Gender Diversity

I wrote on Diversity of Thought earlier. Given that we are closing in on Women's Day, I thought it may be good to write on Gender Diversity and why it is so important to have it at all levels in an organization.  The observations I make in this article are more relevant to India. 

60% of women in India give up their jobs after marriage to focus on the family.  This results in Women being in the workforce at lower levels when they are young but since many of them move out of the workforce after marriage, there are fewer as we go higher.  It hurts me that we need to fight in the Parliament in India to set aside 33% of seats for Women. I believe they will get there even without these reservations.

 

The Hoysala Temple in Halibedu, Karnataka, India, was built in the 12 Century.  If we examine the carvings on the temple, it shows women in all walks of life - riding a horse, fighting a battle, at home, at school, in dance, in other art forms, etc.  The carvings also shows women wearing 64 different hairstyles and high heeled shoes!!!  This was India before the invasions started.  Post all the invasions, we seem to have lost our traditional practices and women were pushed lower down. The equality was lost.

 

Economic experts say that this is the century for Asia, in general, and, India and China, in particular.  If that is the case, let us make 21st Century truly memorable.  As proud Indians, let us go back to the 12th Century. Let us revive the glory of the past when the real India existed.  Let us let the women in our lives blossom.

I have always found that with women leaders in my team, the team dynamics change. There is a balance in aggression. There is more collaboration and sharing. The team members are more willing to share their fears and prejudices.  And, of course, there is more fun and laughter (or should I say, giggling...)

 

While, a healthy gender mix is essential, there are few points that I would like working women in India to ponder:

 

• How many times do we consciously take our male colleague or manager (our boss) out for a coffee?
• How many times do we network outside of work?  We all know that many decisions are taken outside of office.
• How conscious are we of our gender while at work? Do we differentiate (knowingly or unknowingly) between genders in our attitude or the way we speak or react to a situation?

I have seen the following in Women Managers (read - as on an average and not in every instance) - these are only the top few and there would be many more:

• Ability to multiplex - Women Managers are capable of handling various activities at the same time and they are better at this than men;
• More empathy - women managers are more empathetic to day to day problems of life;
• Emotional Resilience - I notice more emotional resilience in women than in men.

Where I see Women Managers lag behind their male counterparts:

• Willingness to make compromises in business dealings to get on with life;
• The search for perfection and trying to prove a point takes a toll on women managers and they lose the woods for the trees;
• Empathy taken to a level that sometimes takes a toll on the fact that at times managers need to also be task oriented;
• Unwilling to a larger extent to network outside of office.

 These are more relevant to Indian Women managers and not necessarily true in other countries.  Again, these have been my experiences and, as I said earlier, these are statements in general and will not fit all women managers.

Everyone comes with a bundle of strengths and improvement areas. So, with men and women managers.  What is needed is our ability to notice the talent and groom it.  Each leader can make a difference to Women Managers by communicating more and talking them through their dilemnas.  Most women go through pangs of guilt when they are unable to focus on the family (be it their parents, their husbands, their siblings, their children).  They want the freedom of choice, the financial stability and independence and the family.  They struggle to balance work and home.  This is where males should step in effectively - as managers, as husbands, as fathers, as brothers, as friends - males should take a bold step forward in doing things that are seen as work to be done only by women eg. cooking, cleaning up the house, taking care of the child, etc.  They must be able to share the workload to the extent that the woman feels confident to balance work and home effectively.  This is the only way to lessen and finally remove the pangs of guilt that a woman goes through in her life.

There are deep rooted issues in our biases and these arise due to societal issues that we see in India.  We hear of societies killing new born female children, abortions because the child in the womb is a female, discussions that daughters need not go through formal education because they are going to get married and stay back and manage their homes.  Not that managing homes is easy..but the disdain with which women are treated leaves a lot to be desired in our society.  There is a lot of change happening in our country now but we need to do more.

I will sign off with a good version of the Story of a Man's Life:

• I was born and a woman was there to hold me - my Mother
• I grew as a child and a woman was there to care for me and play with me - my Sister;
• I went to school and a woman was there to help me learn - my Teacher;
• I became depressed and whenever I lost, a woman was there to offer a shoulder - my Girl Friend;
• I needed company, compatability and love and a great woman was there for me - my Wife;
• As I grew tough, a woman was there to melt me - my Daughter;
• When I die, a woman is there to absorb me - my Motherland.