IMPRESSION

Women at Workplace

Care, concern and curiosity are the natural attributes of a woman which are further reinforced by additional characteristics like empathy, flexibility and persistence. No doubt business schools are brimming with girl students and corporates are vying with one another in increasing their women employee count. While Nasscom predicts that by 2010 the ratio of men to women in the IT/BPO sector will be 65:35, the same appears to be the case already. Women are no longer shying away from the typical

so-called male bastions, be it education or career. The all-women flying crews, police stations and even security teams are only a tip of the iceberg. The entrepreneurial skills of a woman are far superior to those of a man, for she is not the one to give up easily. Further, Watson Wyatt’s study indicates that by 2016 women in India are likely to achieve educational parity with men.

Sadly, the role and contribution of women in the economic value chain of the country are rarely recognized or acknowledged. The reasons could be historic, as traditionally a woman was expected to take care of the house and the family and any activity outside was frowned upon. It is gratifying to note that the present-day woman has broken all these medieval shackles and ventured out to stand shoulder to shoulder with man, and all this while not compromising on her traditional role. Something remarkable and to be taken note of by every man. It’s time men realized that women could do everything that they could and probably do even better. Today, the working women are not only breaking the so-called ‘glass ceiling’ but are shattering it to smithereens. Though the upmarket urban career women have carved a niche for themselves, there is a dire need to uplift the rural women folk who are still an oppressed lot. The zeal and enthusiasm in them are as strong as in their urban counterparts as seen from certain governmental or NGO initiatives, like ‘self-help groups’ or cooperatives. But still there is a long way to go.

A number of corporate Indian women have achieved leadership positions and have done us proud both at home and across the seas. But despite all this, women employees and workers continue to be haunted by problems like discrimination, sexual harassment, indifference and insensitivity. Notwithstanding all this, we salute that ‘woman employee’ who carries the baby in her womb and the project deadline in her mind with equal ease and aplomb. It is no longer ‘a woman behind every successful man’ but a case of ‘a woman behind every successful activity’ now.

In this issue we have stories giving you more insights into this theme.

Happy reading!

- Col. VRK Prasad