By Prerna Aggarwal, Chief Marketing Officer, Campus Activewear Ltd.
In the past two decades, women have made significant progress in securing leadership positions across diverse industries. A research conducted by Grant Thomas Bharat has revealed that India stands at 7th position globally for a 38% representation of women in Indian firms, whereas the global average demonstrates a 32% inclusivity for women in management roles. Undoubtedly, the representation of women across several industries in India has been steadily increasing. The percentage of women in chief marketing officer, chief executive officer and managing director positions has grown from 7% in 2017 to 55% in 2022. Shockingly in 2017, a whopping 38% businesses didn’t have any woman as senior manager; however, in 2022 that scenario completely changed and the percentage has gone down to 3%.
However, despite this progress, women still face significant challenges in their professional journeys. These challenges include gender bias, the glass ceiling, lack of representation and recognition, and work-life balance issues. A study conducted by IBM on women in leadership roles, indicated that companies desire change, there is intent to provide women with more leadership roles but not enough efforts have been taken towards it. Even if the firms attempt to address DEI issues, they do it very broadly and in a vague manner leaving behind issues of stereotypes and biases. It is high time for leaders to focus on breakthroughs rather than just focusing on incremental changes and they must accept that gender equality is truly an asset not only for the company culture but also for business outcomes.
Therefore, have mapped the challenges and potential solutions to bring evolution in women’s professional journeys over the next five years.
Gender bias: Organizations must take proactive measures to promote diversity and inclusion. This includes implementing policies and programs that support women’s career advancement, providing unconscious bias training for managers and employees, and creating a culture that values diversity and inclusion.
Glass Ceiling: The glass ceiling refers to the invisible barriers that prevent women from advancing to top leadership positions in their organizations. To overcome the glass ceiling, organizations must create more inclusive and supportive environments for women. This includes providing opportunities for women to take on leadership roles and responsibilities, offering mentorship and sponsorship programs, and addressing the root causes of gender inequality in the workplace.
Lack of representation and recognition: To address this challenge, firms must take steps to increase women’s visibility and recognition in the workplace. This includes highlighting women’s achievements and contributions, providing opportunities for women to showcase their skills and talents, and creating a culture that values and rewards diversity and inclusion.
Work-life balance: organizations must create more flexible and supportive work arrangements that enable women to balance their work and personal responsibilities. This includes providing flexible work hours, telecommuting options, and paid family leave policies.
As the world gradually progresses, mentorship will play a significant role in women’s career development as they seek formal mentorship and there are women who are willing to mentor others. Additionally, in the coming years remote work will create more opportunities for women and eventually retaining female talents at the workplace will see a shift as employees are prioritising relational aspects at workplace over transactional. Thus, to bring evolution in women’s professional journeys over the next five years, organizations must take proactive measures to promote diversity and inclusion.