Men vs Women in Workplace: Fair or Foul Play?
When perceptions influence thought more than facts, the result is nothing but bias - Bias in the matters of capability, career advancement, and recognition.
Yes, women are facing a high degree of gender bias when it comes to their career. There is a general perception that women are less capable than men in matters of business and decision-making. Almost 40 analytical studies have disproved these claims and have established that women and men are at par with each other.
Is gender bias hindering a woman's career advancement?
Let's see some of the hindrances that a woman faces.
* She is taken less seriously
* She is considered unfit and is denied challenging roles
* Her leadership capabilities are undermined
* She faces gender discrimination from the time of recruitment
* Reports say that at least 30% of women are facing pay bias
* Her family responsibilities are considered as hurdles to her professional commitment
* Her career goals are considered less important compared to her male counterparts
Why is a woman considered less capable?
The plain fact that we are still living in a patriarchal society answers it all. Gender discrimination at work is only one among those innumerable disparities that a woman comes across. So the blame is not just on the corporate world but society at large. A misconception that her judgment skills are poor also prevails.
What can corporates do?
Corporates can contribute to a woman's struggle for fair treatment. An unbiased work culture is the responsibility of every corporate which does not want to miss out on a highly potential talent pool.
* Let efficiency and capability be judged on the basis of performance and not on the basis of gender
* Provide equal opportunities for men and women for growth in your organization
* Implement equal opportunity policies
* Cultivate a work culture wherein employees do not discriminate against each other
* Encourage women to take up challenging responsibilities
* Avoid gender bias while recruiting
* Avoid disparities in the matters of pay
* Have laws and policies in place that punish discrimination and sexual harassment.
Women do realize that gender equality is still the toughest battle they are fighting, and things will not change overnight. A thorough change in the mindset of people is the most required solution to give equal and respectable opportunities for women. But how long will such a change take to happen? Do Comment...
From India, Ahmadabad
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7When perceptions influence thought more than facts, the result is nothing but bias - Bias in the matters of capability, career advancement, and recognition.
Yes, women are facing a high degree of gender bias when it comes to their career. There is a general perception that women are less capable than men in matters of business and decision-making. Almost 40 analytical studies have disproved these claims and have established that women and men are at par with each other.
Is gender bias hindering a woman's career advancement?
Let's see some of the hindrances that a woman faces.
* She is taken less seriously
* She is considered unfit and is denied challenging roles
* Her leadership capabilities are undermined
* She faces gender discrimination from the time of recruitment
* Reports say that at least 30% of women are facing pay bias
* Her family responsibilities are considered as hurdles to her professional commitment
* Her career goals are considered less important compared to her male counterparts
Why is a woman considered less capable?
The plain fact that we are still living in a patriarchal society answers it all. Gender discrimination at work is only one among those innumerable disparities that a woman comes across. So the blame is not just on the corporate world but society at large. A misconception that her judgment skills are poor also prevails.
What can corporates do?
Corporates can contribute to a woman's struggle for fair treatment. An unbiased work culture is the responsibility of every corporate which does not want to miss out on a highly potential talent pool.
* Let efficiency and capability be judged on the basis of performance and not on the basis of gender
* Provide equal opportunities for men and women for growth in your organization
* Implement equal opportunity policies
* Cultivate a work culture wherein employees do not discriminate against each other
* Encourage women to take up challenging responsibilities
* Avoid gender bias while recruiting
* Avoid disparities in the matters of pay
* Have laws and policies in place that punish discrimination and sexual harassment.
Women do realize that gender equality is still the toughest battle they are fighting, and things will not change overnight. A thorough change in the mindset of people is the most required solution to give equal and respectable opportunities for women. But how long will such a change take to happen? Do Comment...
From India, Ahmadabad
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Women have constantly been subjected to harassment at the workplace. The Indian Legal System has given ample rights to protect her interest but most women are ignorant of what they can use and when….
CJ: Rachel Arora, merinews , 12 Dec 2007 Views:2938 Comments:2
THE LAST TIME Jenny Briganza left her office it was because Sam Gera, barely a month old in the organization bagged a promotion over Miss hardworking her. She called her second job quits because a certain nobody from her company often made her feel ‘uncomfortable’ around him.
Archita Nayar, an executive with a Delhi based MNC is on the verge of quitting her job. The reason: Her boss recently pulled her cheeks while congratulating her for meeting her monthly targets.
There is no point in feeling sorry for the new age woman who shows that she is absolutely defenseless when in reality she is only ignorant about what the Indian Penal Code has to offer to safeguard her interests.
In today’s world being clueless about your legal rights is not cool. “It is like roaming around in a war zone without a shield,” says Ramakanth Misra, legal advisor.
If you know something is not working out, you need to gather your knowledge and get going instead of sitting in a corner and whimpering about it. This new age mantra is only to remind all the divas that accessing your rights on time shows that you are smart and capable of handling yourself. You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself and get rid of the ‘I’m the victim’ sign you’ve been showcasing all this while and fight back.
As per the Indian legal system you’re not helpless at all. You can battle almost any problem under the sun as long as you are aware of your rights.
Kamal Mehta, advocate says, “The problem with most women in our society is that they are not aware of their legal rights despite being educated and holding a number of degrees.”
Atul Gupta, social worker says, “Women in our country have ample rights but have been brought up in such away that they feel scared to raise their voice against injustice. They feel timid to fight back in this male dominated society. Only a handful of them have the guts to file a report or complain.”
Shalini Jain, HR Manager says, “Women feel insecure only because they are ignorant of the power and protection that the Indian Legal System offers them.”
A number of women suffer at their workplace. Whether it is the corporate world or a small retail outlet, most women have complaints about their boss’s inappropriate behaviour. Workplace woes can be sorted out provided you know what to do.
Garima Khanna, call centre executive says, “I was going crazy at my new office when a group of rowdy boys would corner me whenever they could and bombard sleazy jokes. My boss would never take this seriously. I then made a complaint in writing to the HR (Human Resource) Manager in my organization and immediate action was taken against the lot.”
Razia Khan, Senior Associate in an MNC says, “It was my second job and as per my faith, I’d always cover my head with a scarf. My team leader started calling me ‘Taliban’ just because I was a Muslim. Initially, I ignored his remarks but the teasing continued. I soon realized that his comments were targeted in a communal way. I reported the matter to the ombudsperson in my office and an investigation was carried out in which my TL was found guilty of harassment.”
Mira Nandi, executive in an event management firm says, “I went through a very hard time when my boss hit on me big time. He’d merrily walk past and slap my back or pinch me publicly. I reported sexual harassment and he was fired.”
Seema Ahuja, Lawyer says, “The Supreme Court says that any act that has a sexual overtone/nature and causes you o feel uncomfortable amounts to sexual harassment. All you need to do is file a written complaint against such behavior to the HR department of your organization and take a receipt for it. There should be a person designated (a woman) to look into these issues as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court as your employer is bound by the law to provide a safe and conductive work environment to all the employees.”
Another common type of harassment at the workplace is gender bias. If your boss tends to have a soft corner for the male species and treats you like dirt and is even paying you a lesser salary as compared with your male colleagues for the same post and same amount of work done by you, it’s high time you read the Equal Remuneration Act to your boss.
Kavita Bishnoi, corporate counselor says, “The Equal Remuneration Act is applicable to all employees including those in the private and informal sectors. It states that employees of both genders doing the same or similar work of the same value be paid equal remuneration in cash and kind.”
Mukta Gulati was made to stretch for several hours during her pregnancy period which resulted in complex health issues for both her and the child.
Anshul Choudhary, trainer in an MNC says, “I was infuriated when my boss gave me a call one week after my delivery and said that she was going to fire me because I had not told her that I was planning a baby at the time of joining the organization.”
It is often difficult to deal with an unsympathetic boss. But even she can’t do much about the Maternity Benefits Act. According to the Act a woman is entitled to payment during her maternity leave at the rate at which she was working prior to the leave period.
The maximum period of maternity leave you are entitled to is 12 weeks, which can be taken either before or after the delivery. In case of a miscarriage or abortion, you are entitled to six weeks of paid leave. You can only apply for maternity leave if you have worked with the organization for a period of at least 80 days. It is prohibited to employ female employees during the six weeks after a delivery, miscarriage or termination of pregnancy.
The best way to safeguard your interests is to know all about your rights. You can sit with a legal counselor and get to know about it in a few hours. Knowledge is power and it is up to you to make that extra effort and make your future secure at your workplace. After all, it is your choice if you want to work in a healthy atmosphere conducive to growth or if you are ready to take the filth in the name of ignorance and live with it forever.
From India, Ahmadabad
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CJ: Rachel Arora, merinews , 12 Dec 2007 Views:2938 Comments:2
THE LAST TIME Jenny Briganza left her office it was because Sam Gera, barely a month old in the organization bagged a promotion over Miss hardworking her. She called her second job quits because a certain nobody from her company often made her feel ‘uncomfortable’ around him.
Archita Nayar, an executive with a Delhi based MNC is on the verge of quitting her job. The reason: Her boss recently pulled her cheeks while congratulating her for meeting her monthly targets.
There is no point in feeling sorry for the new age woman who shows that she is absolutely defenseless when in reality she is only ignorant about what the Indian Penal Code has to offer to safeguard her interests.
In today’s world being clueless about your legal rights is not cool. “It is like roaming around in a war zone without a shield,” says Ramakanth Misra, legal advisor.
If you know something is not working out, you need to gather your knowledge and get going instead of sitting in a corner and whimpering about it. This new age mantra is only to remind all the divas that accessing your rights on time shows that you are smart and capable of handling yourself. You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself and get rid of the ‘I’m the victim’ sign you’ve been showcasing all this while and fight back.
As per the Indian legal system you’re not helpless at all. You can battle almost any problem under the sun as long as you are aware of your rights.
Kamal Mehta, advocate says, “The problem with most women in our society is that they are not aware of their legal rights despite being educated and holding a number of degrees.”
Atul Gupta, social worker says, “Women in our country have ample rights but have been brought up in such away that they feel scared to raise their voice against injustice. They feel timid to fight back in this male dominated society. Only a handful of them have the guts to file a report or complain.”
Shalini Jain, HR Manager says, “Women feel insecure only because they are ignorant of the power and protection that the Indian Legal System offers them.”
A number of women suffer at their workplace. Whether it is the corporate world or a small retail outlet, most women have complaints about their boss’s inappropriate behaviour. Workplace woes can be sorted out provided you know what to do.
Garima Khanna, call centre executive says, “I was going crazy at my new office when a group of rowdy boys would corner me whenever they could and bombard sleazy jokes. My boss would never take this seriously. I then made a complaint in writing to the HR (Human Resource) Manager in my organization and immediate action was taken against the lot.”
Razia Khan, Senior Associate in an MNC says, “It was my second job and as per my faith, I’d always cover my head with a scarf. My team leader started calling me ‘Taliban’ just because I was a Muslim. Initially, I ignored his remarks but the teasing continued. I soon realized that his comments were targeted in a communal way. I reported the matter to the ombudsperson in my office and an investigation was carried out in which my TL was found guilty of harassment.”
Mira Nandi, executive in an event management firm says, “I went through a very hard time when my boss hit on me big time. He’d merrily walk past and slap my back or pinch me publicly. I reported sexual harassment and he was fired.”
Seema Ahuja, Lawyer says, “The Supreme Court says that any act that has a sexual overtone/nature and causes you o feel uncomfortable amounts to sexual harassment. All you need to do is file a written complaint against such behavior to the HR department of your organization and take a receipt for it. There should be a person designated (a woman) to look into these issues as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court as your employer is bound by the law to provide a safe and conductive work environment to all the employees.”
Another common type of harassment at the workplace is gender bias. If your boss tends to have a soft corner for the male species and treats you like dirt and is even paying you a lesser salary as compared with your male colleagues for the same post and same amount of work done by you, it’s high time you read the Equal Remuneration Act to your boss.
Kavita Bishnoi, corporate counselor says, “The Equal Remuneration Act is applicable to all employees including those in the private and informal sectors. It states that employees of both genders doing the same or similar work of the same value be paid equal remuneration in cash and kind.”
Mukta Gulati was made to stretch for several hours during her pregnancy period which resulted in complex health issues for both her and the child.
Anshul Choudhary, trainer in an MNC says, “I was infuriated when my boss gave me a call one week after my delivery and said that she was going to fire me because I had not told her that I was planning a baby at the time of joining the organization.”
It is often difficult to deal with an unsympathetic boss. But even she can’t do much about the Maternity Benefits Act. According to the Act a woman is entitled to payment during her maternity leave at the rate at which she was working prior to the leave period.
The maximum period of maternity leave you are entitled to is 12 weeks, which can be taken either before or after the delivery. In case of a miscarriage or abortion, you are entitled to six weeks of paid leave. You can only apply for maternity leave if you have worked with the organization for a period of at least 80 days. It is prohibited to employ female employees during the six weeks after a delivery, miscarriage or termination of pregnancy.
The best way to safeguard your interests is to know all about your rights. You can sit with a legal counselor and get to know about it in a few hours. Knowledge is power and it is up to you to make that extra effort and make your future secure at your workplace. After all, it is your choice if you want to work in a healthy atmosphere conducive to growth or if you are ready to take the filth in the name of ignorance and live with it forever.
From India, Ahmadabad
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North American women have joined the paid workforce in record numbers, and much-needed attention is now focused on the effect employment has on women's well-being (Long & Kahn, 1993). Until recently, theories and research about job stress have been directed primarily at men's experiences. As a result, women's experiences of stress have remained relatively unexplored.
The conceptual literature on stress suggests that working women are prone to the same stressors experienced by working men. Yet, women are also confronted with potentially unique stressors such as discrimination, stereotyping, social isolation, and work/home conflicts. In addition, taking care of children and aging parents continues to be a source of stress for women who work outside the home (Repetti, Matthews, & Waldron, 1989).
Even though women in the paid workforce face numerous stressors, the conventional wisdom that work is necessarily harmful to women has not been proven. Repetti et al. (1989) found little evidence to support a global relationship between paid employment and either mental or physical health in women. Instead, they found that paid employment had clearly beneficial health effects for some women and clearly detrimental effects on others. These effects depended on the characteristics of the individual woman, her family situation, and the properties of her job:
- Employment contributes to greater health benefits for unmarried women than for married women.
- For married women, employment has more health benefits if their husbands participate more in household labor.
- Employment has beneficial effects when there is a match between a woman's desire for employment and her employment status.
- Job characteristics such as heavy demands and low control increase health risks.
- Some women derive greater satisfaction from employment roles than from traditional roles as wife, mother, and community volunteer.
- Work relationships that provide social support appear to improve health.
Obviously, the global conclusion that employment is inherently harmful to women is unwarranted. Employed women experience a multitude of work-related stressors, yet they appear to be better off than women who are not employed. Although multiple roles for women produce a number of benefits, certain work conditions are deleterious to women's well-being (Repetti et al., 1989).
From India, Ahmadabad
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The conceptual literature on stress suggests that working women are prone to the same stressors experienced by working men. Yet, women are also confronted with potentially unique stressors such as discrimination, stereotyping, social isolation, and work/home conflicts. In addition, taking care of children and aging parents continues to be a source of stress for women who work outside the home (Repetti, Matthews, & Waldron, 1989).
Even though women in the paid workforce face numerous stressors, the conventional wisdom that work is necessarily harmful to women has not been proven. Repetti et al. (1989) found little evidence to support a global relationship between paid employment and either mental or physical health in women. Instead, they found that paid employment had clearly beneficial health effects for some women and clearly detrimental effects on others. These effects depended on the characteristics of the individual woman, her family situation, and the properties of her job:
- Employment contributes to greater health benefits for unmarried women than for married women.
- For married women, employment has more health benefits if their husbands participate more in household labor.
- Employment has beneficial effects when there is a match between a woman's desire for employment and her employment status.
- Job characteristics such as heavy demands and low control increase health risks.
- Some women derive greater satisfaction from employment roles than from traditional roles as wife, mother, and community volunteer.
- Work relationships that provide social support appear to improve health.
Obviously, the global conclusion that employment is inherently harmful to women is unwarranted. Employed women experience a multitude of work-related stressors, yet they appear to be better off than women who are not employed. Although multiple roles for women produce a number of benefits, certain work conditions are deleterious to women's well-being (Repetti et al., 1989).
From India, Ahmadabad
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While women's workforce participation has doubled in the last 25-30 years, most women are still employed in a limited number of occupations, performing labor different from the kind of labor performed by men. For example, while 6 out of every 10 women are in the paid labor force, 58% of Canadian women work in clerical, sales, or service occupations. Men are employed in a wider range of jobs and more frequently hold higher-paying jobs (Statistics Canada, 1990).
Sex segregation of work roles creates further stressors unique to women. For example, secretaries, waitresses, and nurses experience high demands but receive limited autonomy and low pay. Routine, bureaucratic work is common in female-dominated jobs (e.g., clerical work). In addition, women in jobs that remain male-dominated often experience social isolation, a situation that limits women's opportunities for social support.
Although women are joining the paid workforce in record numbers and are moving into men's occupations, men are not moving into women's occupations. Until women's work is valued as much as men's work, this imbalance is unlikely to change.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Sex segregation of work roles creates further stressors unique to women. For example, secretaries, waitresses, and nurses experience high demands but receive limited autonomy and low pay. Routine, bureaucratic work is common in female-dominated jobs (e.g., clerical work). In addition, women in jobs that remain male-dominated often experience social isolation, a situation that limits women's opportunities for social support.
Although women are joining the paid workforce in record numbers and are moving into men's occupations, men are not moving into women's occupations. Until women's work is valued as much as men's work, this imbalance is unlikely to change.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Another important stressor for employed women is the lack of career progress. While this is a potential stressor for all employees, it is particularly problematic for women because they are clustered in the lower levels of the hierarchy. For example, women hold only 2% of senior management positions and only 5% of corporate board positions (Friedman, 1988). An explanation for this finding is that stereotypes and biases of male decision-makers prevent women's career advancement. The barrier formed by these biases has been referred to as the "glass ceiling."
The well-known Framingham Heart Study showed that women's health may be jeopardized by such barriers (Haynes & Feinleib, 1980). One of the major predictors of coronary heart disease among female clerical workers was decreased job mobility. Furthermore, women reported more job changes but fewer promotions than did men, indicating that their upward mobility may be severely constrained.
If barriers to career progress are related to decision-making processes - and there is evidence that managers use decision models that systematically discriminate against women (Hitt & Barr, 1989) - then programs need to be developed that focus on the decision-making behaviors of male managers. Education is another way to decrease occupational segregation. Thus, organizations can encourage continued education through such means as tuition refund programs and flexible work schedules (Nelson & Hitt, 1992).
From India, Ahmadabad
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The well-known Framingham Heart Study showed that women's health may be jeopardized by such barriers (Haynes & Feinleib, 1980). One of the major predictors of coronary heart disease among female clerical workers was decreased job mobility. Furthermore, women reported more job changes but fewer promotions than did men, indicating that their upward mobility may be severely constrained.
If barriers to career progress are related to decision-making processes - and there is evidence that managers use decision models that systematically discriminate against women (Hitt & Barr, 1989) - then programs need to be developed that focus on the decision-making behaviors of male managers. Education is another way to decrease occupational segregation. Thus, organizations can encourage continued education through such means as tuition refund programs and flexible work schedules (Nelson & Hitt, 1992).
From India, Ahmadabad
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ADDRESSING WOMEN'S WORKPLACE STRESS
While organizations recognize the costs of stress to women, researchers and authors have suggested a wide range of strategies aimed at preventing or eliminating women's experience of work stress. The suggestions range from individually focused actions to broad-based organizational policy changes (Freedman & Phillips, 1988; Nelson & Hitt, 1992). These include the following:
- Promote equity in pay and benefits for women.
- Promote benefit programs of special interest to women.
- Eliminate occupational segregation.
- Produce a bias-free job evaluation program.
- Provide equal starting salaries for jobs of equal value.
- Support educational opportunities for women.
- Educate men regarding the importance of sharing responsibilities outside of work.
- Provide parental leave, daycare, and alternative work scheduling as resources for preventing stress.
- Provide more job flexibility for women and men to better manage work-home conflicts.
- Promote childcare and eldercare options in the community or the organization.
- Support programs to educate and develop skills among women for managing and controlling organizational politics.
CONCLUSION
In recent years, much has been learned about the unique stressors that employed women experience, as well as some of the health-related outcomes resulting from these stressors. Policies and programs need to be developed that are preventive in focus in order for women to maximize their career potential, and for organizations to benefit from the rich resources that women bring to the workforce.
From India, Ahmadabad
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While organizations recognize the costs of stress to women, researchers and authors have suggested a wide range of strategies aimed at preventing or eliminating women's experience of work stress. The suggestions range from individually focused actions to broad-based organizational policy changes (Freedman & Phillips, 1988; Nelson & Hitt, 1992). These include the following:
- Promote equity in pay and benefits for women.
- Promote benefit programs of special interest to women.
- Eliminate occupational segregation.
- Produce a bias-free job evaluation program.
- Provide equal starting salaries for jobs of equal value.
- Support educational opportunities for women.
- Educate men regarding the importance of sharing responsibilities outside of work.
- Provide parental leave, daycare, and alternative work scheduling as resources for preventing stress.
- Provide more job flexibility for women and men to better manage work-home conflicts.
- Promote childcare and eldercare options in the community or the organization.
- Support programs to educate and develop skills among women for managing and controlling organizational politics.
CONCLUSION
In recent years, much has been learned about the unique stressors that employed women experience, as well as some of the health-related outcomes resulting from these stressors. Policies and programs need to be developed that are preventive in focus in order for women to maximize their career potential, and for organizations to benefit from the rich resources that women bring to the workforce.
From India, Ahmadabad
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EQUAL TREATMENT FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE INCLUDES DEFINITION OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME.
30th May 2001
A proposal to amend a directive on the equal treatment for men and women regarding access to employment, occupation, and vocational training includes, for the first time, a definition of sexual harassment, Fine Gael MEP Mary Banotti said today in Brussels. The proposal will be debated in the European Parliament tomorrow.
Much misunderstanding surrounds sexual harassment, and adjusting to new legislation and new attitudes can be difficult and painful. Many women have experienced this throughout their working lives and are often afraid or reluctant to confront the issue.
Many men are unaware that their behavior can be both bullying and upsetting. This is not a war between the sexes but an attempt at a more open and equal relationship within the workplace.
Many other issues affect the capacity and ability of both men and women to fulfill both their work and family responsibilities, and the proposal falls short on a number of other points:
- no guarantee to the right to part-time working for the parents of young children
- no definition regarding measures to promote family-friendly employment policies
- childcare facilities should be made more accessible by means of financial support for creches,
- the Commission proposals could go a lot further in providing practical forms of affirmative action designed to remove gender inequalities in the workplace.
ENDS
From India, Ahmadabad
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30th May 2001
A proposal to amend a directive on the equal treatment for men and women regarding access to employment, occupation, and vocational training includes, for the first time, a definition of sexual harassment, Fine Gael MEP Mary Banotti said today in Brussels. The proposal will be debated in the European Parliament tomorrow.
Much misunderstanding surrounds sexual harassment, and adjusting to new legislation and new attitudes can be difficult and painful. Many women have experienced this throughout their working lives and are often afraid or reluctant to confront the issue.
Many men are unaware that their behavior can be both bullying and upsetting. This is not a war between the sexes but an attempt at a more open and equal relationship within the workplace.
Many other issues affect the capacity and ability of both men and women to fulfill both their work and family responsibilities, and the proposal falls short on a number of other points:
- no guarantee to the right to part-time working for the parents of young children
- no definition regarding measures to promote family-friendly employment policies
- childcare facilities should be made more accessible by means of financial support for creches,
- the Commission proposals could go a lot further in providing practical forms of affirmative action designed to remove gender inequalities in the workplace.
ENDS
From India, Ahmadabad
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Sexual harassment is unlawful under federal and state statutes. You may have heard the
expression that distinction between sexual harassment and no sexual harassment is dependent on
the attractiveness of the perpetrator and to a large extent this is tr ue. If the conduct or
environment is sexual in nature and it is unwanted then it is sexual harassment.
There is a difference between sexual harassment and gender based discrimination. Gender
based discrimination and sexual harassment are not the same thing, and a claimant can have a
gender based discrimination claim as well as a sexual harassment claim. Under California law
sexual discrimination requires the claimant prove a tangible job related benefit has been lost. The
claimant must show there was discrimination in compensation, or terms, or conditions, or
privileges of employment. In a sexual harassment claim, the claimant is not required to prove a
loss of a tangible benefit. Also, keep in mind that neither sexual harassment nor gender based
discrimination is limited to claims by women. Men likewise are protected and can also make
claims. Men generally do not make claims, for fear of embarrassment or other personal reasons,
but they are just as likely to be harassed as women are.
California law also specifically requires employers to take affirmative action to prevent
sexual harassment on the basis of sex or sexual orientation. Federal law does not pr otect against
harassment, because of someone=s sexual orientation, but California specifically prohibits sexual
harassment because of someone=s sexual orientation, therefore gays and lesbians are specifically
protected and any type of sexual harassment against these groups is unlawful.
The federal statutes and courts defined sexual harassment one way and the State of
California defines in a different way. The California Supreme Court has defined harassment as
conduct that is outside the scope of the necessary job performance, conduct that is presumably
engaged in for the perpetrators owns personal gratification, or because of meanness, or because
of bigotry, or because of other personal motives.
The California Fair Employment and Housing Commission has been authorized to adopt
and pr omulgate regulations to interpret the statute that addresses sexual harassment. The
department of Fair Employment and Housing defines harassment as having three components.
There is verbal harassment, there is physical harassment, and there is visual harassment. Verbal
harassment includes epithets, derogatory comments or slurs, repeated romantic overtures, sexual
comments and jokes, or prying into another =s personal affairs. Meaning an individual cannot
comment about another person's physical characteristics, cannot repeatedly ask another person for
dates, cannot make dirty jokes, cannot ask about another=s sexual activity or personal plans for
the evening or the weekend, or many aspects of that individual’s personal life.
Physical sexual harassment includes unwanted touching, rubbing against someone, assault
and physical interference with movement or work. Among other things a co-employee or
supervisor cannot touch another, cannot r ub his body another, block another =s path, restrict
another=s movement, or sit on someone=s desk to prevent them from doing work.
Assault means threatened contact with another person with the perpetrators body or an
object in possession or control of the perpetrator. Visual harassment includes derogatory
cartoons, drawings or posters, lewd gestures or leering. Another employee cannot have cartoons
that are sexual in nature whether explicit or implicit regardless of whether is written expression or
drawings. Leering has been deemed to constitute sexual harassment, looking at women=s
cr otches or men=s crotches, or women=s breasts for prolonged periods of times, would be
sufficient to constitute sexual harassment. Keeping a collection of centerfolds or sexual cartoons
on the walls would constitute sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment covers vir tually everyone. The Fair Employment and Housing Act
exempts nonprofit hospitals and health care facilities owner or affiliated by religious organizations
from some requirements, but not from sexual harassment.
Under California law sexual harassment as well as retaliation is prohibited. Meaning if
someone files a complaint for sexual harassment, and after investigation it turns out the
accusations or claims are err oneous, the person cannot be retaliated against. Meaning you cannot
fie someone that files or makes a complaint for sexual harassment it would lead to a valid
complaint for wrongful termination. California law also protects independent contractors
providing services in accordance with a contr act, and also it protects job applicants.
California law also differs significantly on coverage based on number of employees, under
California law sexual harassment applies to all employers, as compared to discrimination laws
which apply only to employers with five or more employees, and federal laws which applies to
employers with 15 or more employees.
The employer becomes liable for sexual harassment, because of if what is called vicarious
liability, meaning the employee, supervisor, manager, or officer is acting for the employer.
Therefore the actions of the employee are the actions of the employer. If the harassment r esulted
in an adverse employment action against the employee, the employer is automatically vicariously
liable under the theory of vicariously liability, if not the employer may have a defense.
There are many exceptions that make an employer liable and that provide a defense for
employer, but the best way to determine it a claimant has a claim or an employer has a defense is
to consult an attorney. Sexual harassment is a very broad area of law entailing many different
details. There are means of minimizing the risk to the employer and every employer should be
familiar with this area of law, since it covers every employer in California. All employers should
consider pr oving training or seminars from an attorney for all employees regardless of the size of
the organization.
From India, Ahmadabad
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expression that distinction between sexual harassment and no sexual harassment is dependent on
the attractiveness of the perpetrator and to a large extent this is tr ue. If the conduct or
environment is sexual in nature and it is unwanted then it is sexual harassment.
There is a difference between sexual harassment and gender based discrimination. Gender
based discrimination and sexual harassment are not the same thing, and a claimant can have a
gender based discrimination claim as well as a sexual harassment claim. Under California law
sexual discrimination requires the claimant prove a tangible job related benefit has been lost. The
claimant must show there was discrimination in compensation, or terms, or conditions, or
privileges of employment. In a sexual harassment claim, the claimant is not required to prove a
loss of a tangible benefit. Also, keep in mind that neither sexual harassment nor gender based
discrimination is limited to claims by women. Men likewise are protected and can also make
claims. Men generally do not make claims, for fear of embarrassment or other personal reasons,
but they are just as likely to be harassed as women are.
California law also specifically requires employers to take affirmative action to prevent
sexual harassment on the basis of sex or sexual orientation. Federal law does not pr otect against
harassment, because of someone=s sexual orientation, but California specifically prohibits sexual
harassment because of someone=s sexual orientation, therefore gays and lesbians are specifically
protected and any type of sexual harassment against these groups is unlawful.
The federal statutes and courts defined sexual harassment one way and the State of
California defines in a different way. The California Supreme Court has defined harassment as
conduct that is outside the scope of the necessary job performance, conduct that is presumably
engaged in for the perpetrators owns personal gratification, or because of meanness, or because
of bigotry, or because of other personal motives.
The California Fair Employment and Housing Commission has been authorized to adopt
and pr omulgate regulations to interpret the statute that addresses sexual harassment. The
department of Fair Employment and Housing defines harassment as having three components.
There is verbal harassment, there is physical harassment, and there is visual harassment. Verbal
harassment includes epithets, derogatory comments or slurs, repeated romantic overtures, sexual
comments and jokes, or prying into another =s personal affairs. Meaning an individual cannot
comment about another person's physical characteristics, cannot repeatedly ask another person for
dates, cannot make dirty jokes, cannot ask about another=s sexual activity or personal plans for
the evening or the weekend, or many aspects of that individual’s personal life.
Physical sexual harassment includes unwanted touching, rubbing against someone, assault
and physical interference with movement or work. Among other things a co-employee or
supervisor cannot touch another, cannot r ub his body another, block another =s path, restrict
another=s movement, or sit on someone=s desk to prevent them from doing work.
Assault means threatened contact with another person with the perpetrators body or an
object in possession or control of the perpetrator. Visual harassment includes derogatory
cartoons, drawings or posters, lewd gestures or leering. Another employee cannot have cartoons
that are sexual in nature whether explicit or implicit regardless of whether is written expression or
drawings. Leering has been deemed to constitute sexual harassment, looking at women=s
cr otches or men=s crotches, or women=s breasts for prolonged periods of times, would be
sufficient to constitute sexual harassment. Keeping a collection of centerfolds or sexual cartoons
on the walls would constitute sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment covers vir tually everyone. The Fair Employment and Housing Act
exempts nonprofit hospitals and health care facilities owner or affiliated by religious organizations
from some requirements, but not from sexual harassment.
Under California law sexual harassment as well as retaliation is prohibited. Meaning if
someone files a complaint for sexual harassment, and after investigation it turns out the
accusations or claims are err oneous, the person cannot be retaliated against. Meaning you cannot
fie someone that files or makes a complaint for sexual harassment it would lead to a valid
complaint for wrongful termination. California law also protects independent contractors
providing services in accordance with a contr act, and also it protects job applicants.
California law also differs significantly on coverage based on number of employees, under
California law sexual harassment applies to all employers, as compared to discrimination laws
which apply only to employers with five or more employees, and federal laws which applies to
employers with 15 or more employees.
The employer becomes liable for sexual harassment, because of if what is called vicarious
liability, meaning the employee, supervisor, manager, or officer is acting for the employer.
Therefore the actions of the employee are the actions of the employer. If the harassment r esulted
in an adverse employment action against the employee, the employer is automatically vicariously
liable under the theory of vicariously liability, if not the employer may have a defense.
There are many exceptions that make an employer liable and that provide a defense for
employer, but the best way to determine it a claimant has a claim or an employer has a defense is
to consult an attorney. Sexual harassment is a very broad area of law entailing many different
details. There are means of minimizing the risk to the employer and every employer should be
familiar with this area of law, since it covers every employer in California. All employers should
consider pr oving training or seminars from an attorney for all employees regardless of the size of
the organization.
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Despite impressive numbers from women entrepreneurs, many still struggle to attract equity capital for non-tech ventures.
When Sharelle Klaus launched Dry Soda in 2005 to produce and distribute her brand of non-alcoholic beverages to high-end restaurants and food retailers, she didn't have to look far for potential backers. As president of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs in Seattle, it was her job to network with angel investors. So when it was time to raise equity capital of her own, she quickly put her address book to work. "When I started, all my connections were with high-tech investors," recalls Klaus, 37, "but those high-tech investors knew other investors." Not only did those other connections invest in her business, but they also helped her staff the approximately $1.5 million company and find distributors. Klaus also recently completed a $1.5 million round of angel financing.
A recent study from the University of New Hampshire Center for Venture Research shows that women outperformed all entrepreneurs in receiving angel investments to fund their business ventures in 2005. Although women-led ventures accounted for 8.7 percent of the entrepreneurs seeking angel capital, 33 percent of those women received angel dollars in 2005, while the overall rate was just 23 percent, according to the study.
"That's a really recent trend, and I was amazed when I saw it," admits Stephanie Hanbury-Brown, founder of Golden Seeds LLC, an angel investor group based in Cos Cob, Connecticut, that invests exclusively in women-led firms. "The number of women entrepreneurs getting venture capital has hit a 10-year low."
"At the same time, women are starting businesses at twice the rate of men today," Hanbury-Brown adds, citing a statistic from the Center for Women's Business Research. "The quality of the women starting businesses and the quality of the businesses they are starting has increased in the past several years."
But advocates for women-led firms argue that entrepreneurs like Klaus may be exceptions. More often than not, they say, women entrepreneurs lack access to the traditionally male world of angel investing. That—combined with angels' tendencies to invest in only high-tech ventures—has kept many women entrepreneurs at arm's length.
"[Until recently], women's experiences were more in industries that didn't grow in scale as much, so they were not as likely to be candidates for large equity investments," says Marianne Hudson, director of angel initiatives for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
In fact, it was the "imbalance of VC investments that go to men entrepreneurs" that moved Hanbury-Brown to launch Golden Seeds in 2004. "I realized women were starting companies in a whole range of industries [where] typical angel investors probably would not get beyond the executive summaries in their business plans," says Hanbury-Brown, whose group invests in a variety of industries in addition to technology.
Currently, only about half a dozen women angel groups operate in the U.S. However, that number is likely to grow. "Anecdotally, I would say there is a trend toward more women becoming investors but also more women becoming investors and wanting to invest in women," says Maggie Kenefake, manager of growth entrepreneurship for the Kauffman Foundation.
Experts say women investors are more likely to support a broader range of investment opportunities. Adds Kenefake, "Their number-one priority is a solid investment and a healthy financial return, but I think women investors [are] bringing different life experiences to the table, giving them a different perspective, and perhaps they will consider opportunities that their male counterparts might not."
From India, Ahmadabad
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When Sharelle Klaus launched Dry Soda in 2005 to produce and distribute her brand of non-alcoholic beverages to high-end restaurants and food retailers, she didn't have to look far for potential backers. As president of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs in Seattle, it was her job to network with angel investors. So when it was time to raise equity capital of her own, she quickly put her address book to work. "When I started, all my connections were with high-tech investors," recalls Klaus, 37, "but those high-tech investors knew other investors." Not only did those other connections invest in her business, but they also helped her staff the approximately $1.5 million company and find distributors. Klaus also recently completed a $1.5 million round of angel financing.
A recent study from the University of New Hampshire Center for Venture Research shows that women outperformed all entrepreneurs in receiving angel investments to fund their business ventures in 2005. Although women-led ventures accounted for 8.7 percent of the entrepreneurs seeking angel capital, 33 percent of those women received angel dollars in 2005, while the overall rate was just 23 percent, according to the study.
"That's a really recent trend, and I was amazed when I saw it," admits Stephanie Hanbury-Brown, founder of Golden Seeds LLC, an angel investor group based in Cos Cob, Connecticut, that invests exclusively in women-led firms. "The number of women entrepreneurs getting venture capital has hit a 10-year low."
"At the same time, women are starting businesses at twice the rate of men today," Hanbury-Brown adds, citing a statistic from the Center for Women's Business Research. "The quality of the women starting businesses and the quality of the businesses they are starting has increased in the past several years."
But advocates for women-led firms argue that entrepreneurs like Klaus may be exceptions. More often than not, they say, women entrepreneurs lack access to the traditionally male world of angel investing. That—combined with angels' tendencies to invest in only high-tech ventures—has kept many women entrepreneurs at arm's length.
"[Until recently], women's experiences were more in industries that didn't grow in scale as much, so they were not as likely to be candidates for large equity investments," says Marianne Hudson, director of angel initiatives for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
In fact, it was the "imbalance of VC investments that go to men entrepreneurs" that moved Hanbury-Brown to launch Golden Seeds in 2004. "I realized women were starting companies in a whole range of industries [where] typical angel investors probably would not get beyond the executive summaries in their business plans," says Hanbury-Brown, whose group invests in a variety of industries in addition to technology.
Currently, only about half a dozen women angel groups operate in the U.S. However, that number is likely to grow. "Anecdotally, I would say there is a trend toward more women becoming investors but also more women becoming investors and wanting to invest in women," says Maggie Kenefake, manager of growth entrepreneurship for the Kauffman Foundation.
Experts say women investors are more likely to support a broader range of investment opportunities. Adds Kenefake, "Their number-one priority is a solid investment and a healthy financial return, but I think women investors [are] bringing different life experiences to the table, giving them a different perspective, and perhaps they will consider opportunities that their male counterparts might not."
From India, Ahmadabad
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Even though there is a rise in the number of dual-career couples, there is still a challenge for women in management, especially in the international realm. International career is more difficult for women because of problems associated with relocating a male partner and family, and also male managerial style typically presumed to be required with international career. As a result, many women turned down an international assignment. According to ORC worldwide 2002 survey, women in North American & European firms stated family concerns are the most common grounds for refusal, whereas in Asian firms, children and eldercare concerns are the most common reason.
According to Azura Omar and Marilyn J. Davidson, authors of Women in Management, there are three underlying assumptions about the ideal roles for women in organizations:
1. “Men are the ideal organizational worker” viewpoint is the most prevalent in countries that have strong cultural beliefs on the roles for women at home and at work.
2. Equity viewpoint sees that women are identical, as professionals, to men and equally capable of contributing in ways similar to men.
3. Complementary viewpoint assumes a difference between the sexes. It also acknowledges the uniqueness of women and stress that both sexes are capable of making different, but equally valuable contribution towards organizational success.
The most common profiles of women in management are that they are more likely to remain single or, if married, childless, they receive fewer responsibilities than men, they are constantly pressured by the society and culture, and they also face difficulty in juggling the duty of being a mother and a career woman. I always wonder whether you have to sacrifice your family for your career or sacrifice your career for your family. Why can’t women have it all? Is it because they are not getting the support and help they needed? Or is it because they are not persistent enough in asking for help? Do women really lack the “ideal” competence that men have? To make matters more challenging, there are certain societies and culture where women, who have a career and highly educated, are looked down upon. Are women place is only in the kitchen?
As a woman in business myself, I support the argument that businesses, who differentiate women in the workforce and not facilitating their career and life, will be greatly disadvantaged due to underutilization of human capital. Women may not be the same as men in their analytical approach or communication style, but their diversity can actually turn to be one great advantage in business simply because diversity promotes creativity. Women, who decided to have a family, typically ended up doing management jobs that are menial with fewer responsibilities or ‘traditionally female’ jobs.
There are many studies that suggest that both maternal AND parental leave must be provided by companies. Companies should facilitate the development of their female employees’ career, regardless if they choose to have a family and support a more female-friendly firms. Moreover, government and society are raising awareness of employment equity towards female. However, how do women deal with a male-dominated culture while going abroad for an international assignment? In certain male-dominated cultures, women have no place in business. As a female international expatriate, the locals may reluctantly or even refuse to do business with her. This poses the biggest challenge for women, like me, in pursuing their career in International Management.
I would like to think that women can have it all. We all can be ‘superwomen’ without having to pay the penalties. In my opinion, if a woman really wants to have both a family and a career, she should find a spouse who would be supportive towards her decision and not bounded to traditional society expectation. Second, the typical male managerial style presumed to be required with international career may not be entirely valid. It is true that some women lack the expertise that men have in certain industries. “It has been particularly hard for firms in the oil, technology and financial industries to find women with enough experience. DNO, for instance, an oil and gas firm that operates in Yemen, Iraq and elsewhere, found women it was happy with last November, but their expertise is in finance and human resources, not oil, says Helge Eide, DNO’s president.”[i] Women who are passionate about international career must work much harder than most people, be brave, be street and culture-smart, prove that they are very very good in what they do, cultivate leadership skills, and possesses a high EQ. A high EQ is important because when a woman is dealing with male-dominated society, she needs to be able to learn as she goes, develop a thick skin, and be sensitive to the local culture. Recent history in Norway suggests that the rightwomen can make strong directors.[ii] Third, Business Week reports that women’s network can work and is flourishing because of the “eagerness on the part of talent-hungry employers to appear more female-friendly.”[iii] Women’s networks are cheap, usually relying on female volunteers and garnering little corporate funding and they can be a magnet for recruiting and retaining top achievers.[iv]
From India, Ahmadabad
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According to Azura Omar and Marilyn J. Davidson, authors of Women in Management, there are three underlying assumptions about the ideal roles for women in organizations:
1. “Men are the ideal organizational worker” viewpoint is the most prevalent in countries that have strong cultural beliefs on the roles for women at home and at work.
2. Equity viewpoint sees that women are identical, as professionals, to men and equally capable of contributing in ways similar to men.
3. Complementary viewpoint assumes a difference between the sexes. It also acknowledges the uniqueness of women and stress that both sexes are capable of making different, but equally valuable contribution towards organizational success.
The most common profiles of women in management are that they are more likely to remain single or, if married, childless, they receive fewer responsibilities than men, they are constantly pressured by the society and culture, and they also face difficulty in juggling the duty of being a mother and a career woman. I always wonder whether you have to sacrifice your family for your career or sacrifice your career for your family. Why can’t women have it all? Is it because they are not getting the support and help they needed? Or is it because they are not persistent enough in asking for help? Do women really lack the “ideal” competence that men have? To make matters more challenging, there are certain societies and culture where women, who have a career and highly educated, are looked down upon. Are women place is only in the kitchen?
As a woman in business myself, I support the argument that businesses, who differentiate women in the workforce and not facilitating their career and life, will be greatly disadvantaged due to underutilization of human capital. Women may not be the same as men in their analytical approach or communication style, but their diversity can actually turn to be one great advantage in business simply because diversity promotes creativity. Women, who decided to have a family, typically ended up doing management jobs that are menial with fewer responsibilities or ‘traditionally female’ jobs.
There are many studies that suggest that both maternal AND parental leave must be provided by companies. Companies should facilitate the development of their female employees’ career, regardless if they choose to have a family and support a more female-friendly firms. Moreover, government and society are raising awareness of employment equity towards female. However, how do women deal with a male-dominated culture while going abroad for an international assignment? In certain male-dominated cultures, women have no place in business. As a female international expatriate, the locals may reluctantly or even refuse to do business with her. This poses the biggest challenge for women, like me, in pursuing their career in International Management.
I would like to think that women can have it all. We all can be ‘superwomen’ without having to pay the penalties. In my opinion, if a woman really wants to have both a family and a career, she should find a spouse who would be supportive towards her decision and not bounded to traditional society expectation. Second, the typical male managerial style presumed to be required with international career may not be entirely valid. It is true that some women lack the expertise that men have in certain industries. “It has been particularly hard for firms in the oil, technology and financial industries to find women with enough experience. DNO, for instance, an oil and gas firm that operates in Yemen, Iraq and elsewhere, found women it was happy with last November, but their expertise is in finance and human resources, not oil, says Helge Eide, DNO’s president.”[i] Women who are passionate about international career must work much harder than most people, be brave, be street and culture-smart, prove that they are very very good in what they do, cultivate leadership skills, and possesses a high EQ. A high EQ is important because when a woman is dealing with male-dominated society, she needs to be able to learn as she goes, develop a thick skin, and be sensitive to the local culture. Recent history in Norway suggests that the rightwomen can make strong directors.[ii] Third, Business Week reports that women’s network can work and is flourishing because of the “eagerness on the part of talent-hungry employers to appear more female-friendly.”[iii] Women’s networks are cheap, usually relying on female volunteers and garnering little corporate funding and they can be a magnet for recruiting and retaining top achievers.[iv]
From India, Ahmadabad
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Oprah Winfrey stands as a role model for many aspiring woman entrepreneurs - a woman with no dearth of talent and skills. Oprah Winfrey scored double over Bill Gates and four times over Richard Branson in a recent poll conducted to select the 'Most admired entrepreneur'. She is the first black woman billionaire and is undoubtedly one of the most influential people in today's entertainment industry. Statistics reveal that woman entrepreneurs in America employ 19.1 million people and contribute $2.5 trillion to the economy. Also, women own 47.7% of all private companies in the USA.
Data proves that women, as powerful, decisive, multi-task-oriented personalities, are well-suited for the competitive world of big business. Women have been managing important portfolios, be it in the political scenario or economic development. But today, the world is seeing many such examples. More and more women are having the final say in the boardroom, heading corporations, and women entrepreneurs have evolved a new style of leadership.
What makes a woman tread a hitherto male-dominated pursuit and combat challenges to reach entrepreneurial success? What are the common traits that all successful woman entrepreneurs possess? How does a woman initiate the process of discovering what helps her in evaluating, and how methodical is her approach?
Before analyzing the special traits in successful woman entrepreneurs, a glance at the physiological variations in the brains of men and women can be beneficial.
- Male brains are 10% larger than female brains.
- Female has more nerve cells in certain areas.
- Women transfer data faster due to a larger corpus callosum, making it easier for increased flexibility and multitasking.
- Men are left-brain oriented and are largely successful in solving numbers and problems.
- 'Gray matter' - the part that allows thinking is 55.4% in women and 50.8% in men.
This reveals that women are endowed with natural advantages that aid in creating, developing, and fostering relationships. Not restricting herself to merely fostering relationships with her family, friends, and society, a successful woman uses this proficiency to build and maintain a flourishing business enterprise. She translates her natural advantages into effective networking, excellent communication skills, and empathetic behavior. Her mastery over multitasking influences her to initiate action with direction and integrate it with management and organizational skills. A successful woman entrepreneur has the attitude and the inner drive to change her dream, her vision into reality.
Most successful women entrepreneurs possess the following traits:
She is ambitious
A successful woman entrepreneur is extremely ambitious, has an inner urge or drive to transform an idea into reality. Experience from her previous tenure as an employee, relying on educational qualifications or lessons learned from inherited business, she is ready to seize opportunities, sets goals, possesses a clear vision, steps confidently forward, and is ambitious to succeed. Every successful woman entrepreneur is truly determined to achieve goals and make her business flourish. In-depth knowledge of the field is essential to success. She comes with new innovative solutions to old problems to tide over issues.
She is confident
A successful woman entrepreneur is confident in her ability. She is ready to learn from others, seek help from experts if it means adding value to her goals. She is optimistic and is more willing to take risks. A successful woman entrepreneur uses common sense to make sound judgments when encountering everyday situations. This is gleaned from past experience and knowledge acquired over the years. It is essential not to get frustrated and give up when you face obstacles and trials - a part of setting up any business venture. The ability to explore uncharted territories and make bold decisions is the hallmark of a successful woman entrepreneur. A successful woman usually loves what she does. She is extremely passionate about her tasks and activities. Her high energy levels motivate her to contribute immensely towards building, establishing, and maintaining a thriving business.
She is open and willing to learn
A successful woman entrepreneur keeps abreast of changes, as she is fully aware of the importance of evolving changes. She is ahead of her competitors and thrives on changes. She adapts her business to changes in technology or service expectations of her clients. She is curious, interested to learn, and accommodative to innovations.
She is cost-conscious
A successful woman entrepreneur prepares realistic budget estimates. She provides cost-effective quality services to her clients. With minimized costs of operations, she is able to drive her team to maximize profits and reap its benefits.
She values teamwork and loyalty
She has the ability to work with all levels of people. She is keen on maintaining relationships and communicates clearly and effectively. This helps her to negotiate even sensitive issues easily. She is empathetic to people around her and possesses good networking skills that help her to expand contacts and make use of opportunities.
She can balance home and work
Cautious of not becoming a workaholic, a successful woman entrepreneur is good at balancing diverse aspects of life. Her multitasking ability combined with support from spouse and family members enables her to blend business priorities with family and household responsibilities efficiently and effectively.
She is conscious of her responsibility to society
A successful woman entrepreneur is willing to share her success with society. She is committed to helping others and enjoys doing it.
It is no wonder that millions of aspiring woman entrepreneurs admire Oprah Winfrey for her entrepreneurial skills, business achievements, and commitment to philanthropy. A woman can choose self-owned business as her career choice provided she is ready to face the challenges that lie ahead of her, ready to walk the extra mile, and ready to rely on her own vast resources and abilities.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Data proves that women, as powerful, decisive, multi-task-oriented personalities, are well-suited for the competitive world of big business. Women have been managing important portfolios, be it in the political scenario or economic development. But today, the world is seeing many such examples. More and more women are having the final say in the boardroom, heading corporations, and women entrepreneurs have evolved a new style of leadership.
What makes a woman tread a hitherto male-dominated pursuit and combat challenges to reach entrepreneurial success? What are the common traits that all successful woman entrepreneurs possess? How does a woman initiate the process of discovering what helps her in evaluating, and how methodical is her approach?
Before analyzing the special traits in successful woman entrepreneurs, a glance at the physiological variations in the brains of men and women can be beneficial.
- Male brains are 10% larger than female brains.
- Female has more nerve cells in certain areas.
- Women transfer data faster due to a larger corpus callosum, making it easier for increased flexibility and multitasking.
- Men are left-brain oriented and are largely successful in solving numbers and problems.
- 'Gray matter' - the part that allows thinking is 55.4% in women and 50.8% in men.
This reveals that women are endowed with natural advantages that aid in creating, developing, and fostering relationships. Not restricting herself to merely fostering relationships with her family, friends, and society, a successful woman uses this proficiency to build and maintain a flourishing business enterprise. She translates her natural advantages into effective networking, excellent communication skills, and empathetic behavior. Her mastery over multitasking influences her to initiate action with direction and integrate it with management and organizational skills. A successful woman entrepreneur has the attitude and the inner drive to change her dream, her vision into reality.
Most successful women entrepreneurs possess the following traits:
She is ambitious
A successful woman entrepreneur is extremely ambitious, has an inner urge or drive to transform an idea into reality. Experience from her previous tenure as an employee, relying on educational qualifications or lessons learned from inherited business, she is ready to seize opportunities, sets goals, possesses a clear vision, steps confidently forward, and is ambitious to succeed. Every successful woman entrepreneur is truly determined to achieve goals and make her business flourish. In-depth knowledge of the field is essential to success. She comes with new innovative solutions to old problems to tide over issues.
She is confident
A successful woman entrepreneur is confident in her ability. She is ready to learn from others, seek help from experts if it means adding value to her goals. She is optimistic and is more willing to take risks. A successful woman entrepreneur uses common sense to make sound judgments when encountering everyday situations. This is gleaned from past experience and knowledge acquired over the years. It is essential not to get frustrated and give up when you face obstacles and trials - a part of setting up any business venture. The ability to explore uncharted territories and make bold decisions is the hallmark of a successful woman entrepreneur. A successful woman usually loves what she does. She is extremely passionate about her tasks and activities. Her high energy levels motivate her to contribute immensely towards building, establishing, and maintaining a thriving business.
She is open and willing to learn
A successful woman entrepreneur keeps abreast of changes, as she is fully aware of the importance of evolving changes. She is ahead of her competitors and thrives on changes. She adapts her business to changes in technology or service expectations of her clients. She is curious, interested to learn, and accommodative to innovations.
She is cost-conscious
A successful woman entrepreneur prepares realistic budget estimates. She provides cost-effective quality services to her clients. With minimized costs of operations, she is able to drive her team to maximize profits and reap its benefits.
She values teamwork and loyalty
She has the ability to work with all levels of people. She is keen on maintaining relationships and communicates clearly and effectively. This helps her to negotiate even sensitive issues easily. She is empathetic to people around her and possesses good networking skills that help her to expand contacts and make use of opportunities.
She can balance home and work
Cautious of not becoming a workaholic, a successful woman entrepreneur is good at balancing diverse aspects of life. Her multitasking ability combined with support from spouse and family members enables her to blend business priorities with family and household responsibilities efficiently and effectively.
She is conscious of her responsibility to society
A successful woman entrepreneur is willing to share her success with society. She is committed to helping others and enjoys doing it.
It is no wonder that millions of aspiring woman entrepreneurs admire Oprah Winfrey for her entrepreneurial skills, business achievements, and commitment to philanthropy. A woman can choose self-owned business as her career choice provided she is ready to face the challenges that lie ahead of her, ready to walk the extra mile, and ready to rely on her own vast resources and abilities.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Woman's Survival Reality-Based Personal Protection 2008 DVDR NTSC-420RipZ [www.ilovetorrents.com]
If you are interested in "Woman's Survival Reality-Based Personal Protection 2008," you can find the DVD on [Mininova](http://www.mininova.org/tor/1707189). This movie falls under the category of Tutorial.
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If you are interested in "Woman's Survival Reality-Based Personal Protection 2008," you can find the DVD on [Mininova](http://www.mininova.org/tor/1707189). This movie falls under the category of Tutorial.
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Yoga for Your Eyes
Yoga for Your Eyes: Movies > Tutorial - Mininova
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Yoga for Your Eyes: Movies > Tutorial - Mininova
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Two articles about women in IT appeared in the press recently. Writing in Computing on 8 September, Gillian Arnold explained that, "Recruiting and retaining experienced women in our industry is of paramount importance, and is fundamental to the future competitiveness of the UK's IT industry. In an industry that regards itself as leading-edge in the value it delivers to the UK economy and society, companies can no longer avoid addressing their failure to create a working environment that attracts and retains senior, qualified women. The number of women working in the IT industry fell from 27 per cent in 1997 to 21 per cent in 2004. And even though the number of women employed in the IT industry has stabilised, the sector is still losing experienced, senior women from its ranks. Unfortunately, there are still organisations, or senior individuals, within the technology industry that believe talk of diversity is a meaningless diversion from the conduct and professionalism of everyday business life."
By contrast Female IT managers topple men in pay league appeared on the silicon.com website on 19 September in which Andy McCue reported that, "Female IT managers are for the first time earning more than their male counterparts and women are also climbing the corporate ladder faster, according to the annual salary survey from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Across all sectors the average female team leader, at 37 years old, is four years younger than her male counterpart, while female IT managers earn on average ÂŁ45,869 per year - ÂŁ779 more than the men do." It was reported Paul Campfield, director of Remuneration Economics, said in a statement: "It is encouraging to see that the number of female managers continues to increase but it is worrying that they are still more likely to resign. The implication is that female managers still face difficulties in the workplace and organisations should address these quickly because, unchallenged, these problems will demotivate and disrupt with the end result being poor performance and productivity levels."
So what is the truth about women's prospects and influence within the IT industry? A number of experts have given their opinions. Professor Alison Adam (UK) pointed out that, "All the evidence so far suggests that women don't fare as well as men in the IT industry in financial terms - things like salary secrets are rife. I doubt this [CMI survey] will mean that there has been a sudden change in the IT industry in gender equity terms- our research [at Salford University] so far suggests that women still have a pretty tough time in the IT industry." Professor Wendy Hall (UK) of University of Southampton agrees, "... it's almost certainly true that less than 20% of the IT workforce is female. And very few of these women get to the top of this very macho world. So those that do get to the top have to be very good." Similarly, Professor Teressa Rees (UK), Pro Vice Chancellor Student/Staff Issues at Cardiff University explained that, "There is a pay gap among [IT] graduates within three years of graduating, companies may well recuit women but are not so good at retaining or promoting them. These figures [from the CMI survey] should not be used to invoke complacency."
In the US the situation for women in IT is difficult. Caroline Wardle (USA) explained that, "... it is not unusual for women and men to be hired at the same salary levels on entry to high-skilled IT jobs, but after a few year the men's salaries outstrip the women's. It is also the case that women's representation in the US IT workforce has been dropping steadily over the past decade and a half." "According to the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Report 985 produced in May of 2005, women computer and information systems managers earn 79.4% of men's earnings. For computer scientists and systems engineers, women earn 82.6% of what men earn. So the gap has not closed in the US." stated Professor Fran Grodzinsky (USA).
Experts went on to discuss the reasons behind men/women IT employment differences. Eva Turner (UK), Organiser of Women into Computing 2005 pointed out that; "[McCue] does not indicate anything about the power struggles and the conditions under which all workers in today's ICT industries are expected to work (high pressure, highly intensive, available 24 hours/day, no unions etc). ... There is a documented trend of women top managers choosing not to start a family or have children as the pressure of the top success does not allow the to make that choice." This theme was picked up by Professor Fran Grodzinsky (USA); "Our research supports the idea that women are leaving when they have to balance family and child rearing with the enormous time commitment that a managerial role demands. A change in the corporate culture that builds in flexibility might alleviate the drain of top women talent from the industry." If this change does not happen then perhaps the observation by Vanessa Hymas Deputy CEO of IMIS will remain true; "I wonder whether the surveyed females can spot more easily that the battle cannot be won, so move on to an organisation more appreciative of their worth, or whether other pressures on their lives suggest to them that life is just too short to continue the struggle!"
Concerning talent and ability of IT women professionals, Professor Wendy Hall (UK) said, "Increasingly every aspect of what the company does will rely on IT, and so the IT manager/director role is increasingly important in terms of managing up as well as down. These are all skills that bat to the strengths of women." However there was a different view from Professor Vivian Lagesen from the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She was dismissive of the idea that women are better than men at people skills explaining, "... and as my own research has shown, there is a widespread notion or discourse about women being better at communicating, having better people skills, being more versatile, etc. that makes them better computer scientists and perhaps better managers." She continued, "Since many women seem to be not that obsessed with programming, as some men are, they are more likely to seek other career opportunities and often also chooses they way out of the most technical areas of computing and toward other areas such as sales, marketing and as this article shows, also management. Also, my own research show that women to a much larger extent than men are recruited to computer science studies because of career opportunities, whilst men are more often recruited because of interest in computers. I think these may be the most important points in this respect."
Please send your views on ethical and social responsibility issues and cases of ethical dilemmas to:
From India, Ahmadabad
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By contrast Female IT managers topple men in pay league appeared on the silicon.com website on 19 September in which Andy McCue reported that, "Female IT managers are for the first time earning more than their male counterparts and women are also climbing the corporate ladder faster, according to the annual salary survey from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Across all sectors the average female team leader, at 37 years old, is four years younger than her male counterpart, while female IT managers earn on average ÂŁ45,869 per year - ÂŁ779 more than the men do." It was reported Paul Campfield, director of Remuneration Economics, said in a statement: "It is encouraging to see that the number of female managers continues to increase but it is worrying that they are still more likely to resign. The implication is that female managers still face difficulties in the workplace and organisations should address these quickly because, unchallenged, these problems will demotivate and disrupt with the end result being poor performance and productivity levels."
So what is the truth about women's prospects and influence within the IT industry? A number of experts have given their opinions. Professor Alison Adam (UK) pointed out that, "All the evidence so far suggests that women don't fare as well as men in the IT industry in financial terms - things like salary secrets are rife. I doubt this [CMI survey] will mean that there has been a sudden change in the IT industry in gender equity terms- our research [at Salford University] so far suggests that women still have a pretty tough time in the IT industry." Professor Wendy Hall (UK) of University of Southampton agrees, "... it's almost certainly true that less than 20% of the IT workforce is female. And very few of these women get to the top of this very macho world. So those that do get to the top have to be very good." Similarly, Professor Teressa Rees (UK), Pro Vice Chancellor Student/Staff Issues at Cardiff University explained that, "There is a pay gap among [IT] graduates within three years of graduating, companies may well recuit women but are not so good at retaining or promoting them. These figures [from the CMI survey] should not be used to invoke complacency."
In the US the situation for women in IT is difficult. Caroline Wardle (USA) explained that, "... it is not unusual for women and men to be hired at the same salary levels on entry to high-skilled IT jobs, but after a few year the men's salaries outstrip the women's. It is also the case that women's representation in the US IT workforce has been dropping steadily over the past decade and a half." "According to the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Report 985 produced in May of 2005, women computer and information systems managers earn 79.4% of men's earnings. For computer scientists and systems engineers, women earn 82.6% of what men earn. So the gap has not closed in the US." stated Professor Fran Grodzinsky (USA).
Experts went on to discuss the reasons behind men/women IT employment differences. Eva Turner (UK), Organiser of Women into Computing 2005 pointed out that; "[McCue] does not indicate anything about the power struggles and the conditions under which all workers in today's ICT industries are expected to work (high pressure, highly intensive, available 24 hours/day, no unions etc). ... There is a documented trend of women top managers choosing not to start a family or have children as the pressure of the top success does not allow the to make that choice." This theme was picked up by Professor Fran Grodzinsky (USA); "Our research supports the idea that women are leaving when they have to balance family and child rearing with the enormous time commitment that a managerial role demands. A change in the corporate culture that builds in flexibility might alleviate the drain of top women talent from the industry." If this change does not happen then perhaps the observation by Vanessa Hymas Deputy CEO of IMIS will remain true; "I wonder whether the surveyed females can spot more easily that the battle cannot be won, so move on to an organisation more appreciative of their worth, or whether other pressures on their lives suggest to them that life is just too short to continue the struggle!"
Concerning talent and ability of IT women professionals, Professor Wendy Hall (UK) said, "Increasingly every aspect of what the company does will rely on IT, and so the IT manager/director role is increasingly important in terms of managing up as well as down. These are all skills that bat to the strengths of women." However there was a different view from Professor Vivian Lagesen from the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She was dismissive of the idea that women are better than men at people skills explaining, "... and as my own research has shown, there is a widespread notion or discourse about women being better at communicating, having better people skills, being more versatile, etc. that makes them better computer scientists and perhaps better managers." She continued, "Since many women seem to be not that obsessed with programming, as some men are, they are more likely to seek other career opportunities and often also chooses they way out of the most technical areas of computing and toward other areas such as sales, marketing and as this article shows, also management. Also, my own research show that women to a much larger extent than men are recruited to computer science studies because of career opportunities, whilst men are more often recruited because of interest in computers. I think these may be the most important points in this respect."
Please send your views on ethical and social responsibility issues and cases of ethical dilemmas to:
From India, Ahmadabad
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Women Explained... by Engineers. Funny Pictures. Yoke Main Page.
Women Explained... by Engineers
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In the provided text, there are no evident spelling or grammatical errors to correct. The paragraphs are appropriately separated with a single line break between them. The original content and meaning are maintained.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Women Explained... by Engineers
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In the provided text, there are no evident spelling or grammatical errors to correct. The paragraphs are appropriately separated with a single line break between them. The original content and meaning are maintained.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Hi,
In your post, you mentioned a case wherein one woman got a call from her boss and was fired for not informing in advance about planning a baby. Real case studies on citehr show that the HR people on citehr share the same mindset as the mentioned boss. For example, there was a case discussion about a marriage issue where an employee requested a 45-day leave and the possibility of going abroad. This led to a negative reaction from HR professionals on the site, with many suggesting that candidates should be questioned during interviews about their plans for having a baby, getting married, etc., and job decisions should be made based on their responses.
Even some prominent members of CITEHR still hold on to these outdated beliefs.
Thank you.
From India, Pune
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In your post, you mentioned a case wherein one woman got a call from her boss and was fired for not informing in advance about planning a baby. Real case studies on citehr show that the HR people on citehr share the same mindset as the mentioned boss. For example, there was a case discussion about a marriage issue where an employee requested a 45-day leave and the possibility of going abroad. This led to a negative reaction from HR professionals on the site, with many suggesting that candidates should be questioned during interviews about their plans for having a baby, getting married, etc., and job decisions should be made based on their responses.
Even some prominent members of CITEHR still hold on to these outdated beliefs.
Thank you.
From India, Pune
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:) Yes... discrimination continues and will do so for sometime. The corporate world does not want to make any changes to the existing tried & tested methods of sticking to the old routine of having more "MAN"power!!!
I think Women by nature are extremely capable in all areas of life. She is a mutlifaceted personality and a force to reckon with.. so the Organisations need to wake up and focus on creating a flexible work environment, measure performance through outputs, emphazise on goals/values – be it personal or family, with business strategies adhering to these values, give suitable training programmes and thus wake up to empowering Women. This would also groom Women Leaders!!
I think Women are GOD's gift to "Mankind" and this will never change. What do you say guys...? Let us take a leaf out of Pepsico CEO - Indra Nooyi or Our Bright shining Star..Kiran Bedi! Indra Nooyi is turning pepsico around with production and selling based on values of good, healthy living!!!! Kiran Bedi is another living example and a person I admire for the tough fight she put up in a man's world!!!
Good LUck Guys!! Be Positive!:)
From India, Madras
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I think Women by nature are extremely capable in all areas of life. She is a mutlifaceted personality and a force to reckon with.. so the Organisations need to wake up and focus on creating a flexible work environment, measure performance through outputs, emphazise on goals/values – be it personal or family, with business strategies adhering to these values, give suitable training programmes and thus wake up to empowering Women. This would also groom Women Leaders!!
I think Women are GOD's gift to "Mankind" and this will never change. What do you say guys...? Let us take a leaf out of Pepsico CEO - Indra Nooyi or Our Bright shining Star..Kiran Bedi! Indra Nooyi is turning pepsico around with production and selling based on values of good, healthy living!!!! Kiran Bedi is another living example and a person I admire for the tough fight she put up in a man's world!!!
Good LUck Guys!! Be Positive!:)
From India, Madras
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Hi Jay,
Thank you for your articles. I agree with you up to some extent. I have seen many girls/ladies who are not aware of what they are capable of and what they can achieve. They seem content with arriving late and leaving early. Girls/ladies need to change themselves, and this change should reflect in their behavior. I believe that by changing myself, I can acquire the capability to influence society positively. This is just a raw thought, and I look forward to continuing the discussion.
Regards,
Resh
From India, Mumbai
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Thank you for your articles. I agree with you up to some extent. I have seen many girls/ladies who are not aware of what they are capable of and what they can achieve. They seem content with arriving late and leaving early. Girls/ladies need to change themselves, and this change should reflect in their behavior. I believe that by changing myself, I can acquire the capability to influence society positively. This is just a raw thought, and I look forward to continuing the discussion.
Regards,
Resh
From India, Mumbai
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Introduction
Women are under represented in the Information Technology (IT) workforce. In the United States, although women make up about forty five percent of the overall labor force they make up only about thirty five percent of the IT workforce. (Information Technology Association of America 2003, p. 11). Within IT, women’s representation declines as one moves up to higher level occupations. While women are relatively more numerous among data entry keyers and computer operators, they are relatively less likely to be found in high level occupations like systems analysts and computer programmers.
The relatively low representation of women in IT fields parallels a broader pattern of gender differentials in other scientific and technical fields. In all science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields combined, women held 25.9 percent of jobs in 2003. Women’s representation varies widely by sub-fields, however: 65.8 percent of psychologists and 54.6 percent of social scientists are women, but only 10.4 percent of engineers, and 37.4 percent of natural scientists (Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology 2004, p. 2).
Over the course of the past 100 years there has been a dramatic change in women’s economic role. In 1900 only one in five adult women worked outside the home, and most of these were young and unmarried (Goldin 1990, ch. 1). Since then male and female labor force participation rates have tended to converge. Between 1900 and 1950 there was a gradual expansion of women’s labor force participation. After World War II the pace of change accelerated sharply as more married women entered the labor force. During the 1960s and early 1970s a series of legal changes significantly broadened protection of women’s rights ending essentially all forms of overt discrimination (Fuchs 1988, chs. 1-2; Long 2001, pp. 9-10). The removal of these barriers in combination with the availability of cheap and reliable birth control technology greatly facilitated the entry of women into higher education, and technical and professional positions (Goldin and Katz 2002).
Nevertheless, as the figures cited at the outset reveal, women’s participation in IT and other technical fields has not increased as rapidly as it has in less technical fields. And in striking contrast to the general trend toward increasing female participation in most areas of the workforce, women’s share of the IT workforce in the United States has actually declined over the past two decades. Any effort to explain gender differences in IT must begin with an understanding of how the number, characteristics and pay of women in IT have evolved over time, and across different sub-fields within IT. This chapter provides a foundation for this analysis by documenting recent changes in the number of women employed in IT, their demographic characteristics and relative pay.
Background
A discussion of the gender composition and characteristics of the IT workforce must begin by clarifying what is meant by IT. This is difficult because IT encompasses a broad array of products and activities related to computing and communications in the modern economy (Freeman and Aspray 1999, pp. 29-31). Although many workers make use of IT in their jobs most studies agree that only those workers who are responsible for creating IT hardware and software should be included in the IT workforce, while those who are primarily users of these products should be excluded (In addition to Freeman and Aspray, see National Research Council 2001, pp. 44-54; Ellis and Lowell 1999, p. 1).
Whatever conceptual definition one adopts, however, its application is limited by the classification schemes used by agencies engaged in collecting data on different elements of the workforce. In what follows we will focus on those IT occupations that are enumerated in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS data cover Computer Systems Analysts, Computer Programmers, Operations and Systems Researchers, Computer Operators, and Computer Operators Supervisors. These occupations constitute more or less what the National Research Council (2001, p. 48) has termed "Category 1" IT occupations: those involved with the creation of new products, services and applications. CPS data do not permit us to measure or describe the characteristics of the National Research Council’s "Category 2" occupations: those involved in the application, adaptation, configuration, support or implementation of IT products or services (National Research Council 2001, p. 49). Because occupational titles do not adequately capture the IT content of the support activities of many of the technicians and other occupations included in this group it is more difficult to adequately measure its size or demographic characteristics.
Main Thrust
An Overview of IT Labor Market Conditions
The rapid and sustained decline in the cost of computers over the past two decades has been a prominent factor in the reorganization of work in the United States. Between 1984, near the beginning of the personal computer era, and 2001 the quality-adjusted price of computers fell at an average annual rate of 16 percent, resulting in an 18-fold drop in price (US Department of Commerce; cited in Weil 2005, p. 263). As personal computers diffused into widespread use, mini-computers vanished from the market, and sales of large corporate mainframes languished. Shifting markets and the changing needs of users resulted in significant shifts in the software industry. Growing consumer markets fostered growth of the packaged software industry, and created whole new categories of software. Since the early 1990s, the spread of the internet and the increasing importance of networked computing have initiated a new round of changes in the IT industry (Mowery and Rosenberg 1998, ch. 151-63). Adding to demand pressures during the late 1990s was global concern about the Y2K problem.
Strong demand for IT professionals contributed to a rapid expansion of the IT workforce and rising relative pay. From 1983 to the peak of the technology boom in 2000, the IT workforce more than doubled in size, increasing from 1.47 million to 3.13 million persons. To put this in perspective, during this same period the total U.S. labor force increased by just 34 percent, from 99.5 million persons to 132.2 million persons (these figures and all the subsequent statistics are derived from the authors’ computations based on data from the Current Population Survey’s merged outgoing rotation groups). Despite the loss of more than 200 thousand IT jobs in the next two years, the IT labor force in 2002 was still 96 percent larger than it had been in 1983.
To draw more workers into IT jobs relative pay had to rise substantially. In 1983 the median hourly wage of full-time IT professionals was about 20 percent above that for all non-IT occupations. By the late 1990s the wage gap had more than tripled, so that IT professionals earned more than 60 percent more than did workers outside of IT.
The growth of IT employment coincided with important changes in the type of jobs performed by IT professionals. Most obviously, as the importance of mainframe computers diminished, the number of computer operators fell substantially. From a peak of 962 thousand computer operators in 1986, the number of computer operators had fallen to just over 300 thousand by 2002. From being close to half of all IT professionals in the mid-1980s this category of workers fell to under 11 percent of the IT workforce by 2002. Offsetting this decline was the extremely rapid growth in the number of computer systems analysts and scientists. This segment of the IT labor force grew from 273 thousand in 1983 to more than 1.7 million in 2002. By the latter year, this category of workers constituted over 60 percent of all IT professionals, up from less than 20 percent in the early 1980s.
Gender Differences in Employment, Earnings and Hours
Contrary to the trends in most of the US labor force, the share of women in the IT workforce has declined substantially over the past two decades. In 1983 women made up slightly more of the full-time IT workforce, 43 percent, than they did of all full-time non-IT workers, 40 percent. By 2002, however, the share of women in IT had fallen sharply, dropping to 30 percent, while the share in the non-IT workforce had risen to over 49 percent.
The decline of female representation in IT is troubling, but much of this decline can be accounted for by the declining number of computer operators. Removing this group the share of women in other IT occupations has remained quite stable at around 28 to 29 percent of the workforce. Thus the falling share of women reflects the growing importance within IT of occupations that have traditionally been dominated by men (and, implicitly, the failure of more women to enter these traditionally male-dominated fields).
As is true more generally, women in IT earn less than men do. Indeed the gender wage gap in IT is quite similar to that in the rest of the labor force. In 2002 women in IT earned 82.5 percent as much per hour as men, while in the rest of the labor force they earned 82.8 percent of what men did. Average pay for computer operators is considerably lower than for other IT occupations, so the concentration of women in this field tends to magnify the gender pay gap. Excluding computer operators, women earned about 86 percent of what men did in the remaining IT occupations. This pay ratio has been approximately constant over the past two decades, increasing only from 83 percent in the early 1980s.
IT occupations are often characterized as involving long hours and requiring a significant time commitment. One reflection of this is the higher proportion of both men and women in IT who work full time. In 2002, 95 percent of men and 91 percent of women in IT worked full-time. In non-IT jobs 87 percent of men and just 73 percent of women worked full-time. As a result the average women in IT worked more than 3 additional hours per week than did the average woman in a non-IT job (39.5 hours compared to 36.2 hours). The longer hours in IT may be one factor that discourages women–especially those with young children–from going into or staying in the field.
Gender Differences in Demographic Characteristics
Table 1 summarizes a variety of demographic characteristics for IT and non-IT occupations broken down by gender. As the table reveals, IT workers tend to be somewhat younger than the rest of the labor force. This is especially true for male IT workers, who are on average more than three years younger than their non-IT counterparts, but female IT workers are also younger than women in non-IT occupations. Reflecting the high levels of training needed to enter IT professions, many more workers in IT jobs have bachelors degrees or higher. Fully two-thirds of men and more than half of women in IT occupations have at least a Bachelors degree, compared to 30 percent of men and 31 percent of women in non-IT occupations.
Table 1:
Selected Demographic Characteristics of Information Technology and Non-Information Technology Workers, 2002
Information Technology Non-Information Technology
Male Female Male Female
Average age 37.9 39.9 41.0 41.0
Percent with Bachelors Degree 50.0 39.4 19.4 21.0
Percent with more than Bachelor's Degree 19.0 13.6 10.49 10.1
Percent married, spouse present 64.9 53.4 64.7 54.3
Percent never married 26.2 27.4 22.6 22.7
Percent living with one or more of their own children 58.2 54.2 56.3 53.8
Source: Authors' calculations from Current Population Survey merged outgoing rotation group data.
In contrast to the differences in age and education levels, the percent of workers who are married with spouse present is relatively similar between IT and non-IT occupations. It is true, however, that IT workers are somewhat more likely to have never been married than is true for those in non-IT occupations, but it seems likely that this is due to the fact that IT professionals are younger than the non-IT workforce. Reflecting the fact that married women are still more likely to exit the labor force than are married men, within both groups working women are less likely to be married with their spouse present than is true for men. On the other hand, the proportions of workers with one or more of their own children present in the household is quite similar between IT and non-IT occupations, suggesting that this pattern is similar for both IT and non-IT workers.
Future Trends
After nearly two decades of explosive growth and transformation the expansion of the IT workforce came to an abrupt halt with the collapse of the technology bubble in 2001. For the past several years the number of IT workers has been declining. This decline is generally expected to be temporary, and most forecasts anticipate that employment in IT occupations will continue to grow more quickly than in the labor force generally, though the differential is unlikely to be as large as it was in the past (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2004).
In the past few years there has been increasing concern about the role of off-shoring in IT job losses. There have been numerous reports of companies exporting technical support and programming jobs to suppliers in India, China, and other low-wage countries with well-educated labor forces. Given the large international differences in wages, shifting some tasks to Asian countries is an attractive option for U.S. companies seeking to cut labor costs. But it is important not to overstate the potential impact of this trend. Off-shoring is most effective when the tasks to be performed have been routinized. These, in turn are the sorts of jobs that are most in-danger of being automated in any event. Jobs requiring specialized knowledge of business practices and discretionary decisions are likely to continue to be performed in proximity to customers, thus ensuring that the vast majority of higher level IT jobs, such as those performed by systems analysts, will remain in the United States (Edwards 2004).
While this suggests that IT job losses in the United States due to off-shoring may be small, it also suggests that the composition of IT jobs will remain biased towards those high skilled jobs that contain relatively few women. Thus prospects for increasing the representation of women in IT appear relatively bleak. If relatively few women have been drawn into the rapidly growing field of computer systems analysts and scientists during the period of rapid expansion in employment, opportunities for women are likely to remain limited in the future as aggregate growth slows. More research is needed to understand why women have tended to avoid these higher-level IT jobs, and to identify those dimensions of education, hiring, and retention that have produced such large gender gaps in representation.
Conclusion
During the past half-century gender differences in the labor market have closed substantially. Overall, women’s labor force participation behavior has come increasingly to resemble that of men, so that today women constitute approximately half of the US labor force. Although a gender earnings gap remains today, the size of this gap has been reduced considerably, and after accounting for differences in education, experience and other characteristics it is smaller than indicated by unadjusted comparisons.
Set against the background of these broad labor market changes, gender differences in Information Technology are striking. While total employment in IT has grown rapidly, women’s share of employment across all IT occupations has fallen substantially over the past two decades. The absence of women does not reflect an absence of financial incentives. Gender pay gaps in IT have paralleled those in the workforce generally. Since pay in IT occupations has grown quite quickly women could realize significant financial rewards from moving into IT occupations.
Although the growing gender gap in IT employment is largely due to changes in the mix of IT occupations that has increased the numbers of computer systems analysts and scientists, the fact remains that women hold less than one-third of such jobs today, about the same proportion as they held 20 years earlier. The persistent under representation of women in these higher level IT occupations is an as yet unexplained phenomenon that requires further study.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Women are under represented in the Information Technology (IT) workforce. In the United States, although women make up about forty five percent of the overall labor force they make up only about thirty five percent of the IT workforce. (Information Technology Association of America 2003, p. 11). Within IT, women’s representation declines as one moves up to higher level occupations. While women are relatively more numerous among data entry keyers and computer operators, they are relatively less likely to be found in high level occupations like systems analysts and computer programmers.
The relatively low representation of women in IT fields parallels a broader pattern of gender differentials in other scientific and technical fields. In all science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields combined, women held 25.9 percent of jobs in 2003. Women’s representation varies widely by sub-fields, however: 65.8 percent of psychologists and 54.6 percent of social scientists are women, but only 10.4 percent of engineers, and 37.4 percent of natural scientists (Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology 2004, p. 2).
Over the course of the past 100 years there has been a dramatic change in women’s economic role. In 1900 only one in five adult women worked outside the home, and most of these were young and unmarried (Goldin 1990, ch. 1). Since then male and female labor force participation rates have tended to converge. Between 1900 and 1950 there was a gradual expansion of women’s labor force participation. After World War II the pace of change accelerated sharply as more married women entered the labor force. During the 1960s and early 1970s a series of legal changes significantly broadened protection of women’s rights ending essentially all forms of overt discrimination (Fuchs 1988, chs. 1-2; Long 2001, pp. 9-10). The removal of these barriers in combination with the availability of cheap and reliable birth control technology greatly facilitated the entry of women into higher education, and technical and professional positions (Goldin and Katz 2002).
Nevertheless, as the figures cited at the outset reveal, women’s participation in IT and other technical fields has not increased as rapidly as it has in less technical fields. And in striking contrast to the general trend toward increasing female participation in most areas of the workforce, women’s share of the IT workforce in the United States has actually declined over the past two decades. Any effort to explain gender differences in IT must begin with an understanding of how the number, characteristics and pay of women in IT have evolved over time, and across different sub-fields within IT. This chapter provides a foundation for this analysis by documenting recent changes in the number of women employed in IT, their demographic characteristics and relative pay.
Background
A discussion of the gender composition and characteristics of the IT workforce must begin by clarifying what is meant by IT. This is difficult because IT encompasses a broad array of products and activities related to computing and communications in the modern economy (Freeman and Aspray 1999, pp. 29-31). Although many workers make use of IT in their jobs most studies agree that only those workers who are responsible for creating IT hardware and software should be included in the IT workforce, while those who are primarily users of these products should be excluded (In addition to Freeman and Aspray, see National Research Council 2001, pp. 44-54; Ellis and Lowell 1999, p. 1).
Whatever conceptual definition one adopts, however, its application is limited by the classification schemes used by agencies engaged in collecting data on different elements of the workforce. In what follows we will focus on those IT occupations that are enumerated in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS data cover Computer Systems Analysts, Computer Programmers, Operations and Systems Researchers, Computer Operators, and Computer Operators Supervisors. These occupations constitute more or less what the National Research Council (2001, p. 48) has termed "Category 1" IT occupations: those involved with the creation of new products, services and applications. CPS data do not permit us to measure or describe the characteristics of the National Research Council’s "Category 2" occupations: those involved in the application, adaptation, configuration, support or implementation of IT products or services (National Research Council 2001, p. 49). Because occupational titles do not adequately capture the IT content of the support activities of many of the technicians and other occupations included in this group it is more difficult to adequately measure its size or demographic characteristics.
Main Thrust
An Overview of IT Labor Market Conditions
The rapid and sustained decline in the cost of computers over the past two decades has been a prominent factor in the reorganization of work in the United States. Between 1984, near the beginning of the personal computer era, and 2001 the quality-adjusted price of computers fell at an average annual rate of 16 percent, resulting in an 18-fold drop in price (US Department of Commerce; cited in Weil 2005, p. 263). As personal computers diffused into widespread use, mini-computers vanished from the market, and sales of large corporate mainframes languished. Shifting markets and the changing needs of users resulted in significant shifts in the software industry. Growing consumer markets fostered growth of the packaged software industry, and created whole new categories of software. Since the early 1990s, the spread of the internet and the increasing importance of networked computing have initiated a new round of changes in the IT industry (Mowery and Rosenberg 1998, ch. 151-63). Adding to demand pressures during the late 1990s was global concern about the Y2K problem.
Strong demand for IT professionals contributed to a rapid expansion of the IT workforce and rising relative pay. From 1983 to the peak of the technology boom in 2000, the IT workforce more than doubled in size, increasing from 1.47 million to 3.13 million persons. To put this in perspective, during this same period the total U.S. labor force increased by just 34 percent, from 99.5 million persons to 132.2 million persons (these figures and all the subsequent statistics are derived from the authors’ computations based on data from the Current Population Survey’s merged outgoing rotation groups). Despite the loss of more than 200 thousand IT jobs in the next two years, the IT labor force in 2002 was still 96 percent larger than it had been in 1983.
To draw more workers into IT jobs relative pay had to rise substantially. In 1983 the median hourly wage of full-time IT professionals was about 20 percent above that for all non-IT occupations. By the late 1990s the wage gap had more than tripled, so that IT professionals earned more than 60 percent more than did workers outside of IT.
The growth of IT employment coincided with important changes in the type of jobs performed by IT professionals. Most obviously, as the importance of mainframe computers diminished, the number of computer operators fell substantially. From a peak of 962 thousand computer operators in 1986, the number of computer operators had fallen to just over 300 thousand by 2002. From being close to half of all IT professionals in the mid-1980s this category of workers fell to under 11 percent of the IT workforce by 2002. Offsetting this decline was the extremely rapid growth in the number of computer systems analysts and scientists. This segment of the IT labor force grew from 273 thousand in 1983 to more than 1.7 million in 2002. By the latter year, this category of workers constituted over 60 percent of all IT professionals, up from less than 20 percent in the early 1980s.
Gender Differences in Employment, Earnings and Hours
Contrary to the trends in most of the US labor force, the share of women in the IT workforce has declined substantially over the past two decades. In 1983 women made up slightly more of the full-time IT workforce, 43 percent, than they did of all full-time non-IT workers, 40 percent. By 2002, however, the share of women in IT had fallen sharply, dropping to 30 percent, while the share in the non-IT workforce had risen to over 49 percent.
The decline of female representation in IT is troubling, but much of this decline can be accounted for by the declining number of computer operators. Removing this group the share of women in other IT occupations has remained quite stable at around 28 to 29 percent of the workforce. Thus the falling share of women reflects the growing importance within IT of occupations that have traditionally been dominated by men (and, implicitly, the failure of more women to enter these traditionally male-dominated fields).
As is true more generally, women in IT earn less than men do. Indeed the gender wage gap in IT is quite similar to that in the rest of the labor force. In 2002 women in IT earned 82.5 percent as much per hour as men, while in the rest of the labor force they earned 82.8 percent of what men did. Average pay for computer operators is considerably lower than for other IT occupations, so the concentration of women in this field tends to magnify the gender pay gap. Excluding computer operators, women earned about 86 percent of what men did in the remaining IT occupations. This pay ratio has been approximately constant over the past two decades, increasing only from 83 percent in the early 1980s.
IT occupations are often characterized as involving long hours and requiring a significant time commitment. One reflection of this is the higher proportion of both men and women in IT who work full time. In 2002, 95 percent of men and 91 percent of women in IT worked full-time. In non-IT jobs 87 percent of men and just 73 percent of women worked full-time. As a result the average women in IT worked more than 3 additional hours per week than did the average woman in a non-IT job (39.5 hours compared to 36.2 hours). The longer hours in IT may be one factor that discourages women–especially those with young children–from going into or staying in the field.
Gender Differences in Demographic Characteristics
Table 1 summarizes a variety of demographic characteristics for IT and non-IT occupations broken down by gender. As the table reveals, IT workers tend to be somewhat younger than the rest of the labor force. This is especially true for male IT workers, who are on average more than three years younger than their non-IT counterparts, but female IT workers are also younger than women in non-IT occupations. Reflecting the high levels of training needed to enter IT professions, many more workers in IT jobs have bachelors degrees or higher. Fully two-thirds of men and more than half of women in IT occupations have at least a Bachelors degree, compared to 30 percent of men and 31 percent of women in non-IT occupations.
Table 1:
Selected Demographic Characteristics of Information Technology and Non-Information Technology Workers, 2002
Information Technology Non-Information Technology
Male Female Male Female
Average age 37.9 39.9 41.0 41.0
Percent with Bachelors Degree 50.0 39.4 19.4 21.0
Percent with more than Bachelor's Degree 19.0 13.6 10.49 10.1
Percent married, spouse present 64.9 53.4 64.7 54.3
Percent never married 26.2 27.4 22.6 22.7
Percent living with one or more of their own children 58.2 54.2 56.3 53.8
Source: Authors' calculations from Current Population Survey merged outgoing rotation group data.
In contrast to the differences in age and education levels, the percent of workers who are married with spouse present is relatively similar between IT and non-IT occupations. It is true, however, that IT workers are somewhat more likely to have never been married than is true for those in non-IT occupations, but it seems likely that this is due to the fact that IT professionals are younger than the non-IT workforce. Reflecting the fact that married women are still more likely to exit the labor force than are married men, within both groups working women are less likely to be married with their spouse present than is true for men. On the other hand, the proportions of workers with one or more of their own children present in the household is quite similar between IT and non-IT occupations, suggesting that this pattern is similar for both IT and non-IT workers.
Future Trends
After nearly two decades of explosive growth and transformation the expansion of the IT workforce came to an abrupt halt with the collapse of the technology bubble in 2001. For the past several years the number of IT workers has been declining. This decline is generally expected to be temporary, and most forecasts anticipate that employment in IT occupations will continue to grow more quickly than in the labor force generally, though the differential is unlikely to be as large as it was in the past (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2004).
In the past few years there has been increasing concern about the role of off-shoring in IT job losses. There have been numerous reports of companies exporting technical support and programming jobs to suppliers in India, China, and other low-wage countries with well-educated labor forces. Given the large international differences in wages, shifting some tasks to Asian countries is an attractive option for U.S. companies seeking to cut labor costs. But it is important not to overstate the potential impact of this trend. Off-shoring is most effective when the tasks to be performed have been routinized. These, in turn are the sorts of jobs that are most in-danger of being automated in any event. Jobs requiring specialized knowledge of business practices and discretionary decisions are likely to continue to be performed in proximity to customers, thus ensuring that the vast majority of higher level IT jobs, such as those performed by systems analysts, will remain in the United States (Edwards 2004).
While this suggests that IT job losses in the United States due to off-shoring may be small, it also suggests that the composition of IT jobs will remain biased towards those high skilled jobs that contain relatively few women. Thus prospects for increasing the representation of women in IT appear relatively bleak. If relatively few women have been drawn into the rapidly growing field of computer systems analysts and scientists during the period of rapid expansion in employment, opportunities for women are likely to remain limited in the future as aggregate growth slows. More research is needed to understand why women have tended to avoid these higher-level IT jobs, and to identify those dimensions of education, hiring, and retention that have produced such large gender gaps in representation.
Conclusion
During the past half-century gender differences in the labor market have closed substantially. Overall, women’s labor force participation behavior has come increasingly to resemble that of men, so that today women constitute approximately half of the US labor force. Although a gender earnings gap remains today, the size of this gap has been reduced considerably, and after accounting for differences in education, experience and other characteristics it is smaller than indicated by unadjusted comparisons.
Set against the background of these broad labor market changes, gender differences in Information Technology are striking. While total employment in IT has grown rapidly, women’s share of employment across all IT occupations has fallen substantially over the past two decades. The absence of women does not reflect an absence of financial incentives. Gender pay gaps in IT have paralleled those in the workforce generally. Since pay in IT occupations has grown quite quickly women could realize significant financial rewards from moving into IT occupations.
Although the growing gender gap in IT employment is largely due to changes in the mix of IT occupations that has increased the numbers of computer systems analysts and scientists, the fact remains that women hold less than one-third of such jobs today, about the same proportion as they held 20 years earlier. The persistent under representation of women in these higher level IT occupations is an as yet unexplained phenomenon that requires further study.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Women Affect Twentieth Century Change
Women Affect Twentieth Century Change
Consumerism and Women
Consumerism and Women
"Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps" (Search On Cite | Search On Google)
Women in Technocracy Technocracy Inc Essay Information (Search On Cite | Search On Google)
"In Defense of Women" (Search On Cite | Search On Google)
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I have corrected the spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in the text provided. Additionally, I have ensured proper paragraph formatting with single line breaks between paragraphs. Let me know if you need any further assistance.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Women Affect Twentieth Century Change
Consumerism and Women
Consumerism and Women
"Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps" (Search On Cite | Search On Google)
Women in Technocracy Technocracy Inc Essay Information (Search On Cite | Search On Google)
"In Defense of Women" (Search On Cite | Search On Google)
---
I have corrected the spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in the text provided. Additionally, I have ensured proper paragraph formatting with single line breaks between paragraphs. Let me know if you need any further assistance.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Working women can help decrease unemployment among women in the workplace. Here are some resources related to the impacts of women in the workplace, women's networking, women's changing role in society during the Great Depression, and challenges faced by working women:
- [Impacts of Women in the Workplace](http://www.slideshare.net/teacherlizz/imapcts-of-women-in-the-work-place)
- [SF Women Networking](http://www.slideshare.net/OlhaSF/sf-women-networking)
- [Women's Changing Role in Society during the Great Depression](http://www.slideshare.net/adobbi/womens-changing-role-in-society-during-the-great-depression)
- [Challenges Faced by Working Women](http://www.slideshare.net/prpoint/presense0808-presentation)
I hope you find these resources helpful in understanding the role and challenges women face in the workplace.
From India, Ahmadabad
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- [Impacts of Women in the Workplace](http://www.slideshare.net/teacherlizz/imapcts-of-women-in-the-work-place)
- [SF Women Networking](http://www.slideshare.net/OlhaSF/sf-women-networking)
- [Women's Changing Role in Society during the Great Depression](http://www.slideshare.net/adobbi/womens-changing-role-in-society-during-the-great-depression)
- [Challenges Faced by Working Women](http://www.slideshare.net/prpoint/presense0808-presentation)
I hope you find these resources helpful in understanding the role and challenges women face in the workplace.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Hello Jay,
Great research and very helpful.
In your first post, you asked, "When will this end?" My answer is never. Even the US is battling the same issues, although the degree is lesser. These discriminations are not just limited to sex:
- White people get more pay than blacks.
- Fairer people get paid more than darker.
- Taller people get paid more than shorter.
In India, fair girls get picked for marriage faster. That's the way things work in most places. The only thing we can do is KEEP STRIVING FOR EQUALITY.
Riyaz
From India, Delhi
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Great research and very helpful.
In your first post, you asked, "When will this end?" My answer is never. Even the US is battling the same issues, although the degree is lesser. These discriminations are not just limited to sex:
- White people get more pay than blacks.
- Fairer people get paid more than darker.
- Taller people get paid more than shorter.
In India, fair girls get picked for marriage faster. That's the way things work in most places. The only thing we can do is KEEP STRIVING FOR EQUALITY.
Riyaz
From India, Delhi
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Hi Jay,
You have done a wonderful job. All this information really helps. For a few minutes, it scared me because I've just finished my MBA and I'm looking for a job. The thought that this is the condition in the workplace is really scary. But sitting at home will not help either because the condition of women is the same everywhere. The only solution is awareness. Also, it mostly happens with women because she accepts it, out of fear, embarrassment, or lack of courage.
Thank you for your information.
From India, Hyderabad
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You have done a wonderful job. All this information really helps. For a few minutes, it scared me because I've just finished my MBA and I'm looking for a job. The thought that this is the condition in the workplace is really scary. But sitting at home will not help either because the condition of women is the same everywhere. The only solution is awareness. Also, it mostly happens with women because she accepts it, out of fear, embarrassment, or lack of courage.
Thank you for your information.
From India, Hyderabad
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People don't take women seriously at work. They think that women can't do work efficiently and accurately. She needs a break during office hours and more reasons. But I think women can handle any job in any field, and I'm proud of that.
---
From India, Delhi
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---
From India, Delhi
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Women in the Corporate World
It is easy to write women off in the corporate world because of the trend in male domination. Women are looked at as delicate and inferior beings, rather than equal beings capable of accomplishing anything a man can. Men still represent the greater proportion of the corporate world; there are still more male CEOs than female CEOs. Currently in America, men are earning on average ninety thousand dollars and women are earning on average fifty-five thousand dollars. Women are competing more now than ever in the corporate world and are finally getting a voice. Women are being promoted into managerial positions at higher numbers now. A big part of the reason why women were not, and currently are not, getting respected in corporate America is because they are leaving. Nobody really looked into the reasons why women are leaving; they just assumed that women could not handle the pressure of corporate America. Women are currently leaving the corporate world because they are starting their own businesses; they are finding the entrepreneurial world more reassuring and uplifting. The real reason why women are leaving corporate America is because of the double burden in two aspects of life. One aspect is that African American women are discriminated against for being female and also for being black. Another aspect of the double burden is that women have to juggle their job and their responsibility at home. Women feel like they have to participate in their household, which they view as more important than moving up the corporate ladder.
Many women face discrimination in the workplace simply because they are female and their bosses do not believe in them. All employees, whether male or female, want a work situation where they are comfortable. It is hard for someone to feel comfortable when they are being looked at as inferior just because of their sex. Initially, there was no logical solution for the problem of discrimination against women and the lack of opportunity for advancement. Now, women are supporting each other and creating their own companies. These companies are set up by women and provide a situation where they feel more comfortable. These women in their own created companies are more efficient because they have created a comfort zone and are producing better results. These women are happier than ever because they have finally found a place where they are valued as employees and are not forced to overexert themselves for little or no acknowledgement. These women are thriving in their new businesses that they have created because they took an opportunity that many women are not willing to take. Women who do not want to take the risk of creating their own businesses because they think it is a weak move to quit their corporate job are missing out on a rewarding opportunity both financially and mentally in the long run. Professor Juliet Walker explains in her definition of an entrepreneur that an entrepreneur is a person who makes unusual amounts of money by using common resources. Women are leaving corporate America for another reason, and that is because they have to balance work and home responsibilities, which can be overwhelming at times.
The double burden of work and home is now affecting women more than ever. Women are believed to be letting down their company if they get pregnant because they cannot dedicate themselves fully to the corporation when they have a child, which requires a lot of responsibility. Women are forced to choose between their family and their career, often sacrificing their dreams of having a family for their career. These women work their regular eight-hour job and then have to do additional work at home, equivalent to working overtime. Society expects women to take care of their family, while corporate America expects women to be productive.
Unfortunately, African American women face a more intense form of discrimination, known as the double burden. African American females face discrimination for being female and also for being black. They are not receiving the national respect they deserve for their contributions to corporate America. It is crucial to acknowledge that white women did earn as much as black women did from affirmative action laws. African American women are competing with white and black men, as well as white women, in corporate America. They are a source of talent but lack opportunities for leadership roles. When African American women are not given leadership opportunities in corporations, they turn to entrepreneurship and start successful businesses. Professor Juliet Walker noted that three of the leading African American entrepreneurs in America are women. Not provided with opportunities in corporate America, African American women are using their talents to create wealth for themselves. These women are able to make a significant amount of money using their natural abilities, and corporate America is losing them due to racism and sexism. When they see successful black female entrepreneurs like Oprah who turned away from corporate America, they are motivated to follow a similar path.
From India, Ahmadabad
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It is easy to write women off in the corporate world because of the trend in male domination. Women are looked at as delicate and inferior beings, rather than equal beings capable of accomplishing anything a man can. Men still represent the greater proportion of the corporate world; there are still more male CEOs than female CEOs. Currently in America, men are earning on average ninety thousand dollars and women are earning on average fifty-five thousand dollars. Women are competing more now than ever in the corporate world and are finally getting a voice. Women are being promoted into managerial positions at higher numbers now. A big part of the reason why women were not, and currently are not, getting respected in corporate America is because they are leaving. Nobody really looked into the reasons why women are leaving; they just assumed that women could not handle the pressure of corporate America. Women are currently leaving the corporate world because they are starting their own businesses; they are finding the entrepreneurial world more reassuring and uplifting. The real reason why women are leaving corporate America is because of the double burden in two aspects of life. One aspect is that African American women are discriminated against for being female and also for being black. Another aspect of the double burden is that women have to juggle their job and their responsibility at home. Women feel like they have to participate in their household, which they view as more important than moving up the corporate ladder.
Many women face discrimination in the workplace simply because they are female and their bosses do not believe in them. All employees, whether male or female, want a work situation where they are comfortable. It is hard for someone to feel comfortable when they are being looked at as inferior just because of their sex. Initially, there was no logical solution for the problem of discrimination against women and the lack of opportunity for advancement. Now, women are supporting each other and creating their own companies. These companies are set up by women and provide a situation where they feel more comfortable. These women in their own created companies are more efficient because they have created a comfort zone and are producing better results. These women are happier than ever because they have finally found a place where they are valued as employees and are not forced to overexert themselves for little or no acknowledgement. These women are thriving in their new businesses that they have created because they took an opportunity that many women are not willing to take. Women who do not want to take the risk of creating their own businesses because they think it is a weak move to quit their corporate job are missing out on a rewarding opportunity both financially and mentally in the long run. Professor Juliet Walker explains in her definition of an entrepreneur that an entrepreneur is a person who makes unusual amounts of money by using common resources. Women are leaving corporate America for another reason, and that is because they have to balance work and home responsibilities, which can be overwhelming at times.
The double burden of work and home is now affecting women more than ever. Women are believed to be letting down their company if they get pregnant because they cannot dedicate themselves fully to the corporation when they have a child, which requires a lot of responsibility. Women are forced to choose between their family and their career, often sacrificing their dreams of having a family for their career. These women work their regular eight-hour job and then have to do additional work at home, equivalent to working overtime. Society expects women to take care of their family, while corporate America expects women to be productive.
Unfortunately, African American women face a more intense form of discrimination, known as the double burden. African American females face discrimination for being female and also for being black. They are not receiving the national respect they deserve for their contributions to corporate America. It is crucial to acknowledge that white women did earn as much as black women did from affirmative action laws. African American women are competing with white and black men, as well as white women, in corporate America. They are a source of talent but lack opportunities for leadership roles. When African American women are not given leadership opportunities in corporations, they turn to entrepreneurship and start successful businesses. Professor Juliet Walker noted that three of the leading African American entrepreneurs in America are women. Not provided with opportunities in corporate America, African American women are using their talents to create wealth for themselves. These women are able to make a significant amount of money using their natural abilities, and corporate America is losing them due to racism and sexism. When they see successful black female entrepreneurs like Oprah who turned away from corporate America, they are motivated to follow a similar path.
From India, Ahmadabad
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FRENCH WOMEN IN THE CORPORATE WORLD
As statistics reveal, the number of working women has been steadily climbing in France over the past thirty years (Hantrais 73). In 1962, there were 6.5 million women and 13 million men employed. In 1992, the number of working women had grown to 11 million whereas the number of working men had remained stable around 14 million. Indeed, most of the increase in the working population is due to the influx of women, most of them in the 25–49 age group who traditionally stayed home to take care of the children (Maruani 21). Today, 44% of the work force is made up of women. Seventy-five percent of mothers with two young children are working outside of the home. In the early twentieth century, few women worked outside of the home; increasingly now, they are wage-earners, primarily employed in the service industry. A similar phe¬nomenon can be observed in most developed countries. France, however, presents an interesting and unique case to study. Situated in the center of Western Europe, between the Northern and the Mediterranean countries, France borrows characteristics from both cultures. While the United-States’s very vocal feminist movement has pushed for changes in corpo¬rate America, French women’s best ally has often been their government and the public sector. Although French and American women have fought equally hard to enter the work force, their goals and ultimate suc¬cesses have not always been the same.
In the past thirty years, French women have made giant strides in the working world. In 1972, the first women were allowed to enter l’Ecole Polytechnique (the most prestigious engineering school); in 1985, France had its first female Prime Minister, Edith Cresson. There are more female than male students in French universities, and women pass the bacca¬lauréat in greater numbers than men. However, women still face tremen¬dous challenges in the corporate world. While females represent 76.5% of civil servants and employees (Cordero 63), they only account for 30.5% of senior executives. They remain overwhelmingly concentrated in a few so-called “feminine” occupations, such as nursing, or in jobs for which they are overqualified. Moreover, when women start entering a particular profession in large numbers (such as elementary school teach¬ing), that profession becomes devalued in the eyes of society, hence the saying “une profession qui se féminise s’appauvrit” (Majnoni 156; “a profession where women work in increasing numbers loses its status”). It loses status and salaries start falling.
This article will look at French women in the corporate world, the progress they have made, and the help they have received from the gov¬ernment. It will also examine the many hurdles that they still encounter in France: lower salaries, poor job security, greater unemployment, fewer promotions, and fewer training opportunities.
Under the Napoleonic code (1804), French women were legally re¬garded as minors. They had to wait until the end of World War II to be granted the right to vote (1944). Until 1966, a married woman could not hold a job without her husband’s permission (Cordero 177). Contracep¬tion was legalized only in 1967 (loi Neuwith), and abortion in 1975 (loi Veil). It was under the presidencies of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in the seventies (with the creation of a Secrétariat d’Etat ŕ la condition fémi¬nine) and François Mitterrand in the eighties that women saw their con¬dition improve dramatically. Now, at least in theory, they enjoy the same rights as men.
In 1983, the socialist government passed the most comprehensive an¬tidiscrimination law with respect to “l’égalité professionnelle” (Hantrais 94). La Loi sur l’égalité professionnelle entre hommes et femmes, or the Loi Roudy, was far reaching. Linda Hantrais tells us that “it was designed to tackle three problem areas: access to training and promotion, pay, and unemployment” (95), all of which directly affect women in corporate France. The new law stated that job advertisements could no longer specify the sex of the candidate to be hired, and it introduced the princi¬ple of equal pay for work of equal value. More importantly, it required large corporations to report annually on the relative status of male and female employees while encouraging measures to improve women’s chances at hiring, promotion, and equal pay. Some positions could even be reserved for women in areas where they were underrepresented. In recent years, efforts have been made in the area of sexual harassment in the workplace (1992: Loi prévenant et sanctionnant le harcčlement sexuel sur le lieu de travail); and after many years of heated debate, women are finally allowed to work at night (Loi autorisant le travail de nuit des femmes). Sexual harassment, however, is only recognized as such when a superior forces his/her advances on an employee, and never between colleagues of the same rank.
The fight is far from being over, however, for the political arena is still largely a male stronghold. In France, women holding positions of power in politics are few and far between. France actually trails all other European Union member states, except for Greece, for the number of women in public office; only 5% of mayors and 6% of députés (representatives in the Parliament) are women. The few women who reached top positions had to pay dearly. Edith Cresson, the only female Prime Minister, was ridiculed during her short tenure and had to leave in total disgrace. The first Juppé government at the beginning of the Chirac presidency had twelve women in key positions, whom the press nick¬named, half-mockingly, the “Juppettes.” A few months later, the reshuf¬fled government had only kept four of them (in the Ministries of the En¬vironment, Francophony, Transportation, and Employment). Without a strong female lobby in the government, women issues will always be short changed. Aware of this problem, ten female politicians, from both the Right and the Left, are demanding political parties to make “parity” their goal (an equal number of men and women among elected officials). In June 1996, they signed a manifesto, Le Manifeste des dix pour la parité, published in the weekly magazine, L’Express (32–33). The debate is currently raging, with the majority of French people (71%) approving the principle of equality in politics (L’Express 30).
The area in which women have made the most stunning progress over the past thirty years is undoubtedly in secondary and higher education. Today, 42% of all women and only 32% of all men hold a baccalauréat. A greater number of female students than male students completes a college degree. All the Grandes écoles have finally opened their doors to female candidates.
Although, generally, girls receive better grades in school and are judged to be more mature and more serious students than boys, they suf¬fer from a low self-image and a lack of confidence reinforced by their teachers’ negative stereotypes (“boys are lazy and their success is due to their superior intelligence,” “girls do well because they work hard”) and textbooks that still portray most female characters as housewives (Cordero 42). Even when they achieve the same results as their male counterparts, they rate themselves lower and choose a less glamorous course of studies (Cordero 43). Women segregate themselves in a few disciplines; they favor the literary or general tracks over the science cur¬riculum (Zeldin 408). Seventy percent of high school girls prepare a bac¬calauréat with an emphasis in the humanities, the social sciences, or economics, while 60% of the male students choose a math, science, or technological bac (Cordero 38–39). In the professional and vocational high schools, girls specialize in a few traditional disciplines such as sec¬retarial studies, health, or paramedical sciences.
This self-imposed segregation continues in higher education where young women flock into a few areas: liberal arts, law, and pharmacy. These choices limit their subsequent employment opportunities. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to go into the so-called “voie royale” [royal road]: math, science, and engineering.
A growing number of female students elects attending the classes préparatoires for the grandes écoles. They represent 35% of this elite student body and have almost reached parity in business schools such as the Ecoles de Commerce and Ecoles Supérieures de Commerce et d’Administration des Entreprises. However, they remain a minority overall, especially in the more prestigious Ecoles d’Ingénieurs. The number of women does not exceed 10% of the student body at l’X (L’Ecole Polytechnique), which is the de-facto training ground for the future French CEOs. Top management executives are still heavily re¬cruited among engineering graduates who create a real “old boy net¬work” making it even harder for women to participate. Furthermore, the top Grandes Ecoles have traditionally promoted “virile values” such as “decisiveness, networks, hierarchies, camaraderie and dominance, . . . and the curriculum too bears the stereotypical masculine hallmark of logic, mathematics and Cartesianism” (Barsoux and Lawrence 142). The combined emphasis on engineering skills and traditional masculine views of management continue to exclude most women from the top. Eventu¬ally, the choice of subjects at school and in college will impact on women’s chances to get a well-paid, upper-management position.
As we have seen, French women are on an equal footing with men (at least in theory) in recent legislation and in education. Once in the work¬place, they benefit from many governmental family-friendly policies that Anglo-Saxon women would envy. In an attempt to reverse a falling demographic curve, an interventionist government helps French women to balance career and family by way of benefits. Hantrais remarks that the French government’s role has been to “support systems and services for all women who want to be economically active” (91).
In France, working conditions are governed by the Code du Travail. The majority of women are employed in the public sector, which sets the example for private industries to follow. To encourage demographic growth, the French government has enacted strict policies to protect pregnant women. For instance, they cannot be refused employment on account of their condition, nor can they be fired or discriminated against. French women are also entitled to a sixteen-week maternity leave for their first two children, and twenty-six weeks for the third child. Public sector employees may take up to six months leave on half-pay to breast¬feed their babies (Cordero 88). Maternity leave is counted as employ¬ment, so that pension rights and seniority are not affected. Upon return¬ing to work, female employees recover their former position within the company. Both male and female employees are entitled to a three-year parental leave without compensation for each child. Since 1985, parents who have three or more children receive l’allocation parentale d’éducation if they decide to stop working or to take a half-time position in order to look after their children. Besides goverment benefits, parents also receive allocations familiales based on income and family size.
It is easier for a French woman than for an American woman to find affordable care for her new-born baby. Cordero notes that
cette prise en charge collective de l’enfance et de la petite en¬fance fait l’admiration de tous les observateurs étrangers, no¬tamment américains, confrontés au problčme de l’insuffisante socialisation et scolarisation de l’enfant. (148)
Most French babies are placed in state-subsidized crčches [nurseries] that provide professional care at an affordable rate. Some parents may hire a state-certified assistante maternelle (nanny) to look after their young children at home. Once again, the government helps out with the alloca¬tion de garde d’enfant ŕ domicile [subsidy for maintaining a child at home].
Almost all French children start attending l’école maternelle by the age of two (Cordero 148), and the state runs after-hours childcare cen¬ters. Once in elementary and secondary schools, French children spend more time in the classroom than their American counterparts. They are on the school premises between 8 am and 5 pm; after which parents can leave them in supervised study halls or have them join after-school sports or cultural activities.
Finally, like all French workers, women enjoy a five-week paid vaca¬tion and a first-rate, national health care system that covers all the doctor visits during pregnancy. On the whole, the French government has inter¬vened to dictate family-friendly policies to the corporate world, compen¬sating households for the cost of raising children and making it easier for women to have both a family and a career. Actually, French women no longer have to choose between staying at home or having a career; le cumul [balacing both] has become the norm.
Blöss and Frickey consider that French women who choose the career path have to face certain problems that increase as they go up the corpo¬rate ladder (90). Women are still a minority in management: 20% of French companies have a female boss and 30% of small businesses are created by women (Majnoni 156). Women in upper management are still often referred to as femmes alibis [token women], and their regular ap¬pearances in the management press seems to be an attempt to allay fears of underrepresentation (Barsoux and Lawrence 143). For instance, when in 1989 Colette Lewiner became the first and only senior executive of Electricité de France, she felt that she was “un alibi” and she added “cela m’énervait profondément” (Harrois-Monin 28; “that bothered me a lot”).
Furthermore, despite all the government pro-family policies, well-educated women (bac + 4: High School Diploma + 4 years of college) are more likely to remain unmarried (18% of the 35–39 age group) and childless, or, if they marry, to have fewer children than the average. As a matter of fact, whereas marriage and children are considered to be an asset for a male executive, they are handicaps for ambitious women. A prospective employer always fears that a young, recently-married em¬ployee will bring additional costs to his/her business as a result of maternity leaves and repeated absences to care for ailing children. A mar¬ried woman is perceived as less committed to her work and less dedi¬cated to the company. In spite of the Loi sur l’égalité professionnelle en¬tre hommes et femmes, she receives a lower salary than a single woman.
Because there are so few women in upper management, the ones who succeed often find themselves quite isolated. Socialist Martine Aubry, a former Assistant General Manager at Pechiney, was the only woman among four hundred executives. She comments: “On m’appelait parfois Monsieur le Directeur en réunion” (Charles 32; “In meetings, I was sometimes called Mister Director”).
Since the French business world remains to a large extent a male for¬tress, it tends to perpetuate the dominance of male values. Entrance ex¬ams to the top engineering schools seem to discriminate against female candidates (Barsoux and Lawrence 142), half of whom will fail, being thus excluded from the training grounds of upper management. Women are deemed too soft and too passive to rule, their qualities—nurturing, intuition, openness—are regarded as flaws in an environment that values strength and authority in leadership. Even some successful women like Francine Gomez, the CEO of Waterman pens, think that “les hommes ont un désir de puissance que n’ont pas les femmes, c’est physiologique” (Barsoux and Lawrence 143; “men have a drive for power that women lack, it is physiological”).
In France, business is often conducted over lunches that sometimes last several hours. It is customary for the business partners to drink a se¬quence of an apéritif, several wines and a digestif, and to eat heartily. Women executives will find it difficult to comply with this male ‘ritual’; physically, it is harder for them to keep up with the drinking and the eat¬ing (Barsoux and Lawrence 109). Culturally, women are not supposed to indulge; they are expected to remain sober, slim, and elegant.
Bosses feel that female workers are less flexible and less available than their male colleagues. A study found that
men took longer over lunch and were available at the end of the working day for informal discussions which were an important component in their career progression, whereas women could not afford to have extended lunch breaks and arrive home at unpre¬dictable times. (Hantrais 145)
The few women who make it to the top still have to overcome many hurdles. Married or single, they assume a double load at home and at the office. Even when they are employed full time, women often have to take on the main responsibility for the smooth running of the household. It may affect their concentration and the quality of their work, since they have to worry about trivial things, such as what to cook for dinner or how to find a babysitter. Young men increasingly help their wives, especially with the caring of children. However, domestic equality remains a dream. Most women are in charge of washing, ironing, cleaning, cooking, etc. (Cordero 138–39). Moreover, household chores are not considered ‘real work’ by society, since they are not remunerated. Women are trapped in a “catch 22” situation that causes a lot of stress. Whether they work out¬side the home or not, they are made to feel guilty: either for neglecting their family or for wasting their education and their skills.
Single-parent families are primarily headed by women, and 25% of French female executives are either divorced or single mothers. All French women are keenly aware of the challenge presented by the need to balance work and family life. They have to juggle several, at times conflicting, schedules. This is a problem that becomes particularly acute during their children’s summer vacation. These business “superwomen” never find enough time to fit it all into a twenty-four hour day (Georges 37). As Hantrais comments,
Women who work full time in a demanding job and raise chil¬dren claim that in order to cope, they need to be excellent time managers, displaying the same management skills at home as at the workplace: the ability to plan, organize, delegate, direct and control. (161)
A female executive in a demanding upper management position who has to spend long hours at the office, often returning home long after 7 pm, feels unbearable time pressure and often suffers from overload (Hantrais 150). Moreover, it is less acceptable for a mother than for a father to spend less time with the children due to professional obliga¬tions. She suffers from both personally and societally imposed guilt if she misses her children’s bedtime or other important moments in their lives.
It is little wonder that, despite all the egalitarian talk, women are still the ones who sacrifice their career for the sake of a family. They take time off when their children or elderly parents are sick. They forego promotion if it means moving, but follow their husbands when they are transferred. Commuter marriages are still uncommon and they usually end with the birth of children or with divorce. Contrary to other Euro¬pean women (especially British and German), French women keep on working full time after the birth of their first and second child. However, their level of employment and activity drops sharply at the birth of a third child (from 79.1% with one child to 49% with three). The pro-family policies of the French government, aimed at encouraging women to have a family of three, have failed thus far. French women who want to keep on working prefer to limit their family size (Hantrais 115–16).
Until recently, French women were barred from working nights (a few exceptions were made for nurses, hotel, and restaurant employees). In 1992, the law was repealed. Unions had a mixed reaction, for although it opened new job opportunities for women, it further endangered the stability of family life.
Most career paths are now open to women, but their chances are slim of reaching the same status and commanding the same earnings as their male counterparts. Women are forever pulled in opposite directions by the conflicting demands of work and family. They are required to make greater sacrifices than men in order to succeed, such as postponing or rejecting marriage and children, having to put in a double day of work, etc. Since entering the job market in large numbers, women have been held responsible for all the ills of modern society, from low births to high unemployment, from the breakdown of the traditional family to juvenile deliquency.
They are constantly found in the lowest-paid job categories, and they comprise the majority (2/3) of smicards [minimum wage earners] (Zeldin 408). It is harder for them to find first-time employment, and they are more often unemployed than men. In 1991, 17% of young men under the age of 25 and 5.9% of men over 25 were unemployed versus 22.6% of young women and 9.9% of men (Maruani 48). They stay unemployed longer, and when they finally find work, they are more likely to be in emplois précaires or in part-time positions, which carry less security. Out of 2.8 million part-timers, 85% are women (Blöss and Frickey 106).
Many French women do not possess the technical skills and expert qualifications required in an increasingly complex working world. They are offered fewer chances to upgrade their skills, attend workshops (stages), or receive further training. They are often recruited to fill dead end positions, or in jobs that do not correspond to their qualifications (Cordero 103). Finally, a job performed by a woman traditionally carries less status and a lower paycheck than if it were done by a man. For ex¬ample, a woman who enters data on a computer keyboard is called “une claviste,” a low-wage job requiring no qualification; a man doing the same job becomes a qualified and better paid “typographe” (Cordero 97).
French employers distrust women, thinking they are unwilling to dedicate themselves fully to a career. Women’s careers are often dis¬rupted by the arrival of children and the priority given to a spouse’s job. Consequently, they often find themselves in more precarious situations than men. In times of recession, female workers are the first to be laid off since they are at the bottom of the scale. And corporate dynasties still prefer their heir to be a male. François Michelin never even considered that his daughter, Clarisse, a brilliant student, could succeed him as the head of the company, just because “c’est une fille . . .” (“Les Héritiers” 36).
A woman’s salary is still often thought to be “un salaire d’appoint,” a mere complement to the main wage-earner’s salary. Indeed, only 5% of women earn higher wages than their spouses. Although the law requires employers to pay an equal salary to their male and female employees for an equivalent (no longer equal) position, women are still paid on the av¬erage 30% less than men; partly, but not entirely, because they have fewer technical skills. It is in private enterprise that the gap between male and female wages is the largest and in the public sector that it is the smallest. We have already mentioned some of the reasons for this differ¬ence: women have less experience, fewer qualifications, more discon¬tinuous careers, more absences than men, they are stereotyped as being less mobile, less reliable, more emotional, and unpredictable.
Therefore, to reach the upper levels of management, women have to be better than their male colleagues. Female top executives often have more diplomas than men and a better school record. Once at work, they have to uphold higher standards than their male colleagues, since their actions represent those of all women. Each successful female executive also serves as a role model for younger generations.
Although problems persist, French women are now an accepted and integral part of the working world. With the active support of their gov¬ernment, they have succeeded in striking an uneasy balance between their homelife and their career. They reject the American model of the “executive superwoman,” which they find too aggressive and extreme. French women often claim that their relationship with the opposite sex is healthier and better than in other countries. It is surely less confronta¬tional than in the United States. French women have achieved much in the corporate world without threatening their femininity.
In comparison, American women in France are surprised to see that flirting is commonplace at the office, and that French female executives do not shy away from wearing low cut blouses and miniskirts to work. French women, on the other hand, are often shocked by what they regard as American feminist excesses. “We must not end up with the excesses of the United States, where the slightest glance can be misinterpreted,” comments a French politician about American sexual harassment cases (Platt 225).
On the whole, French women feel proud of their différence. After all, they believe in the French saying that “la femme est l’avenir de l’homme” [“women are men’s future”].
WORKS CITED
Barsoux, Jean-Louis, and Peter Lawrence. Management in France. Lon¬don: Cassell, 1990.
Blöss, Thierry, and Alain Frickey. La Femme dans la société française. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1994.
Charles, Gilbert. “Le Pouvoir selon Martine.” L’Express 20 Jan. 1994: 32.
Cordero, Christiane. Le Travail des femmes. Paris: Le Monde, 1994.
Georges, Michčle. “Martine, divorcée pressée.” L’Express 20 Jan. 1994: 37.
Hantrais, Linda. Managing Professional and Family Life: A Compara¬tive Study of British and French Women. Hants: Dartmouth, 1995.
Harrois-Monin, Françoise. “Les 4700 Salariés de Colette.” L’Express 20 Jan. 1994: 28.
“Le Manifeste des dix pour la parité.” L’Express 6 June 1996: 32–33.
“Les Héritiers.” Le Nouvel Economiste 13 July 1995: 34–43.
Majnoni d’Intignato, Béatrice. “Femmes au Travail, si vous saviez. . . .” L’Express 23 May 1996: 156.
Maruani, Margaret, and Emmanučle Reynaud. Sociologie de l’emploi. Paris: La Découverte, 1993.
Platt, Polly. French or Foe? Skokie: Culture Crossings, 1995.
Zeldin, Theodore. Les Français. Paris: Seuil, 1983.
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As statistics reveal, the number of working women has been steadily climbing in France over the past thirty years (Hantrais 73). In 1962, there were 6.5 million women and 13 million men employed. In 1992, the number of working women had grown to 11 million whereas the number of working men had remained stable around 14 million. Indeed, most of the increase in the working population is due to the influx of women, most of them in the 25–49 age group who traditionally stayed home to take care of the children (Maruani 21). Today, 44% of the work force is made up of women. Seventy-five percent of mothers with two young children are working outside of the home. In the early twentieth century, few women worked outside of the home; increasingly now, they are wage-earners, primarily employed in the service industry. A similar phe¬nomenon can be observed in most developed countries. France, however, presents an interesting and unique case to study. Situated in the center of Western Europe, between the Northern and the Mediterranean countries, France borrows characteristics from both cultures. While the United-States’s very vocal feminist movement has pushed for changes in corpo¬rate America, French women’s best ally has often been their government and the public sector. Although French and American women have fought equally hard to enter the work force, their goals and ultimate suc¬cesses have not always been the same.
In the past thirty years, French women have made giant strides in the working world. In 1972, the first women were allowed to enter l’Ecole Polytechnique (the most prestigious engineering school); in 1985, France had its first female Prime Minister, Edith Cresson. There are more female than male students in French universities, and women pass the bacca¬lauréat in greater numbers than men. However, women still face tremen¬dous challenges in the corporate world. While females represent 76.5% of civil servants and employees (Cordero 63), they only account for 30.5% of senior executives. They remain overwhelmingly concentrated in a few so-called “feminine” occupations, such as nursing, or in jobs for which they are overqualified. Moreover, when women start entering a particular profession in large numbers (such as elementary school teach¬ing), that profession becomes devalued in the eyes of society, hence the saying “une profession qui se féminise s’appauvrit” (Majnoni 156; “a profession where women work in increasing numbers loses its status”). It loses status and salaries start falling.
This article will look at French women in the corporate world, the progress they have made, and the help they have received from the gov¬ernment. It will also examine the many hurdles that they still encounter in France: lower salaries, poor job security, greater unemployment, fewer promotions, and fewer training opportunities.
Under the Napoleonic code (1804), French women were legally re¬garded as minors. They had to wait until the end of World War II to be granted the right to vote (1944). Until 1966, a married woman could not hold a job without her husband’s permission (Cordero 177). Contracep¬tion was legalized only in 1967 (loi Neuwith), and abortion in 1975 (loi Veil). It was under the presidencies of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in the seventies (with the creation of a Secrétariat d’Etat ŕ la condition fémi¬nine) and François Mitterrand in the eighties that women saw their con¬dition improve dramatically. Now, at least in theory, they enjoy the same rights as men.
In 1983, the socialist government passed the most comprehensive an¬tidiscrimination law with respect to “l’égalité professionnelle” (Hantrais 94). La Loi sur l’égalité professionnelle entre hommes et femmes, or the Loi Roudy, was far reaching. Linda Hantrais tells us that “it was designed to tackle three problem areas: access to training and promotion, pay, and unemployment” (95), all of which directly affect women in corporate France. The new law stated that job advertisements could no longer specify the sex of the candidate to be hired, and it introduced the princi¬ple of equal pay for work of equal value. More importantly, it required large corporations to report annually on the relative status of male and female employees while encouraging measures to improve women’s chances at hiring, promotion, and equal pay. Some positions could even be reserved for women in areas where they were underrepresented. In recent years, efforts have been made in the area of sexual harassment in the workplace (1992: Loi prévenant et sanctionnant le harcčlement sexuel sur le lieu de travail); and after many years of heated debate, women are finally allowed to work at night (Loi autorisant le travail de nuit des femmes). Sexual harassment, however, is only recognized as such when a superior forces his/her advances on an employee, and never between colleagues of the same rank.
The fight is far from being over, however, for the political arena is still largely a male stronghold. In France, women holding positions of power in politics are few and far between. France actually trails all other European Union member states, except for Greece, for the number of women in public office; only 5% of mayors and 6% of députés (representatives in the Parliament) are women. The few women who reached top positions had to pay dearly. Edith Cresson, the only female Prime Minister, was ridiculed during her short tenure and had to leave in total disgrace. The first Juppé government at the beginning of the Chirac presidency had twelve women in key positions, whom the press nick¬named, half-mockingly, the “Juppettes.” A few months later, the reshuf¬fled government had only kept four of them (in the Ministries of the En¬vironment, Francophony, Transportation, and Employment). Without a strong female lobby in the government, women issues will always be short changed. Aware of this problem, ten female politicians, from both the Right and the Left, are demanding political parties to make “parity” their goal (an equal number of men and women among elected officials). In June 1996, they signed a manifesto, Le Manifeste des dix pour la parité, published in the weekly magazine, L’Express (32–33). The debate is currently raging, with the majority of French people (71%) approving the principle of equality in politics (L’Express 30).
The area in which women have made the most stunning progress over the past thirty years is undoubtedly in secondary and higher education. Today, 42% of all women and only 32% of all men hold a baccalauréat. A greater number of female students than male students completes a college degree. All the Grandes écoles have finally opened their doors to female candidates.
Although, generally, girls receive better grades in school and are judged to be more mature and more serious students than boys, they suf¬fer from a low self-image and a lack of confidence reinforced by their teachers’ negative stereotypes (“boys are lazy and their success is due to their superior intelligence,” “girls do well because they work hard”) and textbooks that still portray most female characters as housewives (Cordero 42). Even when they achieve the same results as their male counterparts, they rate themselves lower and choose a less glamorous course of studies (Cordero 43). Women segregate themselves in a few disciplines; they favor the literary or general tracks over the science cur¬riculum (Zeldin 408). Seventy percent of high school girls prepare a bac¬calauréat with an emphasis in the humanities, the social sciences, or economics, while 60% of the male students choose a math, science, or technological bac (Cordero 38–39). In the professional and vocational high schools, girls specialize in a few traditional disciplines such as sec¬retarial studies, health, or paramedical sciences.
This self-imposed segregation continues in higher education where young women flock into a few areas: liberal arts, law, and pharmacy. These choices limit their subsequent employment opportunities. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to go into the so-called “voie royale” [royal road]: math, science, and engineering.
A growing number of female students elects attending the classes préparatoires for the grandes écoles. They represent 35% of this elite student body and have almost reached parity in business schools such as the Ecoles de Commerce and Ecoles Supérieures de Commerce et d’Administration des Entreprises. However, they remain a minority overall, especially in the more prestigious Ecoles d’Ingénieurs. The number of women does not exceed 10% of the student body at l’X (L’Ecole Polytechnique), which is the de-facto training ground for the future French CEOs. Top management executives are still heavily re¬cruited among engineering graduates who create a real “old boy net¬work” making it even harder for women to participate. Furthermore, the top Grandes Ecoles have traditionally promoted “virile values” such as “decisiveness, networks, hierarchies, camaraderie and dominance, . . . and the curriculum too bears the stereotypical masculine hallmark of logic, mathematics and Cartesianism” (Barsoux and Lawrence 142). The combined emphasis on engineering skills and traditional masculine views of management continue to exclude most women from the top. Eventu¬ally, the choice of subjects at school and in college will impact on women’s chances to get a well-paid, upper-management position.
As we have seen, French women are on an equal footing with men (at least in theory) in recent legislation and in education. Once in the work¬place, they benefit from many governmental family-friendly policies that Anglo-Saxon women would envy. In an attempt to reverse a falling demographic curve, an interventionist government helps French women to balance career and family by way of benefits. Hantrais remarks that the French government’s role has been to “support systems and services for all women who want to be economically active” (91).
In France, working conditions are governed by the Code du Travail. The majority of women are employed in the public sector, which sets the example for private industries to follow. To encourage demographic growth, the French government has enacted strict policies to protect pregnant women. For instance, they cannot be refused employment on account of their condition, nor can they be fired or discriminated against. French women are also entitled to a sixteen-week maternity leave for their first two children, and twenty-six weeks for the third child. Public sector employees may take up to six months leave on half-pay to breast¬feed their babies (Cordero 88). Maternity leave is counted as employ¬ment, so that pension rights and seniority are not affected. Upon return¬ing to work, female employees recover their former position within the company. Both male and female employees are entitled to a three-year parental leave without compensation for each child. Since 1985, parents who have three or more children receive l’allocation parentale d’éducation if they decide to stop working or to take a half-time position in order to look after their children. Besides goverment benefits, parents also receive allocations familiales based on income and family size.
It is easier for a French woman than for an American woman to find affordable care for her new-born baby. Cordero notes that
cette prise en charge collective de l’enfance et de la petite en¬fance fait l’admiration de tous les observateurs étrangers, no¬tamment américains, confrontés au problčme de l’insuffisante socialisation et scolarisation de l’enfant. (148)
Most French babies are placed in state-subsidized crčches [nurseries] that provide professional care at an affordable rate. Some parents may hire a state-certified assistante maternelle (nanny) to look after their young children at home. Once again, the government helps out with the alloca¬tion de garde d’enfant ŕ domicile [subsidy for maintaining a child at home].
Almost all French children start attending l’école maternelle by the age of two (Cordero 148), and the state runs after-hours childcare cen¬ters. Once in elementary and secondary schools, French children spend more time in the classroom than their American counterparts. They are on the school premises between 8 am and 5 pm; after which parents can leave them in supervised study halls or have them join after-school sports or cultural activities.
Finally, like all French workers, women enjoy a five-week paid vaca¬tion and a first-rate, national health care system that covers all the doctor visits during pregnancy. On the whole, the French government has inter¬vened to dictate family-friendly policies to the corporate world, compen¬sating households for the cost of raising children and making it easier for women to have both a family and a career. Actually, French women no longer have to choose between staying at home or having a career; le cumul [balacing both] has become the norm.
Blöss and Frickey consider that French women who choose the career path have to face certain problems that increase as they go up the corpo¬rate ladder (90). Women are still a minority in management: 20% of French companies have a female boss and 30% of small businesses are created by women (Majnoni 156). Women in upper management are still often referred to as femmes alibis [token women], and their regular ap¬pearances in the management press seems to be an attempt to allay fears of underrepresentation (Barsoux and Lawrence 143). For instance, when in 1989 Colette Lewiner became the first and only senior executive of Electricité de France, she felt that she was “un alibi” and she added “cela m’énervait profondément” (Harrois-Monin 28; “that bothered me a lot”).
Furthermore, despite all the government pro-family policies, well-educated women (bac + 4: High School Diploma + 4 years of college) are more likely to remain unmarried (18% of the 35–39 age group) and childless, or, if they marry, to have fewer children than the average. As a matter of fact, whereas marriage and children are considered to be an asset for a male executive, they are handicaps for ambitious women. A prospective employer always fears that a young, recently-married em¬ployee will bring additional costs to his/her business as a result of maternity leaves and repeated absences to care for ailing children. A mar¬ried woman is perceived as less committed to her work and less dedi¬cated to the company. In spite of the Loi sur l’égalité professionnelle en¬tre hommes et femmes, she receives a lower salary than a single woman.
Because there are so few women in upper management, the ones who succeed often find themselves quite isolated. Socialist Martine Aubry, a former Assistant General Manager at Pechiney, was the only woman among four hundred executives. She comments: “On m’appelait parfois Monsieur le Directeur en réunion” (Charles 32; “In meetings, I was sometimes called Mister Director”).
Since the French business world remains to a large extent a male for¬tress, it tends to perpetuate the dominance of male values. Entrance ex¬ams to the top engineering schools seem to discriminate against female candidates (Barsoux and Lawrence 142), half of whom will fail, being thus excluded from the training grounds of upper management. Women are deemed too soft and too passive to rule, their qualities—nurturing, intuition, openness—are regarded as flaws in an environment that values strength and authority in leadership. Even some successful women like Francine Gomez, the CEO of Waterman pens, think that “les hommes ont un désir de puissance que n’ont pas les femmes, c’est physiologique” (Barsoux and Lawrence 143; “men have a drive for power that women lack, it is physiological”).
In France, business is often conducted over lunches that sometimes last several hours. It is customary for the business partners to drink a se¬quence of an apéritif, several wines and a digestif, and to eat heartily. Women executives will find it difficult to comply with this male ‘ritual’; physically, it is harder for them to keep up with the drinking and the eat¬ing (Barsoux and Lawrence 109). Culturally, women are not supposed to indulge; they are expected to remain sober, slim, and elegant.
Bosses feel that female workers are less flexible and less available than their male colleagues. A study found that
men took longer over lunch and were available at the end of the working day for informal discussions which were an important component in their career progression, whereas women could not afford to have extended lunch breaks and arrive home at unpre¬dictable times. (Hantrais 145)
The few women who make it to the top still have to overcome many hurdles. Married or single, they assume a double load at home and at the office. Even when they are employed full time, women often have to take on the main responsibility for the smooth running of the household. It may affect their concentration and the quality of their work, since they have to worry about trivial things, such as what to cook for dinner or how to find a babysitter. Young men increasingly help their wives, especially with the caring of children. However, domestic equality remains a dream. Most women are in charge of washing, ironing, cleaning, cooking, etc. (Cordero 138–39). Moreover, household chores are not considered ‘real work’ by society, since they are not remunerated. Women are trapped in a “catch 22” situation that causes a lot of stress. Whether they work out¬side the home or not, they are made to feel guilty: either for neglecting their family or for wasting their education and their skills.
Single-parent families are primarily headed by women, and 25% of French female executives are either divorced or single mothers. All French women are keenly aware of the challenge presented by the need to balance work and family life. They have to juggle several, at times conflicting, schedules. This is a problem that becomes particularly acute during their children’s summer vacation. These business “superwomen” never find enough time to fit it all into a twenty-four hour day (Georges 37). As Hantrais comments,
Women who work full time in a demanding job and raise chil¬dren claim that in order to cope, they need to be excellent time managers, displaying the same management skills at home as at the workplace: the ability to plan, organize, delegate, direct and control. (161)
A female executive in a demanding upper management position who has to spend long hours at the office, often returning home long after 7 pm, feels unbearable time pressure and often suffers from overload (Hantrais 150). Moreover, it is less acceptable for a mother than for a father to spend less time with the children due to professional obliga¬tions. She suffers from both personally and societally imposed guilt if she misses her children’s bedtime or other important moments in their lives.
It is little wonder that, despite all the egalitarian talk, women are still the ones who sacrifice their career for the sake of a family. They take time off when their children or elderly parents are sick. They forego promotion if it means moving, but follow their husbands when they are transferred. Commuter marriages are still uncommon and they usually end with the birth of children or with divorce. Contrary to other Euro¬pean women (especially British and German), French women keep on working full time after the birth of their first and second child. However, their level of employment and activity drops sharply at the birth of a third child (from 79.1% with one child to 49% with three). The pro-family policies of the French government, aimed at encouraging women to have a family of three, have failed thus far. French women who want to keep on working prefer to limit their family size (Hantrais 115–16).
Until recently, French women were barred from working nights (a few exceptions were made for nurses, hotel, and restaurant employees). In 1992, the law was repealed. Unions had a mixed reaction, for although it opened new job opportunities for women, it further endangered the stability of family life.
Most career paths are now open to women, but their chances are slim of reaching the same status and commanding the same earnings as their male counterparts. Women are forever pulled in opposite directions by the conflicting demands of work and family. They are required to make greater sacrifices than men in order to succeed, such as postponing or rejecting marriage and children, having to put in a double day of work, etc. Since entering the job market in large numbers, women have been held responsible for all the ills of modern society, from low births to high unemployment, from the breakdown of the traditional family to juvenile deliquency.
They are constantly found in the lowest-paid job categories, and they comprise the majority (2/3) of smicards [minimum wage earners] (Zeldin 408). It is harder for them to find first-time employment, and they are more often unemployed than men. In 1991, 17% of young men under the age of 25 and 5.9% of men over 25 were unemployed versus 22.6% of young women and 9.9% of men (Maruani 48). They stay unemployed longer, and when they finally find work, they are more likely to be in emplois précaires or in part-time positions, which carry less security. Out of 2.8 million part-timers, 85% are women (Blöss and Frickey 106).
Many French women do not possess the technical skills and expert qualifications required in an increasingly complex working world. They are offered fewer chances to upgrade their skills, attend workshops (stages), or receive further training. They are often recruited to fill dead end positions, or in jobs that do not correspond to their qualifications (Cordero 103). Finally, a job performed by a woman traditionally carries less status and a lower paycheck than if it were done by a man. For ex¬ample, a woman who enters data on a computer keyboard is called “une claviste,” a low-wage job requiring no qualification; a man doing the same job becomes a qualified and better paid “typographe” (Cordero 97).
French employers distrust women, thinking they are unwilling to dedicate themselves fully to a career. Women’s careers are often dis¬rupted by the arrival of children and the priority given to a spouse’s job. Consequently, they often find themselves in more precarious situations than men. In times of recession, female workers are the first to be laid off since they are at the bottom of the scale. And corporate dynasties still prefer their heir to be a male. François Michelin never even considered that his daughter, Clarisse, a brilliant student, could succeed him as the head of the company, just because “c’est une fille . . .” (“Les Héritiers” 36).
A woman’s salary is still often thought to be “un salaire d’appoint,” a mere complement to the main wage-earner’s salary. Indeed, only 5% of women earn higher wages than their spouses. Although the law requires employers to pay an equal salary to their male and female employees for an equivalent (no longer equal) position, women are still paid on the av¬erage 30% less than men; partly, but not entirely, because they have fewer technical skills. It is in private enterprise that the gap between male and female wages is the largest and in the public sector that it is the smallest. We have already mentioned some of the reasons for this differ¬ence: women have less experience, fewer qualifications, more discon¬tinuous careers, more absences than men, they are stereotyped as being less mobile, less reliable, more emotional, and unpredictable.
Therefore, to reach the upper levels of management, women have to be better than their male colleagues. Female top executives often have more diplomas than men and a better school record. Once at work, they have to uphold higher standards than their male colleagues, since their actions represent those of all women. Each successful female executive also serves as a role model for younger generations.
Although problems persist, French women are now an accepted and integral part of the working world. With the active support of their gov¬ernment, they have succeeded in striking an uneasy balance between their homelife and their career. They reject the American model of the “executive superwoman,” which they find too aggressive and extreme. French women often claim that their relationship with the opposite sex is healthier and better than in other countries. It is surely less confronta¬tional than in the United States. French women have achieved much in the corporate world without threatening their femininity.
In comparison, American women in France are surprised to see that flirting is commonplace at the office, and that French female executives do not shy away from wearing low cut blouses and miniskirts to work. French women, on the other hand, are often shocked by what they regard as American feminist excesses. “We must not end up with the excesses of the United States, where the slightest glance can be misinterpreted,” comments a French politician about American sexual harassment cases (Platt 225).
On the whole, French women feel proud of their différence. After all, they believe in the French saying that “la femme est l’avenir de l’homme” [“women are men’s future”].
WORKS CITED
Barsoux, Jean-Louis, and Peter Lawrence. Management in France. Lon¬don: Cassell, 1990.
Blöss, Thierry, and Alain Frickey. La Femme dans la société française. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1994.
Charles, Gilbert. “Le Pouvoir selon Martine.” L’Express 20 Jan. 1994: 32.
Cordero, Christiane. Le Travail des femmes. Paris: Le Monde, 1994.
Georges, Michčle. “Martine, divorcée pressée.” L’Express 20 Jan. 1994: 37.
Hantrais, Linda. Managing Professional and Family Life: A Compara¬tive Study of British and French Women. Hants: Dartmouth, 1995.
Harrois-Monin, Françoise. “Les 4700 Salariés de Colette.” L’Express 20 Jan. 1994: 28.
“Le Manifeste des dix pour la parité.” L’Express 6 June 1996: 32–33.
“Les Héritiers.” Le Nouvel Economiste 13 July 1995: 34–43.
Majnoni d’Intignato, Béatrice. “Femmes au Travail, si vous saviez. . . .” L’Express 23 May 1996: 156.
Maruani, Margaret, and Emmanučle Reynaud. Sociologie de l’emploi. Paris: La Découverte, 1993.
Platt, Polly. French or Foe? Skokie: Culture Crossings, 1995.
Zeldin, Theodore. Les Français. Paris: Seuil, 1983.
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Yes, Jay, it is so true, and the challenge for all of us is to strive for an equitable system. This is possible, and men need to understand how they are conditioned. I would love to share our experiences on this - and take my word, the change is possible.
Madhu (gender trainer)
The Learning Circle
Nashik
M 9823361568
From India, Pune
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Madhu (gender trainer)
The Learning Circle
Nashik
M 9823361568
From India, Pune
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These articles posted creates awareness. It depends on the employers. Appreciate your efforts. Chitra
From India, Bangalore
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Indra Nooyi: Most Powerful Women in US Business, According to Fortune
NEW YORK: For the third year in a row, India-born chief executive of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, has been named as the most powerful woman in US business in the annual list prepared by American publication Fortune.
In the 11th annual list of the 50 most powerful women in business, Nooyi is followed by food maker Kraft Foods' chief executive and chairman Irene Rosenfeld and leading grain processor Archer Daniels Midland's chief executive Pat Woertz, at the second and third positions, respectively.
Writing on Nooyi, the magazine said that she has moved swiftly to offset slowing beverages sales in North America by expanding the global business, which accounts for about 26% of the company's revenues.
"She is also pushing healthier products like orange juice with omega-3 fatty acids. In a tough market, the stock is flat vs a year ago," it added.
Other names in the top ten include Xerox's CEO Anne Mulcahy (4th), WellPoint's CEO Angela Braly (5th), Avon Products' CEO Andrea Jung (6th), President of Procter & Gamble's Global Business Units Susan Arnold (7th), Harpo's chairman Oprah Winfrey (8th), Sara Lee's chairman and CEO Brenda Barnes (9th), and Xerox's President Ursula Burns (10th).
In the previous list, Rosenfeld was ranked at the fifth place while Woertz was placed at the sixth spot.
On 55-year-old Rosenfeld, Fortune noted that she is plowing money into brand building, empowering local managers in developing countries, and launching more ready-to-eat fare such as heat-and-serve Deli Creations flatbread sandwiches.
"This year the stock, which has remained relatively flat, replaced AIG on the Dow, and Warren Buffett recently upped his stake to nine percent," the report said.
From India, Ahmadabad
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NEW YORK: For the third year in a row, India-born chief executive of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, has been named as the most powerful woman in US business in the annual list prepared by American publication Fortune.
In the 11th annual list of the 50 most powerful women in business, Nooyi is followed by food maker Kraft Foods' chief executive and chairman Irene Rosenfeld and leading grain processor Archer Daniels Midland's chief executive Pat Woertz, at the second and third positions, respectively.
Writing on Nooyi, the magazine said that she has moved swiftly to offset slowing beverages sales in North America by expanding the global business, which accounts for about 26% of the company's revenues.
"She is also pushing healthier products like orange juice with omega-3 fatty acids. In a tough market, the stock is flat vs a year ago," it added.
Other names in the top ten include Xerox's CEO Anne Mulcahy (4th), WellPoint's CEO Angela Braly (5th), Avon Products' CEO Andrea Jung (6th), President of Procter & Gamble's Global Business Units Susan Arnold (7th), Harpo's chairman Oprah Winfrey (8th), Sara Lee's chairman and CEO Brenda Barnes (9th), and Xerox's President Ursula Burns (10th).
In the previous list, Rosenfeld was ranked at the fifth place while Woertz was placed at the sixth spot.
On 55-year-old Rosenfeld, Fortune noted that she is plowing money into brand building, empowering local managers in developing countries, and launching more ready-to-eat fare such as heat-and-serve Deli Creations flatbread sandwiches.
"This year the stock, which has remained relatively flat, replaced AIG on the Dow, and Warren Buffett recently upped his stake to nine percent," the report said.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Three Indian women among 'International Power 50'
NEW YORK: Three Indian women—ICICI Bank's Chanda Kochhar, HT Media's Shobhana Bhartia, and JPMorgan Chase's Kalpana Morparia—have been named in the "International Power 50" list compiled by US magazine Fortune.
The International power list is topped by global diversified mining and natural resource group Anglo American's CEO Cynthia Carroll, followed by Australian financial major Westpac's CEO Gail Kelly and Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell's Linda Cook.
ICICI Bank's Joint Managing Director Kochhar has been ranked at the 25th position, followed by HT Media's Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Shobhana Bhartia (34th rank), and JPMorgan Chase's India CEO Kalpana Morparia is at the 44th place in Fortune's international list of powerful women.
"The women at the very top of our list do not just preside over huge businesses; they also stand out in what remains male-dominated industries. By changing the face of international business, these women also are helping change the world," Fortune said.
Quoting insiders, the magazine said 46-year-old Kochhar would become CEO and Managing Director of ICICI Bank this month and added that ICICI faces slowing growth.
"The retail credit business has gone from yearly gains of 35 percent to single-digit increases. Kochhar is pursuing new business such as corporate credit," it stated.
Writing on Bhartia, the magazine said she has raised India's standards of business journalism with Mint, a venture with the Wall Street Journal that mirrors the US paper's mix of market news, corporate profiles, and lifestyle features.
Describing Morparia as a lawyer-turned-banker, the report stated, "She aims to expand the bank's corporate loans business and later help develop a corporate debt market."
From India, Ahmadabad
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NEW YORK: Three Indian women—ICICI Bank's Chanda Kochhar, HT Media's Shobhana Bhartia, and JPMorgan Chase's Kalpana Morparia—have been named in the "International Power 50" list compiled by US magazine Fortune.
The International power list is topped by global diversified mining and natural resource group Anglo American's CEO Cynthia Carroll, followed by Australian financial major Westpac's CEO Gail Kelly and Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell's Linda Cook.
ICICI Bank's Joint Managing Director Kochhar has been ranked at the 25th position, followed by HT Media's Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Shobhana Bhartia (34th rank), and JPMorgan Chase's India CEO Kalpana Morparia is at the 44th place in Fortune's international list of powerful women.
"The women at the very top of our list do not just preside over huge businesses; they also stand out in what remains male-dominated industries. By changing the face of international business, these women also are helping change the world," Fortune said.
Quoting insiders, the magazine said 46-year-old Kochhar would become CEO and Managing Director of ICICI Bank this month and added that ICICI faces slowing growth.
"The retail credit business has gone from yearly gains of 35 percent to single-digit increases. Kochhar is pursuing new business such as corporate credit," it stated.
Writing on Bhartia, the magazine said she has raised India's standards of business journalism with Mint, a venture with the Wall Street Journal that mirrors the US paper's mix of market news, corporate profiles, and lifestyle features.
Describing Morparia as a lawyer-turned-banker, the report stated, "She aims to expand the bank's corporate loans business and later help develop a corporate debt market."
From India, Ahmadabad
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'Women don't sledge' ... but they are competitive, says Indian women's cricket captain Mithali Raj, as her team gets ready for a 20-day tour of Australia. In an interview with Nandini Kumar, the skipper sounds confident about taking on the world champions and sets sight on the 2012 World Cup. Excerpts.
Post Asia Cup win, the women's team performance has gone down. What went wrong in England? On the whole, it was a miserable tour. We failed to perform in all the departments. Also, the conditions during the Asia Cup and the England tour were different. At the same time, we had a young team that was traveling to England for the first time. Playing against an experienced side at home was always going to be difficult.
Do you think the team has learned from its mistakes? Yes, the young girls have definitely carried a lot of experience from the English tour. Now they know what the necessary ingredients are needed to beat a good team.
What would be the team's strategy for the Australian tour? Australia will be a very challenging tour; we need to be mentally and physically strong to succeed there. The wickets there will be totally different from the English or sub-continent strips. Australians are world champions. It will be a great experience for us, as the upcoming World Cup is going to be held in Australia next year. The experience on this tour will also be handy for our World Cup preparations.
India-Australia men's cricket involves a lot of sledging. Is it the same in women's cricket? Women's cricket is not as aggressive as men's cricket. There is no abusive language or bad talk. It's more of competitive cricket. There is aggressive body language, but no sledging.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Post Asia Cup win, the women's team performance has gone down. What went wrong in England? On the whole, it was a miserable tour. We failed to perform in all the departments. Also, the conditions during the Asia Cup and the England tour were different. At the same time, we had a young team that was traveling to England for the first time. Playing against an experienced side at home was always going to be difficult.
Do you think the team has learned from its mistakes? Yes, the young girls have definitely carried a lot of experience from the English tour. Now they know what the necessary ingredients are needed to beat a good team.
What would be the team's strategy for the Australian tour? Australia will be a very challenging tour; we need to be mentally and physically strong to succeed there. The wickets there will be totally different from the English or sub-continent strips. Australians are world champions. It will be a great experience for us, as the upcoming World Cup is going to be held in Australia next year. The experience on this tour will also be handy for our World Cup preparations.
India-Australia men's cricket involves a lot of sledging. Is it the same in women's cricket? Women's cricket is not as aggressive as men's cricket. There is no abusive language or bad talk. It's more of competitive cricket. There is aggressive body language, but no sledging.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Have you seen women’s cricket evolving?
Regarding the standards of the game, yes, it has evolved. There was a time when 150 on the board would be a decent total, but now teams have started scoring 250-300 on many occasions.
Do you think T20 format would give women’s cricket the boost it requires?
Spectators do complain that the fairer sex plays a slow game. To attract crowds and money into the game, T20 format is an ideal platform. It has been a big hit in men’s cricket and I am sure people would be curious to see how women play T20.
Has women’s cricket benefited after BCCI’s take over?
Yes. We get access to a lot of facilities, which only the men’s team had access to earlier. The state players are also able to make the most of the facilities. This would definitely help in improving the standard of women’s cricket from the grass root level.
Do you feel women’s cricket in India is neglected by the media?
There were times when we hardly had any media coverage. But it all changed after we won the Asia cup. Suddenly media woke up and noticed our achievement. We got good coverage, and I am glad that it’s a different scenario now. People now know that there is a women’s cricket existing.
Do you get attention from the opposite sex, just like the Men in Blue do?
(Smiles) To be honest, I don’t really get attention the same way as the men’s team gets from their female fans.
Is there anyone special in your life?
I have been in relationships before, but at the moment I am single.
Will you continue to play cricket after getting married?
This is something that I have not given a thought about. But yes, if I remain fit and get enough support from my family then, of course, why not!
Where do you see the Indian women’s cricket team in the next five years?
We are aiming at winning the 2012 World cup, which will be played in India.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Regarding the standards of the game, yes, it has evolved. There was a time when 150 on the board would be a decent total, but now teams have started scoring 250-300 on many occasions.
Do you think T20 format would give women’s cricket the boost it requires?
Spectators do complain that the fairer sex plays a slow game. To attract crowds and money into the game, T20 format is an ideal platform. It has been a big hit in men’s cricket and I am sure people would be curious to see how women play T20.
Has women’s cricket benefited after BCCI’s take over?
Yes. We get access to a lot of facilities, which only the men’s team had access to earlier. The state players are also able to make the most of the facilities. This would definitely help in improving the standard of women’s cricket from the grass root level.
Do you feel women’s cricket in India is neglected by the media?
There were times when we hardly had any media coverage. But it all changed after we won the Asia cup. Suddenly media woke up and noticed our achievement. We got good coverage, and I am glad that it’s a different scenario now. People now know that there is a women’s cricket existing.
Do you get attention from the opposite sex, just like the Men in Blue do?
(Smiles) To be honest, I don’t really get attention the same way as the men’s team gets from their female fans.
Is there anyone special in your life?
I have been in relationships before, but at the moment I am single.
Will you continue to play cricket after getting married?
This is something that I have not given a thought about. But yes, if I remain fit and get enough support from my family then, of course, why not!
Where do you see the Indian women’s cricket team in the next five years?
We are aiming at winning the 2012 World cup, which will be played in India.
From India, Ahmadabad
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The Hindu Business Line: The intrepid women of India Inc
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The article discusses the rise of women leaders in the corporate world in India. It highlights the challenges faced by women in climbing the corporate ladder and the strategies they employ to overcome these obstacles. The piece also emphasizes the importance of gender diversity in driving innovation and success in business.
Overall, the article paints a positive picture of the increasing presence and influence of women in India Inc, showcasing their determination, resilience, and achievements in breaking barriers and shattering stereotypes in the corporate sector. It serves as a source of inspiration and motivation for aspiring female professionals looking to make their mark in the business world.
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The article discusses the rise of women leaders in the corporate world in India. It highlights the challenges faced by women in climbing the corporate ladder and the strategies they employ to overcome these obstacles. The piece also emphasizes the importance of gender diversity in driving innovation and success in business.
Overall, the article paints a positive picture of the increasing presence and influence of women in India Inc, showcasing their determination, resilience, and achievements in breaking barriers and shattering stereotypes in the corporate sector. It serves as a source of inspiration and motivation for aspiring female professionals looking to make their mark in the business world.
From India, Ahmadabad
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India Top Business Women — Blogs, Pictures, and more on WordPress
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California Department of Corrections Sexual Harassment Attorneys | CA Central Valley DOC Lawyers | Fresno | Sacramento
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WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES/Sexual Harassment
From India, Ahmadabad
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WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES/Sexual Harassment
From India, Ahmadabad
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Press Release – Men Cell
Supported by Save Family Foundation and MyNation
At Jantar Mantar, New Delhi from 12am to 4 pm
On first Anniversary of the Draconian DV Act....
Press release & to all concerned In light of the shocking news:
26th October, 2007 THE BLACK DAY (The day Domestic Violence Act came into force i.e. 26/10/06 )
“Men are harassed, State Women Commission: Orissa. TNN
"86.6 % women of Tihar Jail are jailed in Dowry cases" …Sahara Samachar
"90 % women in Bihar's jails are locked up in Dowry Cases" …..NBT
"99 % dowry complaints are false "…….A women head of women PS (Haryana)
"Similar situation is throughout the country" …………
WORLD-WIDE PROTEST
against use of henious Criminal Laws in Marital Discords on first barsi of the draconian DV Act.
On 26/10/2007 worldwide PROTEST/ Pehli Barsi of D.V. Act is being CELEBRATED by the harassed husbands and their relatives, tortured, black-mailed, looted and falsely implicated in false Domestic Violence Act & false anti-dowry cases all over India & the world by their unscrupulous wives, daughters-in- laws and their greedy relatives for ulterior motives. So Called WOMEN LAWS are entirely biased, discriminatory, stringent, unconstitutional and unprecedented in the legal history of our country. As observed the WOMEN LAWS are verdict before trial, laws of legal extortion, tools legal of blackmailing & violation of basic human rights. In fact the men are the victim of Domestic Violence as admitted by SCW, Orissa recently.
Protest victims rotting/lying in jails, facing trials in courts and torture in their homes in the country and as well as throughout the world will protest against the use of heinous criminal laws in marital discords.
Protest world wide by Nora’s victims from USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Japan, Norway, Germany, UAE, Russia, New Zealand will protest at their respective High commissions across the globe.
Worldwide Prayer -Innocent tortured husbands and their relatives will pray to almighty god that the daughters in law of so called leaders of the country, senior police, administrative and judicial officers may file false dowry complaints against them, and they should live in constant terror and fear of
arrest and be put behind the bars with their innocent, ailing aged parents, married, unmarried daughters and their hard earned money is looted in the name of STRIDHAN and nobody should listen to them like us.
[Advocate Supreme Court]
Spokesperson.
Crime Against Man / man cell –Purush Cell/ PAVN- an - SPCH
BH-712-A, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi-110088 ( INDIA )
e-mail – mancell@rediffmail. com for more info. Log on to:
patnipeeditmanch.gq.nu
Tele Helpline: 9868142608, 9810170681
Protesting discrimination under law
Misuse of anti-dowry laws and other woman-protection laws like Domestic Violence LAW has now become a well recognized problem in India. Increasing number of aged parents, sisters and children in the husband’s family are falsely accused and arrested under these inhumane laws, and find themselves defenseless against the harassment unleashed thereafter.
To protest against this outrageous and horrific legal regime and it’s so called pro-women façade, men and women of the Men Cell and Save Family Foundation are gathering at Jantar Mantar along with their families on 26th of Oct 2007, to mark the completion of 1 year of draconian Domestic Violence LAW. We are enraged by the misuse of women-protection laws and the nuisance created by Govt. funded women’s organizations that are incessantly pushing for more anti-male, anti-family legal provisions. We would like to highlight how the concerns of a large section of men and women have been completely sidelined in order to accommodate discrimination-based political agendas.
Over the years, various responsible agencies including Indian Judiciary have stressed on the need for amending these atrocious laws. The World Health Organization identified misuse of IPC Section 498A as the prominent reason for elder abuse in India. The Supreme Court of India has described the misuse of IPC Section 498A as ‘Legal Terrorism’, and stressed that the law must be amended in order to protect the innocent, and to ensure justice to the genuinely aggrieved. Rational and responsible citizens from all over the country and abroad have repeatedly warned that these laws in their present form are detrimental to family harmony, and left unchecked, these laws have enormous potential to shatter marital and family stability in years to come.
While ordinary law-abiding men, along with women, senior citizens and children, are being summarily arrested and ruthlessly incarcerated on false charges of dowry harassment every day, the Government has not raised a finger yet. It was not until the Minister for Human Resources Development was accused of dowry harassment that Smt. Renuka Chaudhary finally acknowledged the misuse of anti-dowry laws in public. What is deeply agonizing to us is that contrary to the way common men and women are treated, the Government is according special concessions to the Minister, thereby demonstrating that the otherwise brutal anti-dowry laws do not apply equally to all citizens of India.
Why is the Government not directing the law enforcement system to make proper inquiries before acting on complaints of dowry harassment filed on common citizens? Why are the repeated pleas for amending laws not being heard? Why are the young men and women of India forced to dissipate their energies and waste their most productive years in needless litigation? Why are so many senior citizens being traumatized during the last leg of their lives? Why is the Government sponsoring the destruction of families?
People at Delhi protest to show how the drive against anti-male, anti-family laws is slowly but steadily gaining momentum. They are coming with the hope that the Government will stop pretending to be asleep, and that it will hear and respond to all our yet unanswered questions.
Social impact of draconian legal provisions and their misuse
Discriminatory laws like IPC 498A and DV Act are harming men, women and children of India.
Due to lack of social support and legal protection many male victims of domestic abuse are taking their lives everyday. Recently, the increasing threat of false cases is also driving many married men to commit suicide.
False cases are severely hampering the personal and professional lives of the most productive section of the Indian population. Aspirations of young men and women are being crushed, and their most fruitful years are being wasted in litigation. Many men have lost their jobs or have had to quit their professions as a result of the never-ending legalized harassment.
Parents are heart-broken to see their sons lose their youth, health, careers, all their earnings, and sometimes even their lives, as they are mercilessly tortured by their estranged wives, aided by the law enforcement system. Retired elders are, thus, being denied mental peace in their old age, resulting in deterioration of their health, and in many cases their premature demise. Falsely accused senior citizens have also ended their lives unable to endure the humiliation of being arrested and the trauma of fighting false cases.
The so-called women-protection laws are also causing more harm than good to women. In every false complaint at least two women, a mother-in-law and a sister-in-law, are accused. Minor girls, pregnant women, married and unmarried sisters, ailing mothers and even aged grandmothers have been sent behind bars based on mere allegations, and subjected to long-drawn trials before being declared innocent. Many falsely charged, poor and illiterate women are languishing in prison every year. Due to an excess of false cases and the systemic corruption, genuine victims of domestic abuse are denied timely justice.
Children are not being spared from the suffering either. In case of marital disputes children are being denied access to their fathers, causing great pain to the fathers and children. Children are also being arrested under false charges of dowry harassment, and imprisoned along with older family members. In other cases, children are being torn apart from their parents who are hauled away by the police in front of their eyes, causing indelible scars and fears in their young minds.
Indians residing abroad are equally vulnerable to legalized harassment. Passports of falsely accused NRI's are being impounded. Several individuals who visited India are unable to return to their respective countries of residence, and several others continue to live abroad in fear, separated indefinitely from their loved ones in India. Interpol Red Corner Notices are being misused to force many overseas Indians to return to India.
Unreasonable and easily misused laws like IPC 498A and DV Act are creating a situation of fear and mutual distrust, and adversely affecting interpersonal relationships between men and women in the society. There is a fear psychosis among men who find it difficult to repose faith in women or marriage. Increasing number of women are being misled by false notions of liberation and empowerment, and being encouraged to shun family life.
Due to misuse of laws like IPC 498A and DV Act numerous families have been broken beyond repair, and are suffering immeasurable economic hardship and emotional trauma. The country has already incurred a huge social cost in addition to the enormous financial burden imposed on the public exchequer. How does the Government propose to compensate individuals for their personal losses, and more importantly, how will it explain the squandering of tax payer money to sponsor its discriminatory politics?
Victims of legal discrimination – the grim statistics
The statistics on suicides in India tell the tale of harsh ground realities faced by men in Indian society.
In the recent years, the number of suicides by males in every age group studied outnumbered the number of suicides by females in those respective age groups. Nearly twice as many married men committed suicide compared to married women in the years 2004 and 2005. Also, nearly twice as many men separated from their wives committed suicide compared to separated women in both years.
Men outnumbered women in every method of committing suicide, except by fire and self-immolation. Nearly nine times more men committed suicide by consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, or by machines. Nearly four times more men committed suicide by firearms, by jumping of trains and fast moving vehicles, or by self-electrocution. In almost every other category of suicide such as hanging, poisoning, or overdose of pills etc., suicides of men were nearly twice the rate of suicides of women.
Overall, the total number of suicides by men nearly tripled between 1983 and 2005 (whereas during the same period female suicides only nearly doubled). Incidentally, the draconian provisions of IPC 498A were introduced in the year 1983, and overwhelming evidence points to the increasing misuse of these provisions ever since.
Every year, there is a rising number of cases fabricated by wives only to threaten, extort money from, and wreak revenge on husbands and their relatives, in case of marital discord. Between 1995 and 2005, the number of cases filed annually nearly doubled. According to data obtained from the Ministry of Home Affairs, in the year 2005 alone, 58,319 cases were registered under charges of cruelty by husband and relatives (IPC 498A), and resulted in the arrest of 1,27,560 individuals including 339 children, 28,579 women and 4,512 adults over the age of 60.
However, the statistics reveal only a small part of the grim reality. Under Section 498A, an individual is charged with a non-bailable, cognizable criminal offense, and is presumed guilty until proven innocent. The accused have to fight the highly corrupt state machinery at their own personal expense, all the while carrying the presumption of guilt on their heads. Sometimes, they lose their employment. Often, they are forced to travel to a different city or state to fight their cases.
Where would these falsely accused men and women gather the strength and the resources needed to fight the corruption and public prosecution effectively? If the accused are already indigent and cannot afford the best defense money can buy, their fate is sealed. They become mere statistics in the arsenal of the proponents of this draconian legislation.
Against this backdrop, one has to examine the statistics of conviction. In 80% of the older cases that concluded in year 2005, the accused were found not guilty. The same is true for the years 2003 and 2004 as well. Multiple sources indicate that, nearly 98% of all 498A cases result in acquittal of the accused. Despite the presumption of guilt and the overwhelming odds the accused is forced to face, the convictions are only a small percentage of the total cases filed.
Isn’t this is a clear indication of how frivolous the charges usually are and how widespread the abuse of the system is?
The Government needs to act NOW
Men Cell and Save Indian Family Foundation urges the Government of India to make the following amendments to the law and ensure that ordinary citizens of India are spared from needless harassment:
1. Section 498A of IPC should be made bailable.
Section 498A, being non-bailable, allows punishing the accused by imprisonment even before guilt is established. This goes against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law. Abused women need protection, but placing unconditional faith in the statements of a woman and confining the accused husband and his family in police or judicial custody, until bail is granted by a court, is not the way to accord protection to women.
2. Section 498A of IPC should be made non-cognizable.
Innocent citizens are being arrested everyday based on mere complaints without requiring evidence or investigation. Even children and senior citizens are not being spared. IPC 498A, being a cognizable offence, violates a citizen’s right to due process.
3. IPC 498A and Domestic Violence Law should be made gender neutral.
Domestic abuse is not gender specific. The assumption that victims of physical, verbal, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse are always women is wrong. According the Universal Declaration of Human Rights "all are equal before the law, and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law". Hence, men should also be accorded protection from physical, verbal, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse by women.
4. Persons who misuse IPC 498A and Domestic Violence Law should be penalized.
Misuse of the process of law not only costs the public exchequer dearly, but also destroys the personal lives of many innocent citizens. Misuse of law should be treated as a serious crime, and persons who use women-protection laws as weapons for settling personal scores in marital disputes should be severely punished.
Domestic Violence LAW or House occupation LAW?
By Sandeep Bhartia 9899329991
Can Supreme Court save Lakhs of homes of old persons from radical feminists LAWmaker of MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT? Domestic Violence LAW or House occupation LAW?
The one of the big aims of making Domestic Violence (DV) LAW is to occupy the house by wife. The name DOMESTIC VIOLENCE is given to fool the public.
The new DOMESTIC VIOLENCE law (from Oct 2006) sections 17 and 19, practically allows a wife to occupy any of the houses she had ever stayed in. The LAW says the house can be of a friend or relative or rented. It do not matter how much time back the wife stayed in the house.
Persons save full life for making a house they can stay in the old age. With this LAW they can lose own build houses to the daughter-in-law.
How big is the effect?
With more then 10,000 (Ten thousand) complaints of matrimonial discord in Delhi alone last year, almost all of these now will use the DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW.
The are many problems with this new LAW made by radical feminists at ministry of Women and Child development, one of the major ounces i.e., the house of friend or relative of husband in new Domestic LAW, is a major battle point between the Supreme court on one side and Govt. funded radical feminists, funded NGO's and their press agents on the other.
The case that triggered this fight, the house was on Husbands mother's name, they allege that the son's wife sent them to jail along with the son on the dreaded dowry LAW, arrest without investigation, non bailable, 498a ( mental torture by asking for dowry). It is alleged that she broke the lock of house and started living in the house. After coming from Jail, the Husband's mother was not allowed entry in her own house. The wife's lawyer argued that since Domestic violence act (from Oct 2006) made by ministry of women and child development ministry is already passed by parliament, there is no question of wife leaving the house of husband's mother.
Please read the Judgment copy attached, things will automatically become clear.
http://ipc498a.files.wordpress.com/2...batra-2007.pdf
Supreme Court said the house can be given to wife only if the house is owned by husband. In case of rented house husband has to pay the rent, otherwise this will lead to choes in society,.. the definition of shared household in the LAW … appear to be the result of clumsy drafting, but we have to give it an interpretation which is sensible and which does not lead to chaos in society.
The feminist’s press and media agents were immediately all over the press and media. They say this Supreme Court judgment to let the old couple have their own house is step back for women empowerment. They are saying in TV that this defeats the purpose of making the Domestic violence act (from Oct. 2006). They want the wife to have the most expensive relatives or friends house that the wife lived in at any point of time during the marriage.
Anti feminists organizations which are not funded by Ministry of women and child development like feminists organization, are obviously trying to fight feminists press agents over this.
Check out <link outdated-removed>
MyNation Foundation - News
THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW OF INDIA - A SHIELD OR A SWORD ? Save the institution of marriage
<link no longer exists - removed>
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Dis...s&subsection=\
India&month=December2006&file=World_News2006120516 4441.xml
Lets pray that feminists funded by ministry of women and child development are defeated by the supreme court, for the sake of old persons houses. To ensure that our old persons and children do not suffer by fatherless families as wanted by Govt. funded radical feminists and LAW Makers of WCD.
Letterman Case Shows Problems with Restraining Orders by Jeffery M. Leving, Esq., and Glenn Sacks
<link no longer exists - removed>
Don't Make Her Mad -- Hell hath no fury like a false allegation
Feminist’s propaganda.
http://centredaily.com <link updated to site home>
Feminists will not let you know that it is for occupying the house.
"A woman subject to domestic violence [was] afraid to seek remedies to end the violence - in law or otherwise - for fear of being evicted from her household or being denied access to funds necessary to maintain herself and her children," says Mandeep Tiwana, from the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in New Delhi.
JOIN THE BETTLE GOING AT PRESENT AT SAVE THE HOUSE OF OLD PERSONS.
To fight the above Supreme Court Judgment, and allow the wife to get the old in-laws property, even if she is not living in the said property, WCD has set up a panel, somehow some men’s rights activists came to know about his panel. So feminists got the news printed that the panel is to prevent misuse. What kind of results one gets with radical feminists women only panel is known. To make fool of public they will say in press the panel is to prevent misuse.
DV LAW should be applicable to husband’s house only. It is unfair to occupy the old persons, friends, and relative’s houses Legally by Domestic Violence LAW.
Why should a friend or husbands relatives lose the house, if they allowed the wife of husband or the couple to stay in the house at any point in time in past or present.
Why should friend or relative suffer by forcing him or her to allow women to enter the house, just because they allowed her to stay in house at some point of time in the past?
Domestic violence Law, whose 2 important parts are related to getting the women inside the house of husband (man) or friend or relative, and removing any male members from the house in question.
This as expected this has become a tool of legal extortion, by bad wife. After taking maintenance up to 2/3 of husbands earnings, without giving divorce. Existing Laws gives maintenance extra for renting a house that is equal to the house of husbands standard.
The feminists LAW makers at WCD have now added in Domestic Violence LAW provision, that the wife will enter the most costly house among houses of old in-laws or relative or friends house legally, then do complaints under DV LAW, and either force the in-laws or relative with the most costly house, to leave the house or give money to vacate the house. Else she will use the LAW to harass them till they leave the house. What kind of wrong LAW is this?
Divorce after 7 years of separation should be made easier. This is basic human right.
With more then 10,000 complaints of matrimonial discord received every year in Delhi alone. Also the complaints are increasing fast every year. (This men’s rights activists say is due to wrong new Laws made by radical feminists, and due to Govt. funding of feminists organizations.)
Significant % of these husbands live-separated full life, as getting Divorce for Hindu husbands is practically almost impossible. Due to LAW preventing them from starting a family, they go through immense pain in life, are devoid of aim or interests, and angry with the LAW and society. Their productivity is reduced; life’s are spent in courts fighting dozens of cases, against anti men barbaric LAWs, instead of doing productive work for society. Some lose interest in Life.
Their relative's life is also affected greatly. They are blackmailed by the new barbaric DV LAW, and 498a.
Reducing so-called Dowry deaths to insignificant % is child’s play.
Just change the LAW so that after 7 years of separation, divorce becomes easier, (no fault divorce as in some countries abroad)
Feminist’s women organizations are not asking for this, nor radical feminists LAWmakers at Minstry of Women and child development, are doing this. Instead they actually want the dowry deaths to increase, by putting new LAWs against husbands. This increases funding for feminists; they are interested in the jobs funded by Govt.
It is a pain to hear husbands saying that his life will be anyways destroyed by wrong, unequal, barbaric, LAWs for wife and women. So he wants to kill his wife and then kill himself.
Muslim divorce and divorce in some other countries are now made easier (no fault divorce). Divorce after 7 years of separation should be made easier.
Some Men’s Rights Demands.
1. WCD (Ministry of women and Child development) and NCW (National commission for Women) should be headed by women who are successful grandmothers. These women would have seen the full cycle of life, so can take better decisions about making new LAWs for marriages and interactions between sexes.
Most Feminist's leaders are women with failed relationship with men. Unfortunately Indian new LAW's for marriages and man women relationships are being made by women with failed marriages or those who never married. These women are envious of women with children and successful marriages, so are making LAW's and 100's of small small things to destroy maximum marriages.
For example the department who has changed most LAWs of marriages and is responsible for drafting the LAW is Ministry of Women and child development. This ministry with lots of money is headed by Renuka Chaudhary, who has filed the dreaded LAW of 498a (mental torture for asking Dowry) against even her NRI son-in-law. This law is non bailable saying police should arrest the husband any of his relatives, and do investigation of whether the complaint is false or true later. Almost all wives allege 498a in case of any marital difference of opinion.
Then comes Nation Commission for women (NCW), this is headed by Girija Viyas, she had never married. Looks like our country politicians think that only women who do not marry or in failed marriage are women, rest are second grade women.
Men’s rights activists are demanding that these 2 important posts should be given to women who are successful grandmothers, these women would have seen the full cycle of life, so can take better decisions about making new LAWs for women.
Another feminists example is Bindra Carat, she do not have any children. Since feminists want to portray that Indian religion is bad, it is not surprising that Ms Bindra lad the attack on Swami Ramdev, who is helping large number of Indians by Yoga and medicines.
2. Maintenance laws should be same for husband and wife. 125CrPC should be modified.
3. Just as husband has no rights in wife's ancestral property, wife should have no rights in husband's ancestral property. Or if that is not acceptable, both should have equal rights in each other’s ancestral property.
4. Men's statistics should be collected, including those who have not filed for divorce (by seeing CAW complaints received and maintenance cases. So that society knows the truth. In India husband do not get divorce as the LAW is like that. So husbands do not file for divorce to avoid paying more money without gaining anything.
Public should know how many marriages are failing, how many couples are living separately, in whatever stage of fight. This will help persons take informed decisions.
5. When 2 persons enter marriage they enter the relationship considering the present LAW's. If the conditions of marriage LAW's were different, any of the parties may have decided not to enter the marriage with that person but find some other person. It would be unfair say to change the conditions of a contract after the contract was signed, and half completed. So LAWs of marriages passed after the marriages had already taken place should not be applied to these marriages. For example Oct 2006 DV (Domestic Violence) LAW for occupying house by wife, should not be applicable to marriages done before Oct 2006.
6. Separate divorce, separated men, statictics by religion should be collected by non feminist’s organizations, e.g. Muslim Divorce rate.
7. National commission for men is urgently required, to help men against biased BARBARIC new LAWs, to collect unbiased statistics and surveys in gender topics.
Some Problems with DV LAW in very first reading.
1. Before there was 1 maintenance LAW, then in 2001 125CrPC was modified. So maintenance case are being filed by wife at 2 places, and try to get the maintenance judgment that is higher. With DV LAW people are now fighting 3 maintenance cases, the wife can take the maintenance amount highest in these. This is as expected adding to the multiple proceedings in which parties may already be spending out their time, energy and resources. This is against basic common sense, just because feminists LAW makers at WCD want to give more options to the wife.
2. It is common trick by feminists LAW makers i.e., ministry of women and child development to add the controversial proposals, about which they get opposition not in the main LAW but later as part of Rules. Similar trick is used, Rules are significantly bad and one sided. Rule 14(6): Asking respondent by LAW to give undertaking that he would refrain from causing such domestic violence as complained by the aggrieved person. This can be done before any counseling begins. This puts the cart before the horse. It proceeds on the assumption that there is no reason to doubt that the respondent has committed or is likely to commit domestic violence. Then the Rule 14(5) says respondent shall not be allowed to plead any counter justification for the alleged act of domestic violence, this is unfair, the LAW prohibits 1 party from saying his point of view, which is wrong. Infact the full rule 14 of counseling procedure is too biased .
3. This LAW is made with the aim to get power and finances for feminists. Jobs reserved for women organizations only like of Service provider, and protection officers. Statistics distortion and one sidedness become easier by these later rules 2006.
4. Section 23: Asking magistrate to pass orders only on the basis of affidavit attached is bound to be highly misused, that also ex parte. Also later 2006 rules allow someone else to sign the affidavit apart from the women, so easy for that person to say this is what I thought would have happened.
Attachment: Supreme court Judgment about Domestic Violence Law 15/12/2006 S.R Batra V Tarun Batra.
Also try to get at Seminar cum dharna (not part of press release) a copy of about 20 page article on DV LAW by R.K Gauba (Delhi Judge?) Source: The practical Lawyer.
Affiliation :
Protect Indian Family Fighting for Family Harmony?.. Against Legal Terrorism
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Supported by Save Family Foundation and MyNation
At Jantar Mantar, New Delhi from 12am to 4 pm
On first Anniversary of the Draconian DV Act....
Press release & to all concerned In light of the shocking news:
26th October, 2007 THE BLACK DAY (The day Domestic Violence Act came into force i.e. 26/10/06 )
“Men are harassed, State Women Commission: Orissa. TNN
"86.6 % women of Tihar Jail are jailed in Dowry cases" …Sahara Samachar
"90 % women in Bihar's jails are locked up in Dowry Cases" …..NBT
"99 % dowry complaints are false "…….A women head of women PS (Haryana)
"Similar situation is throughout the country" …………
WORLD-WIDE PROTEST
against use of henious Criminal Laws in Marital Discords on first barsi of the draconian DV Act.
On 26/10/2007 worldwide PROTEST/ Pehli Barsi of D.V. Act is being CELEBRATED by the harassed husbands and their relatives, tortured, black-mailed, looted and falsely implicated in false Domestic Violence Act & false anti-dowry cases all over India & the world by their unscrupulous wives, daughters-in- laws and their greedy relatives for ulterior motives. So Called WOMEN LAWS are entirely biased, discriminatory, stringent, unconstitutional and unprecedented in the legal history of our country. As observed the WOMEN LAWS are verdict before trial, laws of legal extortion, tools legal of blackmailing & violation of basic human rights. In fact the men are the victim of Domestic Violence as admitted by SCW, Orissa recently.
Protest victims rotting/lying in jails, facing trials in courts and torture in their homes in the country and as well as throughout the world will protest against the use of heinous criminal laws in marital discords.
Protest world wide by Nora’s victims from USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Japan, Norway, Germany, UAE, Russia, New Zealand will protest at their respective High commissions across the globe.
Worldwide Prayer -Innocent tortured husbands and their relatives will pray to almighty god that the daughters in law of so called leaders of the country, senior police, administrative and judicial officers may file false dowry complaints against them, and they should live in constant terror and fear of
arrest and be put behind the bars with their innocent, ailing aged parents, married, unmarried daughters and their hard earned money is looted in the name of STRIDHAN and nobody should listen to them like us.
[Advocate Supreme Court]
Spokesperson.
Crime Against Man / man cell –Purush Cell/ PAVN- an - SPCH
BH-712-A, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi-110088 ( INDIA )
e-mail – mancell@rediffmail. com for more info. Log on to:
patnipeeditmanch.gq.nu
Tele Helpline: 9868142608, 9810170681
Protesting discrimination under law
Misuse of anti-dowry laws and other woman-protection laws like Domestic Violence LAW has now become a well recognized problem in India. Increasing number of aged parents, sisters and children in the husband’s family are falsely accused and arrested under these inhumane laws, and find themselves defenseless against the harassment unleashed thereafter.
To protest against this outrageous and horrific legal regime and it’s so called pro-women façade, men and women of the Men Cell and Save Family Foundation are gathering at Jantar Mantar along with their families on 26th of Oct 2007, to mark the completion of 1 year of draconian Domestic Violence LAW. We are enraged by the misuse of women-protection laws and the nuisance created by Govt. funded women’s organizations that are incessantly pushing for more anti-male, anti-family legal provisions. We would like to highlight how the concerns of a large section of men and women have been completely sidelined in order to accommodate discrimination-based political agendas.
Over the years, various responsible agencies including Indian Judiciary have stressed on the need for amending these atrocious laws. The World Health Organization identified misuse of IPC Section 498A as the prominent reason for elder abuse in India. The Supreme Court of India has described the misuse of IPC Section 498A as ‘Legal Terrorism’, and stressed that the law must be amended in order to protect the innocent, and to ensure justice to the genuinely aggrieved. Rational and responsible citizens from all over the country and abroad have repeatedly warned that these laws in their present form are detrimental to family harmony, and left unchecked, these laws have enormous potential to shatter marital and family stability in years to come.
While ordinary law-abiding men, along with women, senior citizens and children, are being summarily arrested and ruthlessly incarcerated on false charges of dowry harassment every day, the Government has not raised a finger yet. It was not until the Minister for Human Resources Development was accused of dowry harassment that Smt. Renuka Chaudhary finally acknowledged the misuse of anti-dowry laws in public. What is deeply agonizing to us is that contrary to the way common men and women are treated, the Government is according special concessions to the Minister, thereby demonstrating that the otherwise brutal anti-dowry laws do not apply equally to all citizens of India.
Why is the Government not directing the law enforcement system to make proper inquiries before acting on complaints of dowry harassment filed on common citizens? Why are the repeated pleas for amending laws not being heard? Why are the young men and women of India forced to dissipate their energies and waste their most productive years in needless litigation? Why are so many senior citizens being traumatized during the last leg of their lives? Why is the Government sponsoring the destruction of families?
People at Delhi protest to show how the drive against anti-male, anti-family laws is slowly but steadily gaining momentum. They are coming with the hope that the Government will stop pretending to be asleep, and that it will hear and respond to all our yet unanswered questions.
Social impact of draconian legal provisions and their misuse
Discriminatory laws like IPC 498A and DV Act are harming men, women and children of India.
Due to lack of social support and legal protection many male victims of domestic abuse are taking their lives everyday. Recently, the increasing threat of false cases is also driving many married men to commit suicide.
False cases are severely hampering the personal and professional lives of the most productive section of the Indian population. Aspirations of young men and women are being crushed, and their most fruitful years are being wasted in litigation. Many men have lost their jobs or have had to quit their professions as a result of the never-ending legalized harassment.
Parents are heart-broken to see their sons lose their youth, health, careers, all their earnings, and sometimes even their lives, as they are mercilessly tortured by their estranged wives, aided by the law enforcement system. Retired elders are, thus, being denied mental peace in their old age, resulting in deterioration of their health, and in many cases their premature demise. Falsely accused senior citizens have also ended their lives unable to endure the humiliation of being arrested and the trauma of fighting false cases.
The so-called women-protection laws are also causing more harm than good to women. In every false complaint at least two women, a mother-in-law and a sister-in-law, are accused. Minor girls, pregnant women, married and unmarried sisters, ailing mothers and even aged grandmothers have been sent behind bars based on mere allegations, and subjected to long-drawn trials before being declared innocent. Many falsely charged, poor and illiterate women are languishing in prison every year. Due to an excess of false cases and the systemic corruption, genuine victims of domestic abuse are denied timely justice.
Children are not being spared from the suffering either. In case of marital disputes children are being denied access to their fathers, causing great pain to the fathers and children. Children are also being arrested under false charges of dowry harassment, and imprisoned along with older family members. In other cases, children are being torn apart from their parents who are hauled away by the police in front of their eyes, causing indelible scars and fears in their young minds.
Indians residing abroad are equally vulnerable to legalized harassment. Passports of falsely accused NRI's are being impounded. Several individuals who visited India are unable to return to their respective countries of residence, and several others continue to live abroad in fear, separated indefinitely from their loved ones in India. Interpol Red Corner Notices are being misused to force many overseas Indians to return to India.
Unreasonable and easily misused laws like IPC 498A and DV Act are creating a situation of fear and mutual distrust, and adversely affecting interpersonal relationships between men and women in the society. There is a fear psychosis among men who find it difficult to repose faith in women or marriage. Increasing number of women are being misled by false notions of liberation and empowerment, and being encouraged to shun family life.
Due to misuse of laws like IPC 498A and DV Act numerous families have been broken beyond repair, and are suffering immeasurable economic hardship and emotional trauma. The country has already incurred a huge social cost in addition to the enormous financial burden imposed on the public exchequer. How does the Government propose to compensate individuals for their personal losses, and more importantly, how will it explain the squandering of tax payer money to sponsor its discriminatory politics?
Victims of legal discrimination – the grim statistics
The statistics on suicides in India tell the tale of harsh ground realities faced by men in Indian society.
In the recent years, the number of suicides by males in every age group studied outnumbered the number of suicides by females in those respective age groups. Nearly twice as many married men committed suicide compared to married women in the years 2004 and 2005. Also, nearly twice as many men separated from their wives committed suicide compared to separated women in both years.
Men outnumbered women in every method of committing suicide, except by fire and self-immolation. Nearly nine times more men committed suicide by consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, or by machines. Nearly four times more men committed suicide by firearms, by jumping of trains and fast moving vehicles, or by self-electrocution. In almost every other category of suicide such as hanging, poisoning, or overdose of pills etc., suicides of men were nearly twice the rate of suicides of women.
Overall, the total number of suicides by men nearly tripled between 1983 and 2005 (whereas during the same period female suicides only nearly doubled). Incidentally, the draconian provisions of IPC 498A were introduced in the year 1983, and overwhelming evidence points to the increasing misuse of these provisions ever since.
Every year, there is a rising number of cases fabricated by wives only to threaten, extort money from, and wreak revenge on husbands and their relatives, in case of marital discord. Between 1995 and 2005, the number of cases filed annually nearly doubled. According to data obtained from the Ministry of Home Affairs, in the year 2005 alone, 58,319 cases were registered under charges of cruelty by husband and relatives (IPC 498A), and resulted in the arrest of 1,27,560 individuals including 339 children, 28,579 women and 4,512 adults over the age of 60.
However, the statistics reveal only a small part of the grim reality. Under Section 498A, an individual is charged with a non-bailable, cognizable criminal offense, and is presumed guilty until proven innocent. The accused have to fight the highly corrupt state machinery at their own personal expense, all the while carrying the presumption of guilt on their heads. Sometimes, they lose their employment. Often, they are forced to travel to a different city or state to fight their cases.
Where would these falsely accused men and women gather the strength and the resources needed to fight the corruption and public prosecution effectively? If the accused are already indigent and cannot afford the best defense money can buy, their fate is sealed. They become mere statistics in the arsenal of the proponents of this draconian legislation.
Against this backdrop, one has to examine the statistics of conviction. In 80% of the older cases that concluded in year 2005, the accused were found not guilty. The same is true for the years 2003 and 2004 as well. Multiple sources indicate that, nearly 98% of all 498A cases result in acquittal of the accused. Despite the presumption of guilt and the overwhelming odds the accused is forced to face, the convictions are only a small percentage of the total cases filed.
Isn’t this is a clear indication of how frivolous the charges usually are and how widespread the abuse of the system is?
The Government needs to act NOW
Men Cell and Save Indian Family Foundation urges the Government of India to make the following amendments to the law and ensure that ordinary citizens of India are spared from needless harassment:
1. Section 498A of IPC should be made bailable.
Section 498A, being non-bailable, allows punishing the accused by imprisonment even before guilt is established. This goes against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law. Abused women need protection, but placing unconditional faith in the statements of a woman and confining the accused husband and his family in police or judicial custody, until bail is granted by a court, is not the way to accord protection to women.
2. Section 498A of IPC should be made non-cognizable.
Innocent citizens are being arrested everyday based on mere complaints without requiring evidence or investigation. Even children and senior citizens are not being spared. IPC 498A, being a cognizable offence, violates a citizen’s right to due process.
3. IPC 498A and Domestic Violence Law should be made gender neutral.
Domestic abuse is not gender specific. The assumption that victims of physical, verbal, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse are always women is wrong. According the Universal Declaration of Human Rights "all are equal before the law, and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law". Hence, men should also be accorded protection from physical, verbal, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse by women.
4. Persons who misuse IPC 498A and Domestic Violence Law should be penalized.
Misuse of the process of law not only costs the public exchequer dearly, but also destroys the personal lives of many innocent citizens. Misuse of law should be treated as a serious crime, and persons who use women-protection laws as weapons for settling personal scores in marital disputes should be severely punished.
Domestic Violence LAW or House occupation LAW?
By Sandeep Bhartia 9899329991
Can Supreme Court save Lakhs of homes of old persons from radical feminists LAWmaker of MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT? Domestic Violence LAW or House occupation LAW?
The one of the big aims of making Domestic Violence (DV) LAW is to occupy the house by wife. The name DOMESTIC VIOLENCE is given to fool the public.
The new DOMESTIC VIOLENCE law (from Oct 2006) sections 17 and 19, practically allows a wife to occupy any of the houses she had ever stayed in. The LAW says the house can be of a friend or relative or rented. It do not matter how much time back the wife stayed in the house.
Persons save full life for making a house they can stay in the old age. With this LAW they can lose own build houses to the daughter-in-law.
How big is the effect?
With more then 10,000 (Ten thousand) complaints of matrimonial discord in Delhi alone last year, almost all of these now will use the DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW.
The are many problems with this new LAW made by radical feminists at ministry of Women and Child development, one of the major ounces i.e., the house of friend or relative of husband in new Domestic LAW, is a major battle point between the Supreme court on one side and Govt. funded radical feminists, funded NGO's and their press agents on the other.
The case that triggered this fight, the house was on Husbands mother's name, they allege that the son's wife sent them to jail along with the son on the dreaded dowry LAW, arrest without investigation, non bailable, 498a ( mental torture by asking for dowry). It is alleged that she broke the lock of house and started living in the house. After coming from Jail, the Husband's mother was not allowed entry in her own house. The wife's lawyer argued that since Domestic violence act (from Oct 2006) made by ministry of women and child development ministry is already passed by parliament, there is no question of wife leaving the house of husband's mother.
Please read the Judgment copy attached, things will automatically become clear.
http://ipc498a.files.wordpress.com/2...batra-2007.pdf
Supreme Court said the house can be given to wife only if the house is owned by husband. In case of rented house husband has to pay the rent, otherwise this will lead to choes in society,.. the definition of shared household in the LAW … appear to be the result of clumsy drafting, but we have to give it an interpretation which is sensible and which does not lead to chaos in society.
The feminist’s press and media agents were immediately all over the press and media. They say this Supreme Court judgment to let the old couple have their own house is step back for women empowerment. They are saying in TV that this defeats the purpose of making the Domestic violence act (from Oct. 2006). They want the wife to have the most expensive relatives or friends house that the wife lived in at any point of time during the marriage.
Anti feminists organizations which are not funded by Ministry of women and child development like feminists organization, are obviously trying to fight feminists press agents over this.
Check out <link outdated-removed>
MyNation Foundation - News
THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW OF INDIA - A SHIELD OR A SWORD ? Save the institution of marriage
<link no longer exists - removed>
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Dis...s&subsection=\
India&month=December2006&file=World_News2006120516 4441.xml
Lets pray that feminists funded by ministry of women and child development are defeated by the supreme court, for the sake of old persons houses. To ensure that our old persons and children do not suffer by fatherless families as wanted by Govt. funded radical feminists and LAW Makers of WCD.
Letterman Case Shows Problems with Restraining Orders by Jeffery M. Leving, Esq., and Glenn Sacks
<link no longer exists - removed>
Don't Make Her Mad -- Hell hath no fury like a false allegation
Feminist’s propaganda.
http://centredaily.com <link updated to site home>
Feminists will not let you know that it is for occupying the house.
"A woman subject to domestic violence [was] afraid to seek remedies to end the violence - in law or otherwise - for fear of being evicted from her household or being denied access to funds necessary to maintain herself and her children," says Mandeep Tiwana, from the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in New Delhi.
JOIN THE BETTLE GOING AT PRESENT AT SAVE THE HOUSE OF OLD PERSONS.
To fight the above Supreme Court Judgment, and allow the wife to get the old in-laws property, even if she is not living in the said property, WCD has set up a panel, somehow some men’s rights activists came to know about his panel. So feminists got the news printed that the panel is to prevent misuse. What kind of results one gets with radical feminists women only panel is known. To make fool of public they will say in press the panel is to prevent misuse.
DV LAW should be applicable to husband’s house only. It is unfair to occupy the old persons, friends, and relative’s houses Legally by Domestic Violence LAW.
Why should a friend or husbands relatives lose the house, if they allowed the wife of husband or the couple to stay in the house at any point in time in past or present.
Why should friend or relative suffer by forcing him or her to allow women to enter the house, just because they allowed her to stay in house at some point of time in the past?
Domestic violence Law, whose 2 important parts are related to getting the women inside the house of husband (man) or friend or relative, and removing any male members from the house in question.
This as expected this has become a tool of legal extortion, by bad wife. After taking maintenance up to 2/3 of husbands earnings, without giving divorce. Existing Laws gives maintenance extra for renting a house that is equal to the house of husbands standard.
The feminists LAW makers at WCD have now added in Domestic Violence LAW provision, that the wife will enter the most costly house among houses of old in-laws or relative or friends house legally, then do complaints under DV LAW, and either force the in-laws or relative with the most costly house, to leave the house or give money to vacate the house. Else she will use the LAW to harass them till they leave the house. What kind of wrong LAW is this?
Divorce after 7 years of separation should be made easier. This is basic human right.
With more then 10,000 complaints of matrimonial discord received every year in Delhi alone. Also the complaints are increasing fast every year. (This men’s rights activists say is due to wrong new Laws made by radical feminists, and due to Govt. funding of feminists organizations.)
Significant % of these husbands live-separated full life, as getting Divorce for Hindu husbands is practically almost impossible. Due to LAW preventing them from starting a family, they go through immense pain in life, are devoid of aim or interests, and angry with the LAW and society. Their productivity is reduced; life’s are spent in courts fighting dozens of cases, against anti men barbaric LAWs, instead of doing productive work for society. Some lose interest in Life.
Their relative's life is also affected greatly. They are blackmailed by the new barbaric DV LAW, and 498a.
Reducing so-called Dowry deaths to insignificant % is child’s play.
Just change the LAW so that after 7 years of separation, divorce becomes easier, (no fault divorce as in some countries abroad)
Feminist’s women organizations are not asking for this, nor radical feminists LAWmakers at Minstry of Women and child development, are doing this. Instead they actually want the dowry deaths to increase, by putting new LAWs against husbands. This increases funding for feminists; they are interested in the jobs funded by Govt.
It is a pain to hear husbands saying that his life will be anyways destroyed by wrong, unequal, barbaric, LAWs for wife and women. So he wants to kill his wife and then kill himself.
Muslim divorce and divorce in some other countries are now made easier (no fault divorce). Divorce after 7 years of separation should be made easier.
Some Men’s Rights Demands.
1. WCD (Ministry of women and Child development) and NCW (National commission for Women) should be headed by women who are successful grandmothers. These women would have seen the full cycle of life, so can take better decisions about making new LAWs for marriages and interactions between sexes.
Most Feminist's leaders are women with failed relationship with men. Unfortunately Indian new LAW's for marriages and man women relationships are being made by women with failed marriages or those who never married. These women are envious of women with children and successful marriages, so are making LAW's and 100's of small small things to destroy maximum marriages.
For example the department who has changed most LAWs of marriages and is responsible for drafting the LAW is Ministry of Women and child development. This ministry with lots of money is headed by Renuka Chaudhary, who has filed the dreaded LAW of 498a (mental torture for asking Dowry) against even her NRI son-in-law. This law is non bailable saying police should arrest the husband any of his relatives, and do investigation of whether the complaint is false or true later. Almost all wives allege 498a in case of any marital difference of opinion.
Then comes Nation Commission for women (NCW), this is headed by Girija Viyas, she had never married. Looks like our country politicians think that only women who do not marry or in failed marriage are women, rest are second grade women.
Men’s rights activists are demanding that these 2 important posts should be given to women who are successful grandmothers, these women would have seen the full cycle of life, so can take better decisions about making new LAWs for women.
Another feminists example is Bindra Carat, she do not have any children. Since feminists want to portray that Indian religion is bad, it is not surprising that Ms Bindra lad the attack on Swami Ramdev, who is helping large number of Indians by Yoga and medicines.
2. Maintenance laws should be same for husband and wife. 125CrPC should be modified.
3. Just as husband has no rights in wife's ancestral property, wife should have no rights in husband's ancestral property. Or if that is not acceptable, both should have equal rights in each other’s ancestral property.
4. Men's statistics should be collected, including those who have not filed for divorce (by seeing CAW complaints received and maintenance cases. So that society knows the truth. In India husband do not get divorce as the LAW is like that. So husbands do not file for divorce to avoid paying more money without gaining anything.
Public should know how many marriages are failing, how many couples are living separately, in whatever stage of fight. This will help persons take informed decisions.
5. When 2 persons enter marriage they enter the relationship considering the present LAW's. If the conditions of marriage LAW's were different, any of the parties may have decided not to enter the marriage with that person but find some other person. It would be unfair say to change the conditions of a contract after the contract was signed, and half completed. So LAWs of marriages passed after the marriages had already taken place should not be applied to these marriages. For example Oct 2006 DV (Domestic Violence) LAW for occupying house by wife, should not be applicable to marriages done before Oct 2006.
6. Separate divorce, separated men, statictics by religion should be collected by non feminist’s organizations, e.g. Muslim Divorce rate.
7. National commission for men is urgently required, to help men against biased BARBARIC new LAWs, to collect unbiased statistics and surveys in gender topics.
Some Problems with DV LAW in very first reading.
1. Before there was 1 maintenance LAW, then in 2001 125CrPC was modified. So maintenance case are being filed by wife at 2 places, and try to get the maintenance judgment that is higher. With DV LAW people are now fighting 3 maintenance cases, the wife can take the maintenance amount highest in these. This is as expected adding to the multiple proceedings in which parties may already be spending out their time, energy and resources. This is against basic common sense, just because feminists LAW makers at WCD want to give more options to the wife.
2. It is common trick by feminists LAW makers i.e., ministry of women and child development to add the controversial proposals, about which they get opposition not in the main LAW but later as part of Rules. Similar trick is used, Rules are significantly bad and one sided. Rule 14(6): Asking respondent by LAW to give undertaking that he would refrain from causing such domestic violence as complained by the aggrieved person. This can be done before any counseling begins. This puts the cart before the horse. It proceeds on the assumption that there is no reason to doubt that the respondent has committed or is likely to commit domestic violence. Then the Rule 14(5) says respondent shall not be allowed to plead any counter justification for the alleged act of domestic violence, this is unfair, the LAW prohibits 1 party from saying his point of view, which is wrong. Infact the full rule 14 of counseling procedure is too biased .
3. This LAW is made with the aim to get power and finances for feminists. Jobs reserved for women organizations only like of Service provider, and protection officers. Statistics distortion and one sidedness become easier by these later rules 2006.
4. Section 23: Asking magistrate to pass orders only on the basis of affidavit attached is bound to be highly misused, that also ex parte. Also later 2006 rules allow someone else to sign the affidavit apart from the women, so easy for that person to say this is what I thought would have happened.
Attachment: Supreme court Judgment about Domestic Violence Law 15/12/2006 S.R Batra V Tarun Batra.
Also try to get at Seminar cum dharna (not part of press release) a copy of about 20 page article on DV LAW by R.K Gauba (Delhi Judge?) Source: The practical Lawyer.
Affiliation :
Protect Indian Family Fighting for Family Harmony?.. Against Legal Terrorism
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From India, Ahmadabad
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An Epic Struggle Against Sexual Harassment
[English_Xinhua](http://www.chinaview.cn) 2005-08-29 09:49:26
BEIJING, Aug. 29 -- Zhang is a telephone operator in a chemical factory. In the small town she lives in, her job is seen as admirable. She has a harmonious family life with a 3-year-old son. But Zhang finds herself getting increasingly annoyed these days with the advances of one of the deputy factory managers in charge of her department. At first, he casually patted her on the shoulder and held her hands. Then he insisted on kissing her and even asked for sex. The 50-year-old man, who has two grown-up children, threatened to have her transferred to the workshop to do the dirtiest and most dangerous work if she refused him. Zhang telephoned the Maple Women's Psychological Counselling Centre in Beijing for help. Since 1992, staff and volunteers at the centre have received countless calls from women telling similar stories. "These are clear cases of sexual harassment," said Wang Xingjuan, the centre's founder and president of the centre's council. In fact, of the calls the centre received between 1992 and 2004, half of the complaints of sexual harassment were directed at bosses or colleagues. "This illustrates the urgent need to protect women from sexual harassment," Wang said. Zhang and other victims at last have far more than a glimmer of hope. The Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, passed the amendment to the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women (Women's Law) yesterday. The amended Women's Law will take effect on December 1 this year. Article 40 of the draft amendment stipulates that sexually harassing women is illegal and punishable by law.
An Odyssey
Wang Xingjuan and her colleagues have worked hard for more than a decade to get this article in the country's legislation. When Wang opened China's first telephone hotline in September 1992 to offer women psychological assistance, volunteers began hearing complaints of this nature. One researcher who analyzed 40 cases found that sexual harassment happened more often in the workplace with half of the perpetrators being bosses, colleagues, and friends. In October the same year, the Women's Law took effect, but it made no stipulation on sexual harassment. Wang and her colleagues began to raise the issue with legal experts. In 1995, Tang Can, an associated researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, published the country's first report on sexual harassment in China. She based her study on interviews with 169 women migrant workers. Her study showed that 36.8 per cent of the women interviewed encountered sexual harassment in the workplace. Tang's research was criticized for probing into a topic still considered a social taboo, even though the Hong Kong news media picked up her study. Despite the setback, Wang and her colleagues at the Maple centre discussed the issue at the international NGO forum during the United Nation's Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September the same year. They drew attention from NGO participants from abroad. But Wang said that at the time, sexual harassment was considered to be too minor a problem to warrant social, legal, and government attention. In 1998, Chen Kuizun, an NPC deputy from Jiangxi Province, raised the issue at the annual session of the NPC in proposed legislation concerning the draft Law of Licensed Doctors. On March 4, 1999, Chen united 32 other NPC deputies and submitted the similar proposal "About Drafting the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law of the People's Republic of China" to the NPC. The two proposals attracted tremendous media attention, but they did not bring any changes to the law. But women's rights activists and women's NGOs such as Wang's centre and legal experts pushed hard to get the clause into draft amendments of various laws, particularly the Women's Law. The draft was revised several times. They succeeded and the NPC started deliberating in June this year. The passage of the amended Women's Law signals a major step China is taking to ensure women's human rights and gender equality. "It helps to change a situation where there was no legal base to tackle sexual harassment," said Yang Dawen, law professor with Renmin University and vice-chairman of the China Society of Family and Marriage.
Still a Long Way to Go
But a lot more work should be done to create a legal and social environment in which sexual harassment will be curbed and punished by law. Wang Xingjuan said the issue was not merely a matter for women, and that men were victims too. Thirty-six per cent of phone calls to her centre from 1992 to 2004 were about female bosses harassing male employees. Anti-sexual harassment should be written into relevant laws. Professor Yang Dawen was more specific and said other laws should also be adjusted to keep up with the amended Women's Law. For example, articles forbidding sexual harassment at workplaces or in schools and hospitals should be included in the Labour Law, the Teachers' Law, and the Doctors' Law, Yang said. How to enforce the law also needs careful work, Wang said. Women's organizations are not law enforcement organs, and she suggested a special committee be set up to deal with sexual harassment cases.
Debate Goes On
Despite the passage of the anti-sexual harassment article, debates will go on about what sexual harassment is. Professor Wu Changzheng from the China University of Political Science and Law, also leader of an experts' group of the drafted amendment of Women's Law and Family Law, developed her own definition of sexual harassment. She said sexual harassment was "obscene behaviour that is harmful, coercive, and sexually provocative. This includes touching, embracing, and kissing." "It can also be verbal or facial expressions hinting sexual desire or exposing sexual organs to flirt. "Such behaviour infringes on the other party's human dignity and humiliates her or him." Professor Yang took the view that the definition should also include relations involving employers and employees, guardians, or even foster care. A detailed explanation will strengthen the power to implement the law, Professor Yang said, adding that it is necessary to stipulate age limits for perpetrators (over 16 or 18 years old). As the definition is not included in the amendment, it will be put into a judicial explanation of the law, Yang said. Enditem (Source: China Daily)
From India, Ahmadabad
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[English_Xinhua](http://www.chinaview.cn) 2005-08-29 09:49:26
BEIJING, Aug. 29 -- Zhang is a telephone operator in a chemical factory. In the small town she lives in, her job is seen as admirable. She has a harmonious family life with a 3-year-old son. But Zhang finds herself getting increasingly annoyed these days with the advances of one of the deputy factory managers in charge of her department. At first, he casually patted her on the shoulder and held her hands. Then he insisted on kissing her and even asked for sex. The 50-year-old man, who has two grown-up children, threatened to have her transferred to the workshop to do the dirtiest and most dangerous work if she refused him. Zhang telephoned the Maple Women's Psychological Counselling Centre in Beijing for help. Since 1992, staff and volunteers at the centre have received countless calls from women telling similar stories. "These are clear cases of sexual harassment," said Wang Xingjuan, the centre's founder and president of the centre's council. In fact, of the calls the centre received between 1992 and 2004, half of the complaints of sexual harassment were directed at bosses or colleagues. "This illustrates the urgent need to protect women from sexual harassment," Wang said. Zhang and other victims at last have far more than a glimmer of hope. The Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, passed the amendment to the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women (Women's Law) yesterday. The amended Women's Law will take effect on December 1 this year. Article 40 of the draft amendment stipulates that sexually harassing women is illegal and punishable by law.
An Odyssey
Wang Xingjuan and her colleagues have worked hard for more than a decade to get this article in the country's legislation. When Wang opened China's first telephone hotline in September 1992 to offer women psychological assistance, volunteers began hearing complaints of this nature. One researcher who analyzed 40 cases found that sexual harassment happened more often in the workplace with half of the perpetrators being bosses, colleagues, and friends. In October the same year, the Women's Law took effect, but it made no stipulation on sexual harassment. Wang and her colleagues began to raise the issue with legal experts. In 1995, Tang Can, an associated researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, published the country's first report on sexual harassment in China. She based her study on interviews with 169 women migrant workers. Her study showed that 36.8 per cent of the women interviewed encountered sexual harassment in the workplace. Tang's research was criticized for probing into a topic still considered a social taboo, even though the Hong Kong news media picked up her study. Despite the setback, Wang and her colleagues at the Maple centre discussed the issue at the international NGO forum during the United Nation's Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September the same year. They drew attention from NGO participants from abroad. But Wang said that at the time, sexual harassment was considered to be too minor a problem to warrant social, legal, and government attention. In 1998, Chen Kuizun, an NPC deputy from Jiangxi Province, raised the issue at the annual session of the NPC in proposed legislation concerning the draft Law of Licensed Doctors. On March 4, 1999, Chen united 32 other NPC deputies and submitted the similar proposal "About Drafting the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law of the People's Republic of China" to the NPC. The two proposals attracted tremendous media attention, but they did not bring any changes to the law. But women's rights activists and women's NGOs such as Wang's centre and legal experts pushed hard to get the clause into draft amendments of various laws, particularly the Women's Law. The draft was revised several times. They succeeded and the NPC started deliberating in June this year. The passage of the amended Women's Law signals a major step China is taking to ensure women's human rights and gender equality. "It helps to change a situation where there was no legal base to tackle sexual harassment," said Yang Dawen, law professor with Renmin University and vice-chairman of the China Society of Family and Marriage.
Still a Long Way to Go
But a lot more work should be done to create a legal and social environment in which sexual harassment will be curbed and punished by law. Wang Xingjuan said the issue was not merely a matter for women, and that men were victims too. Thirty-six per cent of phone calls to her centre from 1992 to 2004 were about female bosses harassing male employees. Anti-sexual harassment should be written into relevant laws. Professor Yang Dawen was more specific and said other laws should also be adjusted to keep up with the amended Women's Law. For example, articles forbidding sexual harassment at workplaces or in schools and hospitals should be included in the Labour Law, the Teachers' Law, and the Doctors' Law, Yang said. How to enforce the law also needs careful work, Wang said. Women's organizations are not law enforcement organs, and she suggested a special committee be set up to deal with sexual harassment cases.
Debate Goes On
Despite the passage of the anti-sexual harassment article, debates will go on about what sexual harassment is. Professor Wu Changzheng from the China University of Political Science and Law, also leader of an experts' group of the drafted amendment of Women's Law and Family Law, developed her own definition of sexual harassment. She said sexual harassment was "obscene behaviour that is harmful, coercive, and sexually provocative. This includes touching, embracing, and kissing." "It can also be verbal or facial expressions hinting sexual desire or exposing sexual organs to flirt. "Such behaviour infringes on the other party's human dignity and humiliates her or him." Professor Yang took the view that the definition should also include relations involving employers and employees, guardians, or even foster care. A detailed explanation will strengthen the power to implement the law, Professor Yang said, adding that it is necessary to stipulate age limits for perpetrators (over 16 or 18 years old). As the definition is not included in the amendment, it will be put into a judicial explanation of the law, Yang said. Enditem (Source: China Daily)
From India, Ahmadabad
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MUMBAI: "Women in the IITs are an endangered species," quips second year chemical engineering student Sonal Gahelot.
It's the third day of the Mood Indigo festival on the campus of the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. Magician P C Sorcar performs to a packed convocation hall audience.
His act consists mainly of sawing women in half, but in the climax, Sorcar's wife saws him in half. IIT students, the magician says to cheers at show's end, are "the real magicians. You are the future of this country".
If IITians are the country's future, then it's a gender-skewed future. Women students in IIT Mumbai are a tiny percentage.
"There are 34 girls and over 500 boys in our year," says first year civil engineering student Vidushi Jain. IIT girls, conspicuous as the minority, tend however to be among the more socially confident students.
For instance, in the 'core group' or top committee of Mood Indigo, three of the 35 third year girls are members, whereas the remaining 18 men rep
resent a population of more than 500.
That confidence is necessary since the handful of girls find themselves the cynosure of a lot of male eyes. "It can be painful," admits second year chemical engineering student Vartika Bansal.
"The entire first semester goes in reading and deleting anonymous mail and missed calls," she says. "Oh god, those mails," sighs another second year student, Shiksha Mantri.
The IIT campus at Mood-I time has a deceptively normal male-female ratio. But most of the girls wandering around are not, in fact, IIT students, as the male IITians like to point out.
"The guys get really excited, they point to girls from colleges elsewhere and tell us, 'Yeh hoti hain babes'," says Mantri with a laugh. Adds Gahelot, "Guys don't call us females, they call us non-males.
They say there are males and non-males here." The teasing is almost completely light-hearted, say female IITians. But still, the attention can be
overwhelming at first.
"IIT men suck—they can be pretty desperate," says one second year student. "They hit on you all the time and try to approach you, especially on Yahoo Messenger."
Instant messaging is one of the favourite pastimes on the broadband-enabled campus and, say IIT girls, most male IITians are happier chatting to a girl online than trying to make conversation face-to-face.
But the women can come to enjoy their rarity value at times. As one female IITian says, pointing to the parking space outside the women's hostel, "That's for boyfriends' bikes."
Don't IIT girls need bikes to get around the sprawling campus? "The girls have drivers for that," she says with a smile.
From India, Ahmadabad
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It's the third day of the Mood Indigo festival on the campus of the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. Magician P C Sorcar performs to a packed convocation hall audience.
His act consists mainly of sawing women in half, but in the climax, Sorcar's wife saws him in half. IIT students, the magician says to cheers at show's end, are "the real magicians. You are the future of this country".
If IITians are the country's future, then it's a gender-skewed future. Women students in IIT Mumbai are a tiny percentage.
"There are 34 girls and over 500 boys in our year," says first year civil engineering student Vidushi Jain. IIT girls, conspicuous as the minority, tend however to be among the more socially confident students.
For instance, in the 'core group' or top committee of Mood Indigo, three of the 35 third year girls are members, whereas the remaining 18 men rep
resent a population of more than 500.
That confidence is necessary since the handful of girls find themselves the cynosure of a lot of male eyes. "It can be painful," admits second year chemical engineering student Vartika Bansal.
"The entire first semester goes in reading and deleting anonymous mail and missed calls," she says. "Oh god, those mails," sighs another second year student, Shiksha Mantri.
The IIT campus at Mood-I time has a deceptively normal male-female ratio. But most of the girls wandering around are not, in fact, IIT students, as the male IITians like to point out.
"The guys get really excited, they point to girls from colleges elsewhere and tell us, 'Yeh hoti hain babes'," says Mantri with a laugh. Adds Gahelot, "Guys don't call us females, they call us non-males.
They say there are males and non-males here." The teasing is almost completely light-hearted, say female IITians. But still, the attention can be
overwhelming at first.
"IIT men suck—they can be pretty desperate," says one second year student. "They hit on you all the time and try to approach you, especially on Yahoo Messenger."
Instant messaging is one of the favourite pastimes on the broadband-enabled campus and, say IIT girls, most male IITians are happier chatting to a girl online than trying to make conversation face-to-face.
But the women can come to enjoy their rarity value at times. As one female IITian says, pointing to the parking space outside the women's hostel, "That's for boyfriends' bikes."
Don't IIT girls need bikes to get around the sprawling campus? "The girls have drivers for that," she says with a smile.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Women's Empowerment
Yojana
The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties, and Directive Principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of women.
From the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1974-78) onwards, there has been a marked shift in the approach to women's issues from welfare to development. In recent years, the empowerment of women has been recognized as the central issue in determining the status of women.
The Eighth Plan (1992-97), with human development as its major focus, renewed the emphasis on the development of women. It sought to ensure that benefits of development from different sectors do not bypass women. It aimed at implementing special programs to complement the general development programs and ensure the flow of benefits to women from other development sectors to enable women to function as equal partners and participants in the development process.
The Ninth Plan (1997-2002) made two significant changes in the conceptual strategy of planning for women. First, 'Empowerment of Women' became one of the nine primary objectives of the Ninth Plan. Second, the Plan attempted 'convergence of existing services' available in both women-specific and women-related sectors.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Yojana
The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties, and Directive Principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of women.
From the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1974-78) onwards, there has been a marked shift in the approach to women's issues from welfare to development. In recent years, the empowerment of women has been recognized as the central issue in determining the status of women.
The Eighth Plan (1992-97), with human development as its major focus, renewed the emphasis on the development of women. It sought to ensure that benefits of development from different sectors do not bypass women. It aimed at implementing special programs to complement the general development programs and ensure the flow of benefits to women from other development sectors to enable women to function as equal partners and participants in the development process.
The Ninth Plan (1997-2002) made two significant changes in the conceptual strategy of planning for women. First, 'Empowerment of Women' became one of the nine primary objectives of the Ninth Plan. Second, the Plan attempted 'convergence of existing services' available in both women-specific and women-related sectors.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Glass ceiling
1) The term glass ceiling refers to situations where the advancement of a person within the hierarchy of an
organization is limited. This limitation is normally based upon some form of discrimination, most
commonly being sexism.
This situation is referred to as a "ceiling" as there is a limitation blocking upward advancement, and "glass"
(transparent) because the limitation is not immediately apparent and is normally an unwritten and unofficial
policy. The "glass ceiling" is distinguished from formal barriers to advancement, such as education or
experience requirements.
The term is often credited as having been originally coined by Carol Hymowitz and Timothy Schellhardt in
the March 24, 1986 edition of the Wall Street Journal.
The term is most often used to refer to women's access to upper management. Empirical evidence for this
pattern in the U.S. is pervasive.[1] This term is also extended to other groups, including racial or ethnic
minorities or based upon the age of employees.
2) According to the US Department of Labor, a 'glass ceiling' is "an artificial barrier based on attitudinal or
organizational bias that prevents qualified women and other minorities7 from advancing upward in their
organization into senior management level positions.” The concept of 'glass ceiling' surfaced in the US in
the late 1970s. A glass ceiling was not a barrier to an individual as such, but a barrier to women and other
minorities as a group. Initially, one of the main reasons cited for the existence of a glass ceiling was that
women did not have the required experience and skills to reach the top management.
They were restricted to clerical and other support services jobs. The reason seemed to be true, as in the late
1970s and early 1980s, very few women had proper college education and fewer had management degrees.
50
A survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal in 1986 revealed that the highest-ranking women in most
industries were in non-operating areas such as personnel, public relations and finance. These functional
specializations rarely led to top management positions
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1) The term glass ceiling refers to situations where the advancement of a person within the hierarchy of an
organization is limited. This limitation is normally based upon some form of discrimination, most
commonly being sexism.
This situation is referred to as a "ceiling" as there is a limitation blocking upward advancement, and "glass"
(transparent) because the limitation is not immediately apparent and is normally an unwritten and unofficial
policy. The "glass ceiling" is distinguished from formal barriers to advancement, such as education or
experience requirements.
The term is often credited as having been originally coined by Carol Hymowitz and Timothy Schellhardt in
the March 24, 1986 edition of the Wall Street Journal.
The term is most often used to refer to women's access to upper management. Empirical evidence for this
pattern in the U.S. is pervasive.[1] This term is also extended to other groups, including racial or ethnic
minorities or based upon the age of employees.
2) According to the US Department of Labor, a 'glass ceiling' is "an artificial barrier based on attitudinal or
organizational bias that prevents qualified women and other minorities7 from advancing upward in their
organization into senior management level positions.” The concept of 'glass ceiling' surfaced in the US in
the late 1970s. A glass ceiling was not a barrier to an individual as such, but a barrier to women and other
minorities as a group. Initially, one of the main reasons cited for the existence of a glass ceiling was that
women did not have the required experience and skills to reach the top management.
They were restricted to clerical and other support services jobs. The reason seemed to be true, as in the late
1970s and early 1980s, very few women had proper college education and fewer had management degrees.
50
A survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal in 1986 revealed that the highest-ranking women in most
industries were in non-operating areas such as personnel, public relations and finance. These functional
specializations rarely led to top management positions
From India, Ahmadabad
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Team Leaders:
Tata Institute of Social Sciences Media Lab/ Mumbai
Anjali Monteiro, Shilpa Phadke
The Centre for Media & Cultural Studies (CMCS) is an independent center of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, engaged in media teaching, production, research, and dissemination. A unique feature of the Centre is the close linkage between the technical and academic areas of its work. The work of the Centre straddles both realms, thus facilitating a synergy between research, teaching, and production, all of which are informed by a keen sense of connection with local subaltern cultures of resistance and invention.
Team members:
Antonia Hasle / London, UK/
Antonia is London-based and comes from a background in the advertising and entertainment industries. She has been independently researching and documenting informal architectural and economic development, alongside systems, chaos, and organic processes in design, art, and architecture since 2006. Exploring how potential crossovers between organic urban development and technological opportunities can be economically successful, she is concerned with the importance of maintaining cultural sensitivity and dynamism in a new global context. Antonia is currently working with Celine Condorelli (Support Structure) and Andreas Lang (Public Works), organizing 'Initiative & Institution'; an exhibition, publication, and series of events 'seeking to negotiate the possibilities of spatial/architectural/artistic endeavor for political positioning.'
Pooja Das Sarkar / Mumbai, India/
The workshop is a thoughtful and creative attempt, and I would love to be a part of it and assist it to achieve its aims in any capacity. My skills include the ability to be a part of a group and work together creatively - two heads are better than one, and nothing beats actions as a result of stimulating discussion. My interests include development and media - using media and communication for development.
Susannah Still / New York City, USA/
I am an urban planning graduate student at New York University, specializing in transportation, infrastructure, and environment. I grew up in Columbia, Missouri, and did my undergraduate studies in German and History at the University of Michigan and spent time as a Fulbright teaching assistant in Austria. I have never been to India or even Asia but look forward to the challenge presented in Dharavi and the opportunity to learn and contribute during this workshop.
Rika Chaudhry / Mumbai, India
As an Architect, my interests are more inclined towards housing and urban developments, disaster mitigation, and rehabilitation. Making livelihood documentary movies is a passion that I have followed during and after my college years. The making of these movies has taught me how to interact with people of various sections of society and more importantly how to approach a difficult subject creatively and differently. Working in Tamil Nadu after the Tsunami has opened my eyes to a lot of harsh realities, most not very pleasant. This has reinforced my ambition to collaborate all my interests and strengths so that I may be able to contribute back and help make a difference in a creative and effective manner. The workshop is offering a unique way of looking at the prevailing situations, and I think it is a great opportunity for people from varied backgrounds to come together to brainstorm and produce creative outputs.
Purvi Shetty / Bangalore, India
A keen interest in cultural diversity and lifestyles is what has made me apply for this workshop. I am an MBA graduate, just out of college, with no prior experience with urban design or planning. However, I'm very interested in the area of Social development and Welfare. I could use my management skills as a platform to direct the multiplicity of ideas and thoughts. This will be an entirely new learning experience for me, and I'm hoping to be able to contribute in some way.
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From India, Ahmadabad
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Tata Institute of Social Sciences Media Lab/ Mumbai
Anjali Monteiro, Shilpa Phadke
The Centre for Media & Cultural Studies (CMCS) is an independent center of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, engaged in media teaching, production, research, and dissemination. A unique feature of the Centre is the close linkage between the technical and academic areas of its work. The work of the Centre straddles both realms, thus facilitating a synergy between research, teaching, and production, all of which are informed by a keen sense of connection with local subaltern cultures of resistance and invention.
Team members:
Antonia Hasle / London, UK/
Antonia is London-based and comes from a background in the advertising and entertainment industries. She has been independently researching and documenting informal architectural and economic development, alongside systems, chaos, and organic processes in design, art, and architecture since 2006. Exploring how potential crossovers between organic urban development and technological opportunities can be economically successful, she is concerned with the importance of maintaining cultural sensitivity and dynamism in a new global context. Antonia is currently working with Celine Condorelli (Support Structure) and Andreas Lang (Public Works), organizing 'Initiative & Institution'; an exhibition, publication, and series of events 'seeking to negotiate the possibilities of spatial/architectural/artistic endeavor for political positioning.'
Pooja Das Sarkar / Mumbai, India/
The workshop is a thoughtful and creative attempt, and I would love to be a part of it and assist it to achieve its aims in any capacity. My skills include the ability to be a part of a group and work together creatively - two heads are better than one, and nothing beats actions as a result of stimulating discussion. My interests include development and media - using media and communication for development.
Susannah Still / New York City, USA/
I am an urban planning graduate student at New York University, specializing in transportation, infrastructure, and environment. I grew up in Columbia, Missouri, and did my undergraduate studies in German and History at the University of Michigan and spent time as a Fulbright teaching assistant in Austria. I have never been to India or even Asia but look forward to the challenge presented in Dharavi and the opportunity to learn and contribute during this workshop.
Rika Chaudhry / Mumbai, India
As an Architect, my interests are more inclined towards housing and urban developments, disaster mitigation, and rehabilitation. Making livelihood documentary movies is a passion that I have followed during and after my college years. The making of these movies has taught me how to interact with people of various sections of society and more importantly how to approach a difficult subject creatively and differently. Working in Tamil Nadu after the Tsunami has opened my eyes to a lot of harsh realities, most not very pleasant. This has reinforced my ambition to collaborate all my interests and strengths so that I may be able to contribute back and help make a difference in a creative and effective manner. The workshop is offering a unique way of looking at the prevailing situations, and I think it is a great opportunity for people from varied backgrounds to come together to brainstorm and produce creative outputs.
Purvi Shetty / Bangalore, India
A keen interest in cultural diversity and lifestyles is what has made me apply for this workshop. I am an MBA graduate, just out of college, with no prior experience with urban design or planning. However, I'm very interested in the area of Social development and Welfare. I could use my management skills as a platform to direct the multiplicity of ideas and thoughts. This will be an entirely new learning experience for me, and I'm hoping to be able to contribute in some way.
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From India, Ahmadabad
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Women constitute a significant part of the workforce of India, but they lag behind men in terms of level and quality of employment. The Census of India (2001) has registered 25.60 per cent of the female population as workers, numbering 127.22 million in absolute terms out of a total female population of 496 million. The majority of women workers are employed in rural areas. Among rural women workers, 87 per cent are employed in agriculture as laborers and cultivators. Among women workers in urban areas, 80 per cent are employed in unorganized sectors like household industries, petty trades and services, building and construction, etc.
The employment of women in the organized sector (both public and private sectors) as of 31.03.2002, was about 4.935 million, constituting 17.8 per cent of the total organized sector employment in the country. The distribution of women employees in major industries reveals that the community, social, and personal services sectors continued to absorb the majority of women employees. The lowest employment of women was noticed in electricity, gas, and water sectors. In factory and plantation establishments, women workers constituted 10% and 5% respectively of the total workers in 2000. In mine establishments, women workers constituted 5% of the total workers in 2000.
The main focus of the government's policies regarding women labor has been to remove the handicaps under which they work, to strengthen their bargaining capacity, to improve their wages and working conditions, to enhance their skills, and to open up better employment opportunities for them. A separate cell, namely the Women Labour Cell, is functioning in the Ministry of Labour and Employment to address these problems. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, are the two protective and anti-exploitative legislations that have been enacted to protect and safeguard the interests of women workers in the workplaces.
The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, stipulates payment of equal remuneration to men and women workers for the same and similar nature of work. The Act also prohibits any gender discrimination in recruitment and service conditions. Under the Act, a Committee has been set up at the Centre to advise the Government on providing increasing employment opportunities for women and generally reviewing the steps taken for the effective implementation of the Act. State Governments and Union Territory Administrations have also set up similar Committees.
The Central Advisory Committee at the National level and the Advisory Committees at the State level, along with competent authorities, oversee the process of implementation of the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. Further, the Women Cell in the Ministry is also administering a Grant-in-Aid Scheme for the welfare of women labor. This Scheme is implemented through voluntary organizations that are provided grants-in-aid for running projects for awareness generation among women workers to educate them about their rights, women-related schemes and programs, etc. being implemented by Central/State Government.
With a view to having a more focused approach on the subject in the 10th Plan, an enhanced outlay of Rs.225 lakh has been earmarked for the Scheme. The Supreme Court of India, in its landmark judgment dated 13.08.1997, in the matter of Visakha and others Versus the State of Rajasthan and others, laid down detailed guidelines/norms for the prevention of sexual harassment of women workers at workplaces. These guidelines have the force of law under Article 141 of the Constitution.
The Government has taken up a number of initiatives to give effect to the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. These include the circulation of the guidelines for action as indicated therein to all Secretaries to the Government of India/Chief Secretaries of the State Governments/Union Territories, Heads of Central Public Sector Undertakings, and employees/employers organizations. Conduct Rules application to Government employees and officers of All India Services have been amended to incorporate the Supreme Court guidelines. To make the guidelines applicable to employees in the private sector, the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, has also been amended suitably.
From India, Ahmadabad
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The employment of women in the organized sector (both public and private sectors) as of 31.03.2002, was about 4.935 million, constituting 17.8 per cent of the total organized sector employment in the country. The distribution of women employees in major industries reveals that the community, social, and personal services sectors continued to absorb the majority of women employees. The lowest employment of women was noticed in electricity, gas, and water sectors. In factory and plantation establishments, women workers constituted 10% and 5% respectively of the total workers in 2000. In mine establishments, women workers constituted 5% of the total workers in 2000.
The main focus of the government's policies regarding women labor has been to remove the handicaps under which they work, to strengthen their bargaining capacity, to improve their wages and working conditions, to enhance their skills, and to open up better employment opportunities for them. A separate cell, namely the Women Labour Cell, is functioning in the Ministry of Labour and Employment to address these problems. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, are the two protective and anti-exploitative legislations that have been enacted to protect and safeguard the interests of women workers in the workplaces.
The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, stipulates payment of equal remuneration to men and women workers for the same and similar nature of work. The Act also prohibits any gender discrimination in recruitment and service conditions. Under the Act, a Committee has been set up at the Centre to advise the Government on providing increasing employment opportunities for women and generally reviewing the steps taken for the effective implementation of the Act. State Governments and Union Territory Administrations have also set up similar Committees.
The Central Advisory Committee at the National level and the Advisory Committees at the State level, along with competent authorities, oversee the process of implementation of the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. Further, the Women Cell in the Ministry is also administering a Grant-in-Aid Scheme for the welfare of women labor. This Scheme is implemented through voluntary organizations that are provided grants-in-aid for running projects for awareness generation among women workers to educate them about their rights, women-related schemes and programs, etc. being implemented by Central/State Government.
With a view to having a more focused approach on the subject in the 10th Plan, an enhanced outlay of Rs.225 lakh has been earmarked for the Scheme. The Supreme Court of India, in its landmark judgment dated 13.08.1997, in the matter of Visakha and others Versus the State of Rajasthan and others, laid down detailed guidelines/norms for the prevention of sexual harassment of women workers at workplaces. These guidelines have the force of law under Article 141 of the Constitution.
The Government has taken up a number of initiatives to give effect to the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. These include the circulation of the guidelines for action as indicated therein to all Secretaries to the Government of India/Chief Secretaries of the State Governments/Union Territories, Heads of Central Public Sector Undertakings, and employees/employers organizations. Conduct Rules application to Government employees and officers of All India Services have been amended to incorporate the Supreme Court guidelines. To make the guidelines applicable to employees in the private sector, the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, has also been amended suitably.
From India, Ahmadabad
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ITC: Women's Empowerment: Let's put India first
<link updated to site home>
(Search On Cite | Search On Google)
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
STRATEGIES FOR EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN, DEVELOPMENT
<link updated to site home>
(Search On Cite | Search On Google)
From India, Ahmadabad
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<link updated to site home>
(Search On Cite | Search On Google)
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
STRATEGIES FOR EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN, DEVELOPMENT
<link updated to site home>
(Search On Cite | Search On Google)
From India, Ahmadabad
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Men, Women And Struggles “You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” - Indira Gandhi
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London, Dec 3 (ANI): Is the girl of your dreams playing hard to get? Well, don't panic, for there's a possibility that she's testing how helpful you will be in bringing up a child, at least that's what a new study says.
The study by a team of biologists and mathematicians at the University of Bristol found that women, in general, play hard to get to determine how helpful a potential mate will be in raising a child. The researchers worked out the theory from extensive studies of mating birds.
In their opinion, the researchers think that the female of any species makes use of this technique so that men can prove themselves more worthy than their rivals. However, the theory works only when there are a large number of males to choose from and where there is a mixture of different types of men. The theory becomes redundant in cultures where all men are caring or all men are uncaring.
Professor John McNamara, co-author of the paper, reached all the above conclusions after he had put all the available data into a mathematical model. He said that coyness and helpfulness tend to encourage each other, but still, there are some males who have learned to cheat.
"The more coy females are, the more helpful men will be; and the more men around, the more coy women are," The Telegraph quoted him as saying. He added, "This only works if there is a mixture of helpful and unhelpful men. If men are all the same, the less effective this strategy will be. In the real world, it seems females use coyness to select men by seeing how the male behaves in different situations.
"Eventually, she will decide 'I am going to have a child with this male' or 'I am going to reject him and find a better one.' Of course, there are men who have mastered the ability of conning women into thinking they are helpful."
In fact, he also claimed that the research could pave the way for a model that could work out the optimal amount of coyness for a woman to use in choosing a male.
According to the research, in many animal species, females will benefit if they can secure their mate's help in raising their young. The study added, "We predict that a high degree of coyness should be associated with a high encounter rate during mate search, with an intermediate rate of information gain during mate inspection and with an intermediate dependence of reproduction on male help. Strongly biased sex ratios, however, preclude coyness."
McNamara said that the study was also based on the female being able to make the choice of mate, which was not always the case in all species. The study was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. (ANI)
From India, Ahmadabad
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The study by a team of biologists and mathematicians at the University of Bristol found that women, in general, play hard to get to determine how helpful a potential mate will be in raising a child. The researchers worked out the theory from extensive studies of mating birds.
In their opinion, the researchers think that the female of any species makes use of this technique so that men can prove themselves more worthy than their rivals. However, the theory works only when there are a large number of males to choose from and where there is a mixture of different types of men. The theory becomes redundant in cultures where all men are caring or all men are uncaring.
Professor John McNamara, co-author of the paper, reached all the above conclusions after he had put all the available data into a mathematical model. He said that coyness and helpfulness tend to encourage each other, but still, there are some males who have learned to cheat.
"The more coy females are, the more helpful men will be; and the more men around, the more coy women are," The Telegraph quoted him as saying. He added, "This only works if there is a mixture of helpful and unhelpful men. If men are all the same, the less effective this strategy will be. In the real world, it seems females use coyness to select men by seeing how the male behaves in different situations.
"Eventually, she will decide 'I am going to have a child with this male' or 'I am going to reject him and find a better one.' Of course, there are men who have mastered the ability of conning women into thinking they are helpful."
In fact, he also claimed that the research could pave the way for a model that could work out the optimal amount of coyness for a woman to use in choosing a male.
According to the research, in many animal species, females will benefit if they can secure their mate's help in raising their young. The study added, "We predict that a high degree of coyness should be associated with a high encounter rate during mate search, with an intermediate rate of information gain during mate inspection and with an intermediate dependence of reproduction on male help. Strongly biased sex ratios, however, preclude coyness."
McNamara said that the study was also based on the female being able to make the choice of mate, which was not always the case in all species. The study was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. (ANI)
From India, Ahmadabad
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Shipra Goel was confused. she had resigned as marketing manager last month from Carre Hindustan, but Hemant Johar, the managing director, had been unhappy with her decision. Shipra, who had made the decision after a lot of thought, now felt unsure.Shipra’s husband’s job profile had changed, and his new regional responsibilities were going to keep him in Europe three weeks a month. She felt her children would need a steady, accessible, 24/7 parent as would her husband seek that assurance for the kids. Shipra and her husband were both MBAs, they were a nuclear family, were committed to living well, and to being sensible parents. So, the decision to pause her career had of course caused her to miss a few heartbeats, but not in a manner that made her miserable.
Sitting with her aunt Anuradha Jaiswal at Barista, she said, “Way back when we were students, it was Tushar who supported my MBA fees by doing two jobs — so that I could climb some more ladders. Today, my being ‘available’ on call will help his career and give him peace of mind. Also, with him being in Paris for almost the entire month, our kids could get disoriented with a single parent who is preoccupied. And I know, Tushar will be in this job for at least three years till the legal matter is resolved. So, in a single sentence, ‘I am pausing my career to transfer energy to the other belt which is on a difficult schedule’.
Anu: Then what is bothering you? If you are clear about your decision, why this looking back and fretting?
Shipra: Last week, Hemant met Nandita, a consultant at Heads Up, who has been talking to Hemant about Carre creating a flexi job policy for me. Hemant is so taken in by the idea. But the idea of flexi working has raised a lot of dust and debate. Ever since Hemant sent out his email on flexi-jobbing, CCs are flying around with everyone’s perceptions and feelings. Suddenly, I am seeing that men who were my buddies until last week are not sounding inclusive and encouraging, but interrogative and sceptical. Maybe I am being sensitive, but now the conversation is about ‘what can we give her to do?’ I worry Anu. I fear they would saddle me with work that I may not be happy doing. If I wanted to work, would I not have found a solution?
Anu: I understand. In my opinion, eight out of 10 times, organisations are unhappy letting their women go; but 10 out of 10 times they do not know what to do about it. I feel if organisations had a meter to know a woman’s mind during her career pauses, they will not be fretting.
Shipra: I might argue that, Anu. But wait, Hemant’s daughter Sangati is also joining us. Sangati is also taking a break and Hemant is very upset. She is a level-headed girl and it will be nice to know where she has derailed. When Hemant told me he was getting Sangati to examine the flexi option, I thought it would be nice to hear her story too.
“In India, organisations even today view your CV with disdain if you have a list of employers, and the image gets worse if you explained that with maternity or spouse.”Sangati joined them and Shipra did the introductions.
Sangati: Hey, thanks for this invitation! I am very happy to meet you both. My dad praises you so much Shipra, I had to meet you one day.
Shipra: These praises become expensive, because they somehow seem to come packaged in an idea of what is ‘brilliant’. Consequently, brilliance does not include one who wants to make choices away from mainstream career!
Sangati: Yes, I know that dichotomy. I need to pause my career, and my immediate boss is giving me ‘that’ look, which I read as ‘I should not trust women to hold on to a job’… I don’t know if you feel what I feel; but I am deeply into equity analysis and am trying to attain greater heights in the field. So for me, it is not about ‘holding on’ to a job; if it’s not Millichamp Tay (M-Tay), it well could be HSBC or ADB. Dad, however, feels I should value my position at M-Tay and get my position back. Frankly, I don’t see how that matters. Yet, I can see where his anxiety lies.
Anu: And why are you putting your career on hold just now Sangati?
Sangati: I am planning my second child soon, Anu. This also coincides with my husband being relocated to Delhi. I also see that my elder son will need help to deal with the change of schools, neighbours and friends. But dad feels my organisation is not being supportive, my decision is born out of helplessness. Truth is I am not helpless. These are life-stage issues, not problems. But yes, if they show some kind of desire to create a path for me, or talk about my return later, I can plan my path better. But M-Tay is not talking about my return or my plans. That is disturbing.
Shipra: I tend to agree, but then in India, organisations even today view your CV with disdain if you have a list of employers, and the image gets worse if you explained that with maternity or spouse. Yes, if you are determined to find your spot under the sun, you will find it, sceptical employers notwithstanding! I only wonder how you plan to do justice to building your career away from the field.
Sangati: I am hopeful of being able to work with an equity blogger. The experience is terrific. It’s two hours a day just to do his spreadsheets and analyses. That I can never learn in an MNC bank. Because this blogger has a huge fan following who are not placid sorts; they argue his analyses, and I am supposed to vet all that and develop his arguments for the blog… see? I also have an offer from an ad agency to do some corporate finance advertising ideation for them. I will be honing my skills, feeling self actualised, in great touch with the equity market, reading Mr Men books and, God willing, soon Little Miss books as well, if all goes well!
“Yes, a number of women give up in suppressed anger; but I feel if you really are passionate, nobody can stop you, not even your anger. Not even debating colleagues and discouraging bosses.”Shipra: (laughing) Yes, sure. But how do you plan to get back to mainstream? You know they won’t touch you for the meagre experience that all this provides! Then again, why waste a good break doing so much for so little?
Sangati: Just yesterday Nandita called. Her team has suggested that I could get a senior role at The Grinch Bank in Delhi working twice a week. Now that could be interesting. But I also wonder, why should the relationship work? Grinch’s MD does not know me... why should he believe in my credibility? The way I see it even as an employer myself, a new company would never create a position for a part-time employee, especially at a senior level. Would my dad? I am not sure…
Shipra: I guess that is where my staying on as a flexi gal at Carre can be easier. But flexi-jobbing at my employer’s has led to lot of debates among my colleagues such as: If they give part -time to one, they will need to give everyone; how is Shipra herself going to deal with a diminished image? Then she won’t be senior management by definition. Is she ready for this? And when she comes back after 5-6 years, will the management then connect with her greatness? After all, management teams and contexts change; will it be fair to hold them to a commitment made in the past? My point is how much fretting is happening over procedure and process and almost nothing about ‘is this in line with the individual’s dreams?’
Anu: Yes, employers will continue to look askance at a gap of 4-7 years and make all kinds of allusions to your commitment. But then that is why Sangati’s interim career plans are valuable. And I am suggesting the same to Shipra too. Look, there are all kinds of women. If you have that fire in your heart, all that is needed is to keep stoking it. Two hours a day of working for the blogger? Sounds terrific. It is enough to be able to come back to changing diapers with a lovely smile. I think the most important thing is to be happy about whatever you are doing. Hence, I like your operative word: choices.
Today, you are at a strange crossroad: where choices and conveniences are tremendous, but uniquely, the employer fraternity has not recalibrated its mindset. And till the time they see you pulling it off well after few years, they will not be able to recalibrate their mindsets, perhaps because of their past experiences.
Shipra: Are we allowing for organisations to remain insensitive?
Anu: Look, if I see the workplace from the standpoint of the woman worker then yes, it does seem like they are insensitive. But, from the standpoint of an employer, I see the woman as being unpredictable! All relate to one’s experiences. I have seen that men who have hardy wives tend to see other women as tough and hardy; and these men usually create solutions. today, with all the technology out there, it would be shocking if we insist that the only committed woman worker is one who trips over her baby’s milk bottle and lands up at work at 9 am! Sometimes, it is necessary to look at deliverables too.
Shipra: You had a bad time too Anu, and it is a wonder you managed so well. I didn’t complete the introduction Sangati. Anu is 54 and got married during her articleship with a firm of chartered accountants and her husband was, well… ‘not enabling’.
Anu: (smiling) There was, let us say, passive aggression. We being middle class also means we have illusions about who we are. Yes, I got into a mess for a bit. My husband travelled every week. The family insisted that I should accompany him. So, we had a problem. Now, this is my point: Back then, ‘choices’ was not an option. My downslide came as a function of my bitterness. I said: ‘very well, then I will do nothing!’ Anger is justified, but should not be nurtured, you see. But I thought I would prove a point and soon everyone would come and make it all right.
I was angry with my parents for the family I was married into, angry with my husband, angry with life, angry that nobody was helping… and I said, ‘Fine! I won’t work. Go, take that!’ And I thought I had punished them all. Truth was nobody got punished except me. And I spent 14 years angry, bitter and frustrated. It was my 13-year-old son who prodded me. He had watched some documentary on Anandibai Joshi, India’s first woman doctor in 1886, and said, “How are you worse off than she was, ma?” And that in fact woke me up. I went back to my firm, worked one year, completed my articleship at 38, and started working from scratch!
Sangati: Yes, a number of women give up in suppressed anger; but I feel if you really are passionate, nobody can stop you, not even your anger. Not even debating colleagues and discouraging bosses. If you chose not to pursue your career, it is because you did not deeply want it. That is why I want the world to stop making a big issue about pursuing a career. I think we need to start becoming accepting of people who do not want to hold on to a career. That will make it easier on them. Automatically, the number of women on the system truly chasing their careers will reduce to a manageable lot.
Shipra: And that in turn will help sharp focus on developing a career policy for the others. She has a point. The thing is that HR does not sift according to psychographics. I for one am not fickle. But I believe life needs me now to attend to other aspects of my life. Just because I choose to step off the rollercoaster, I don’t become ‘un-brilliant’. A system that worships me for staying on, not giving up, and decries me for stepping off, cannot be a dependable system. I love my husband, my kids, my career and my hobbies — quilting and photography. I am not anxious to prove anything. But it annoys me that line management at Carre is discussing my capability and brilliance in the context of my decision.
Anu: Many people are uni-dimensional and that causes them to respond in the only way they know, Shipra. Are you hurt about having to take this break?
Shipra: No. I know what I should do now. But I have been associated with Carre for nine years, and we have had a great time together. As long as I was there, I never once felt discriminated or judged by gender. Today, when I am leaving, all the talk is pointing to a gender debate. But it never was so in the past — not even when I had to leave work early, take a day off, nothing. It is just now that the flavour is different. Sangati, how have you dealt with this transition?
<image no longer exists> Sangati: I am the boss of Sangati Inc. I control my time and my energy. On a day-to-day basis, I decide when to attend to my family, my garden, my work, my reading. I think I am wise enough to know my activity units. I would be an idiot if I had to give 80 per cent of my time to career and 20 per cent to my family. If I am imbalanced as a human, how do you think I would be as a manager? So if I am taking a break, it means that I have thought it through and not pausing on impulse. Yet, I am being labelled and judged as whimsical! Please note, no one is saying so in words, but you can hear!
Anu: It is not important to be known as resilient, professional, brilliant, efficient or versatile. It is more important to be all this. And if you are passionate about your career, you will keep cutting your path as you go along. And if you are not passionate about your career, it is ok… women need to feel ok about all this. Somehow these definitions have all got warped by the media definition of who a successful woman is.
Just stay in touch with your function, refresh, renew, upgrade, build new skills. When you are ready to return, the organisation will know your goodness. You won’t need to market yourself. Good organisations have the knack of being able to tell. But one caveat: when you move from being full to flexi — be prepared, numerous issues crop up. In my case, as I was already on a weak wicket at home, the office scenario was double whammy, and I was depressed for a very long time; for example, stuff like being left out of daily chatter, or they would forget about me during office celebrations, or they stay in touch only related to work.
Working flexi is in fact tough on the mind — you get isolated. At home, the demands increase, you will be seen as ‘she is keeping herself occupied’. No one will come on time; memsaab aap to ghar pe hi ho na! I had to tell my AC service man: “I work out of home for my convenience, not yours!” At work, they ignore you because you are out of sight. And the strange thing is everyone thinks you are sitting at home and having fun. So, if you ask for 10 days off, your boss will gripe. If you are thinking flexi, know this: women who wish to work flexi need a lot more skills than regular working women.
Sangati: I think organisations should develop a policy for hiring women, and then the inner rules for career paths. Next, do a serious exit interview with women managers to establish why she has chosen to step off. Is it baby nurture time? Is it time off to recharge? Is it boredom? Is it inability? Next, create a track for those women who they would like to invest in, and let them know that they would like to have them back.
“It comes down to wanting solutions. A lot of companies are waking up, but then the effort they are willing to put in is directly proportionate to the number of women they have at senior levels.”I am not sure organisations can deal with ‘it is ok to not want to pursue your career’. Organisations are career machines, not humans. So, if you are not career committed they are not going to gush. But — and this is my modification of your statement — even during a career you will take time off to sort life out. Organisations have to create the flexibility in their own expectations to factor this in.
I am not allowing anyone to stick bills on me. My boss’s opinion is more to do with his prejudices. Eckhart Tolle says, “Prejudice is remaining identified with a concept, not with the human being.” The concept that the woman lacks commitment needs to go, and it will when organisations are willing to zero base their opinions about their women managers and not randomly extrapolate.
Shipra: (laughing) Likewise, a lot of preconceived ideas about ‘commitment’ also need to go. Like working late is commitment, and so forth. But it will pass. A lot is getting redefined out there. But your point is valid, that organisations should have a policy for shepherding the careers of some kinds of women. What I find is at Carre, Hemant is committed to developing a path for such women, but not the line managers. They come with their litmus papers developed in the 16th century and pass verdicts.
Anu: This is an arduous path. It requires passion, determination and conviction above all. No organisation is going to hit pay dirt in the first round. Developing a policy on women is not like instant CSR that you see these days. It requires a lot of study on women, and their circumstances and the minds of your star lady managers. And then have a one-to-one dialogue, share mind and values, offer support, state expectations… and then put it down as policy. It is a lot of struggle! And I say this: organisations that do not have the strength or stamina to struggle to find enabling solutions, cannot become institutions.
Sangati: Spot on! It comes down to wanting solutions. A lot of companies are beginning to wake up, but then the effort they are willing to put in is directly proportionate to the number of women they have at senior levels, which is not saying anything, now is it!
Anu: My mother would say ‘Some struggle is good for building character’. I say that organisations that are willing to struggle to enable their women will by example, build better men along the way. Because struggling to enable will become a way of life, a religion.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Sitting with her aunt Anuradha Jaiswal at Barista, she said, “Way back when we were students, it was Tushar who supported my MBA fees by doing two jobs — so that I could climb some more ladders. Today, my being ‘available’ on call will help his career and give him peace of mind. Also, with him being in Paris for almost the entire month, our kids could get disoriented with a single parent who is preoccupied. And I know, Tushar will be in this job for at least three years till the legal matter is resolved. So, in a single sentence, ‘I am pausing my career to transfer energy to the other belt which is on a difficult schedule’.
Anu: Then what is bothering you? If you are clear about your decision, why this looking back and fretting?
Shipra: Last week, Hemant met Nandita, a consultant at Heads Up, who has been talking to Hemant about Carre creating a flexi job policy for me. Hemant is so taken in by the idea. But the idea of flexi working has raised a lot of dust and debate. Ever since Hemant sent out his email on flexi-jobbing, CCs are flying around with everyone’s perceptions and feelings. Suddenly, I am seeing that men who were my buddies until last week are not sounding inclusive and encouraging, but interrogative and sceptical. Maybe I am being sensitive, but now the conversation is about ‘what can we give her to do?’ I worry Anu. I fear they would saddle me with work that I may not be happy doing. If I wanted to work, would I not have found a solution?
Anu: I understand. In my opinion, eight out of 10 times, organisations are unhappy letting their women go; but 10 out of 10 times they do not know what to do about it. I feel if organisations had a meter to know a woman’s mind during her career pauses, they will not be fretting.
Shipra: I might argue that, Anu. But wait, Hemant’s daughter Sangati is also joining us. Sangati is also taking a break and Hemant is very upset. She is a level-headed girl and it will be nice to know where she has derailed. When Hemant told me he was getting Sangati to examine the flexi option, I thought it would be nice to hear her story too.
“In India, organisations even today view your CV with disdain if you have a list of employers, and the image gets worse if you explained that with maternity or spouse.”Sangati joined them and Shipra did the introductions.
Sangati: Hey, thanks for this invitation! I am very happy to meet you both. My dad praises you so much Shipra, I had to meet you one day.
Shipra: These praises become expensive, because they somehow seem to come packaged in an idea of what is ‘brilliant’. Consequently, brilliance does not include one who wants to make choices away from mainstream career!
Sangati: Yes, I know that dichotomy. I need to pause my career, and my immediate boss is giving me ‘that’ look, which I read as ‘I should not trust women to hold on to a job’… I don’t know if you feel what I feel; but I am deeply into equity analysis and am trying to attain greater heights in the field. So for me, it is not about ‘holding on’ to a job; if it’s not Millichamp Tay (M-Tay), it well could be HSBC or ADB. Dad, however, feels I should value my position at M-Tay and get my position back. Frankly, I don’t see how that matters. Yet, I can see where his anxiety lies.
Anu: And why are you putting your career on hold just now Sangati?
Sangati: I am planning my second child soon, Anu. This also coincides with my husband being relocated to Delhi. I also see that my elder son will need help to deal with the change of schools, neighbours and friends. But dad feels my organisation is not being supportive, my decision is born out of helplessness. Truth is I am not helpless. These are life-stage issues, not problems. But yes, if they show some kind of desire to create a path for me, or talk about my return later, I can plan my path better. But M-Tay is not talking about my return or my plans. That is disturbing.
Shipra: I tend to agree, but then in India, organisations even today view your CV with disdain if you have a list of employers, and the image gets worse if you explained that with maternity or spouse. Yes, if you are determined to find your spot under the sun, you will find it, sceptical employers notwithstanding! I only wonder how you plan to do justice to building your career away from the field.
Sangati: I am hopeful of being able to work with an equity blogger. The experience is terrific. It’s two hours a day just to do his spreadsheets and analyses. That I can never learn in an MNC bank. Because this blogger has a huge fan following who are not placid sorts; they argue his analyses, and I am supposed to vet all that and develop his arguments for the blog… see? I also have an offer from an ad agency to do some corporate finance advertising ideation for them. I will be honing my skills, feeling self actualised, in great touch with the equity market, reading Mr Men books and, God willing, soon Little Miss books as well, if all goes well!
“Yes, a number of women give up in suppressed anger; but I feel if you really are passionate, nobody can stop you, not even your anger. Not even debating colleagues and discouraging bosses.”Shipra: (laughing) Yes, sure. But how do you plan to get back to mainstream? You know they won’t touch you for the meagre experience that all this provides! Then again, why waste a good break doing so much for so little?
Sangati: Just yesterday Nandita called. Her team has suggested that I could get a senior role at The Grinch Bank in Delhi working twice a week. Now that could be interesting. But I also wonder, why should the relationship work? Grinch’s MD does not know me... why should he believe in my credibility? The way I see it even as an employer myself, a new company would never create a position for a part-time employee, especially at a senior level. Would my dad? I am not sure…
Shipra: I guess that is where my staying on as a flexi gal at Carre can be easier. But flexi-jobbing at my employer’s has led to lot of debates among my colleagues such as: If they give part -time to one, they will need to give everyone; how is Shipra herself going to deal with a diminished image? Then she won’t be senior management by definition. Is she ready for this? And when she comes back after 5-6 years, will the management then connect with her greatness? After all, management teams and contexts change; will it be fair to hold them to a commitment made in the past? My point is how much fretting is happening over procedure and process and almost nothing about ‘is this in line with the individual’s dreams?’
Anu: Yes, employers will continue to look askance at a gap of 4-7 years and make all kinds of allusions to your commitment. But then that is why Sangati’s interim career plans are valuable. And I am suggesting the same to Shipra too. Look, there are all kinds of women. If you have that fire in your heart, all that is needed is to keep stoking it. Two hours a day of working for the blogger? Sounds terrific. It is enough to be able to come back to changing diapers with a lovely smile. I think the most important thing is to be happy about whatever you are doing. Hence, I like your operative word: choices.
Today, you are at a strange crossroad: where choices and conveniences are tremendous, but uniquely, the employer fraternity has not recalibrated its mindset. And till the time they see you pulling it off well after few years, they will not be able to recalibrate their mindsets, perhaps because of their past experiences.
Shipra: Are we allowing for organisations to remain insensitive?
Anu: Look, if I see the workplace from the standpoint of the woman worker then yes, it does seem like they are insensitive. But, from the standpoint of an employer, I see the woman as being unpredictable! All relate to one’s experiences. I have seen that men who have hardy wives tend to see other women as tough and hardy; and these men usually create solutions. today, with all the technology out there, it would be shocking if we insist that the only committed woman worker is one who trips over her baby’s milk bottle and lands up at work at 9 am! Sometimes, it is necessary to look at deliverables too.
Shipra: You had a bad time too Anu, and it is a wonder you managed so well. I didn’t complete the introduction Sangati. Anu is 54 and got married during her articleship with a firm of chartered accountants and her husband was, well… ‘not enabling’.
Anu: (smiling) There was, let us say, passive aggression. We being middle class also means we have illusions about who we are. Yes, I got into a mess for a bit. My husband travelled every week. The family insisted that I should accompany him. So, we had a problem. Now, this is my point: Back then, ‘choices’ was not an option. My downslide came as a function of my bitterness. I said: ‘very well, then I will do nothing!’ Anger is justified, but should not be nurtured, you see. But I thought I would prove a point and soon everyone would come and make it all right.
I was angry with my parents for the family I was married into, angry with my husband, angry with life, angry that nobody was helping… and I said, ‘Fine! I won’t work. Go, take that!’ And I thought I had punished them all. Truth was nobody got punished except me. And I spent 14 years angry, bitter and frustrated. It was my 13-year-old son who prodded me. He had watched some documentary on Anandibai Joshi, India’s first woman doctor in 1886, and said, “How are you worse off than she was, ma?” And that in fact woke me up. I went back to my firm, worked one year, completed my articleship at 38, and started working from scratch!
Sangati: Yes, a number of women give up in suppressed anger; but I feel if you really are passionate, nobody can stop you, not even your anger. Not even debating colleagues and discouraging bosses. If you chose not to pursue your career, it is because you did not deeply want it. That is why I want the world to stop making a big issue about pursuing a career. I think we need to start becoming accepting of people who do not want to hold on to a career. That will make it easier on them. Automatically, the number of women on the system truly chasing their careers will reduce to a manageable lot.
Shipra: And that in turn will help sharp focus on developing a career policy for the others. She has a point. The thing is that HR does not sift according to psychographics. I for one am not fickle. But I believe life needs me now to attend to other aspects of my life. Just because I choose to step off the rollercoaster, I don’t become ‘un-brilliant’. A system that worships me for staying on, not giving up, and decries me for stepping off, cannot be a dependable system. I love my husband, my kids, my career and my hobbies — quilting and photography. I am not anxious to prove anything. But it annoys me that line management at Carre is discussing my capability and brilliance in the context of my decision.
Anu: Many people are uni-dimensional and that causes them to respond in the only way they know, Shipra. Are you hurt about having to take this break?
Shipra: No. I know what I should do now. But I have been associated with Carre for nine years, and we have had a great time together. As long as I was there, I never once felt discriminated or judged by gender. Today, when I am leaving, all the talk is pointing to a gender debate. But it never was so in the past — not even when I had to leave work early, take a day off, nothing. It is just now that the flavour is different. Sangati, how have you dealt with this transition?
<image no longer exists> Sangati: I am the boss of Sangati Inc. I control my time and my energy. On a day-to-day basis, I decide when to attend to my family, my garden, my work, my reading. I think I am wise enough to know my activity units. I would be an idiot if I had to give 80 per cent of my time to career and 20 per cent to my family. If I am imbalanced as a human, how do you think I would be as a manager? So if I am taking a break, it means that I have thought it through and not pausing on impulse. Yet, I am being labelled and judged as whimsical! Please note, no one is saying so in words, but you can hear!
Anu: It is not important to be known as resilient, professional, brilliant, efficient or versatile. It is more important to be all this. And if you are passionate about your career, you will keep cutting your path as you go along. And if you are not passionate about your career, it is ok… women need to feel ok about all this. Somehow these definitions have all got warped by the media definition of who a successful woman is.
Just stay in touch with your function, refresh, renew, upgrade, build new skills. When you are ready to return, the organisation will know your goodness. You won’t need to market yourself. Good organisations have the knack of being able to tell. But one caveat: when you move from being full to flexi — be prepared, numerous issues crop up. In my case, as I was already on a weak wicket at home, the office scenario was double whammy, and I was depressed for a very long time; for example, stuff like being left out of daily chatter, or they would forget about me during office celebrations, or they stay in touch only related to work.
Working flexi is in fact tough on the mind — you get isolated. At home, the demands increase, you will be seen as ‘she is keeping herself occupied’. No one will come on time; memsaab aap to ghar pe hi ho na! I had to tell my AC service man: “I work out of home for my convenience, not yours!” At work, they ignore you because you are out of sight. And the strange thing is everyone thinks you are sitting at home and having fun. So, if you ask for 10 days off, your boss will gripe. If you are thinking flexi, know this: women who wish to work flexi need a lot more skills than regular working women.
Sangati: I think organisations should develop a policy for hiring women, and then the inner rules for career paths. Next, do a serious exit interview with women managers to establish why she has chosen to step off. Is it baby nurture time? Is it time off to recharge? Is it boredom? Is it inability? Next, create a track for those women who they would like to invest in, and let them know that they would like to have them back.
“It comes down to wanting solutions. A lot of companies are waking up, but then the effort they are willing to put in is directly proportionate to the number of women they have at senior levels.”I am not sure organisations can deal with ‘it is ok to not want to pursue your career’. Organisations are career machines, not humans. So, if you are not career committed they are not going to gush. But — and this is my modification of your statement — even during a career you will take time off to sort life out. Organisations have to create the flexibility in their own expectations to factor this in.
I am not allowing anyone to stick bills on me. My boss’s opinion is more to do with his prejudices. Eckhart Tolle says, “Prejudice is remaining identified with a concept, not with the human being.” The concept that the woman lacks commitment needs to go, and it will when organisations are willing to zero base their opinions about their women managers and not randomly extrapolate.
Shipra: (laughing) Likewise, a lot of preconceived ideas about ‘commitment’ also need to go. Like working late is commitment, and so forth. But it will pass. A lot is getting redefined out there. But your point is valid, that organisations should have a policy for shepherding the careers of some kinds of women. What I find is at Carre, Hemant is committed to developing a path for such women, but not the line managers. They come with their litmus papers developed in the 16th century and pass verdicts.
Anu: This is an arduous path. It requires passion, determination and conviction above all. No organisation is going to hit pay dirt in the first round. Developing a policy on women is not like instant CSR that you see these days. It requires a lot of study on women, and their circumstances and the minds of your star lady managers. And then have a one-to-one dialogue, share mind and values, offer support, state expectations… and then put it down as policy. It is a lot of struggle! And I say this: organisations that do not have the strength or stamina to struggle to find enabling solutions, cannot become institutions.
Sangati: Spot on! It comes down to wanting solutions. A lot of companies are beginning to wake up, but then the effort they are willing to put in is directly proportionate to the number of women they have at senior levels, which is not saying anything, now is it!
Anu: My mother would say ‘Some struggle is good for building character’. I say that organisations that are willing to struggle to enable their women will by example, build better men along the way. Because struggling to enable will become a way of life, a religion.
From India, Ahmadabad
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Handbook on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace.pdf