The Rise Of Women From Lunch To Luncheon Sessions

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: The World Economic Forum session on Women as Leaders: Their Contribution to Growth was designed differently from most of the other sessions. Since it was a luncheon session each of the panelists was made to head a particular table with participants from different fields. The moderator gave each table a topic ranging from women in business, in media to women in civil society and women in family business. While every table was to discuss the topic assigned to it over salad and soups the head of the table i.e. the panelist was to sum up the individual proceedings during the main course.

Though different issues were treated differently by each table there was consensus on the fact that the glass ceiling had been broken, discrimination had come down drastically and that the role of women in the society had intensified.

Naina Lal Kidwai, vice-chairman and managing director, HSBC Securities Capital Markets said though the participants differed on various issues they were unanimous on the fact that diversity and not monoculture (male or femaled dominated) was the key to success of any organisation.

Susan Esserman, partner Global Business Services, Steptoe & Johnson, USA, who headed the table on Women as Change Agents said women played a robust role in workplace and hence governments across the globe were making conscious efforts to involve them more and more in decision making.

Swati Piramal, chief scientific officer, Nicholas Piramal India, highlighted the role of women in spreading the message of increased role of bio-technology in human life.

However, it was Barkha Dutt, senior Editor, New Delhi Television (NDTV), who very candidly accepted the paradoxes that prevail in gender issues. Heading the table on Women and Media she said while it was true that times had changed specially in the field of journalism where in the last 30 years there was increased women’s participation in investigative journalism, political and hard core business reporting, the fact was that there were still very few women editors at the national level.

Suraiya Haque, a social entrepreneur from Bangladesh and executive director of Phulki said that the topic for her table was itself discriminatory. According to her when women were already a part of the civil society the topic, instead of saying Women in Civil Society could have said Women and Civil Society or something else.