Bypassing the glass ceiling

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: When 15,000 women walked through the New York City demanding shorter working hours and higher wages way back in 1908, they could not have imagined that it would take them so long to chase their goal. Hundred years later, women are still marching to attain parity with men in terms of job placements, promotions and equal wages. The disparity is more so in the developing world.

A study by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Understanding the level of women empowerment at the workplace, which surveyed 149 companies in India, illustrates vividly the state of affairs. While there are 16% women managers at junior levels, they constitute only 4% at senior levels. Further, only 1% of the organisations have women CEOs. At the lower rungs, too, the discrepancy exists, according to the study.

Another report by Assocham, Women top in education: Why miss top positions, released earlier this year threw up similar figures. Based on the responses of 575 women working in various sectors across the country, the survey pointed out that only 3.3% women in India get elevated to key positions despite scoring much better over their male counterparts.

The practice of not rewarding women’s efforts was found in both, the public and the private sectors. The Assocham study also revealed that 78.9% women continue to slog at humble positions, while 17.7% of them put a end to their career in only middle management cadre despite working very hard.

But given women’s ability to find solutions to the oddest of problems, they are finding their way around such obstacles. The Global Gender Report 2007 shows as much. Indian women scored 4.97 on a scale of 1-7 in their ability to rise to the positions of enterprise leadership. (see graphic). They are increasingly starting their own businesses. Right from daring new ventures of their own to setting up small cottage industries to running successful business houses, they are doing it all and doing it successfully. The growing incidence of entrepreneurship among women is offsetting lack of equal opportunity at the male-dominated workplace.

The Assocham survey highlighted that around 17% of the total respondents from the metropolis opted for self-employment or business, including academicians, despite the job market witnessing a booming period.