Gender Equality Today For A Thriving Society Tomorrow

There is no debate that a thriving society would gain immensely by pursuing gender equality. And whether it is the organised or the unorganised sector, the agenda must be nurtured. Whether it should necessarily continue in the shape and form it is today is a different issue though. There has been much noise, some symbolism and plenty of misplaced action in the name of Diversity & Inclusion in the larger institutional realm. But it has failed to move the larger agenda. And will continue to fail unless the paradigm of thinking changes.

Build a larger social conscience: There is nothing more powerful than shaping a more equal mindset. A lot comes from the social discourse of the times. Unfortunately, our social fabric is still steeped in the myths of the past. Educating the parents of the girl child, more schooling support for girls and curriculum revamp from primary school will start moulding hearts and minds to believe in the power of gender equality. Society must think more equally before it can behave more equally. Then you will have more women truly serving as leaders of panchayat bodies than be puppets of their kinsmen despite the so-called reservation of seats. Reservation in any case becomes then more an exercise of political convenience than societal evolution.

Focus on the unorganised sector: Unfortunately, much of the gender enhancement programmes are left to non-governmental agencies. While they do their bit, the scale is massive. Exploitation is obvious. Unless the state ensures massive judicial-legal enforcement of the rights of women in the unorganised space, everything will only be a drop in the ocean.

Talk Talent, Not Gender : As someone who has played policy and structural cards for empowering and advancing women in the workplace for many years, I confess that my approach was as flawed as most I see around me. There is just so much tokenism -women on boards, exclusive training programmes for women, the all women events for that once a year Women’s Day events, women mentors for women.  The list is endless. I would not do that any more that way. The agenda must not be to stereotype inadvertently and build more divides. It must be about talent and meritocracy. When you do tokenism from hiring to promotions, you create fissures even within the ranks of women. When you can ensure that talent has no bias, it will be better received by all, irrespective of gender. Otherwise, it allows nepotism, favouritism and mediocrity benefit the individual but destroys the support to a more substantive cause. 

Build Pluralism, Not Diversity: I don’t think women’s equality in anyone workforce comes by just having more women. Surely there must be no discrimination hurting the cause. But the focus should be on pluralism - building enough diversity on our thinking and doing. Two women do not necessarily have a different perspective just because of gender. Education, social backgrounds, work experiences, individual psychographics, industry or function anchoring actually count for more. We must build genuine pluralism. That alone will build a culture beyond me-too thinking. Yes, it takes time but why abort an agenda prematurely by destroying credibility with our short-term actions? 

Create stories. Also, change the storytelling: it is always inspiring to have examples of any glass ceiling breaches, including those that are gender-linked. But the way the stories are told must change. They must not play up that these successes happened because they happened to be women ( symbolism triumphing over better talent). They must celebrate the impact. When you do that you create deeper awe. You don’t play up the gender. It gets told far better. And inspires everyone - individuals, communities, stakeholders. Then one does not need to do shabby shams of say, average women directors but solid selections of best competence. You create role models that cut across genders. That finally is what equality is about. A Prime Minister or a CEO, not a woman Prime minister or a woman CEO. 

The challenge then is if we celebrate tokenism over substance. Do we focus more on the upstream rather than downstream? Do we look at the wider mass of women or stay restricted to a more incestuous and self-serving agenda of better-placed people, who happen to be women? There are no shortcuts. There must be a resolve beyond convenience. Only when we think less in terms of gender, will equality of gender naturally happen. Focus on merit. Stay committed to talent. Change social psyche. Build better education. The world will change. Till then we will only continue with our one-act plays.