empowerment than many other sectors, particularly in developing countries such as India.
Even against the odds, women today have come a long way in challenging issues of gender inequality that existed in the workplace and business market. As women, we are the ones who carry out company standards and goals and make sure colleagues follow the same values. We tend to find innovative ways of implementing values and inspiring the team. Currently, in 2019 women like Indra Nooyi, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is paving the way for a new style of leadership that is confident, authentic, and highly effective.
I think that there is a good reason to be optimistic. I believe that, in the next five to ten years, we will see drastic changes for the better. Women managers will contribute to this positive shift by understanding that there are a certain number of expectations related to organizational leadership and by developing their skills accordingly. Men can both help and benefit by making the effort to understand the specific problems faced by women leaders today.
