In this developing world, male entrepreneurs tend to give priority to gender diversity by setting operational goals for the proportion of women in leadership roles. The hurdles which come with these leaders while approaching are that they don’t want to see women as a leader. Being a leader involves far more than being placed in a leadership role. It includes acquiring new skills, adapting one’s style to the requirements of that role and ultimately making an elementary identity shift.
Today, women around the world still continue to face systemic barriers and frustrations at the workplace. While the phenomenon is universal, the details differ from country to country, shaped by cultural and economic forces. There are multiple limitations that underlie gender inequality in the world of work.
Numerous invisible barriers still keep women at home and limit their access to good career options. Following mentioned are the three main barriers that hinder their professional growth and success.
- Family Life: Statistically speaking, married men spend around 1 to 20% of their vacation time on child care while for women folks this rate is as high as up to 14 to 42%. What’s more, in maturing social orders, it’s about juggling responsibility of child care as well as dealing with the elderly. The weight of the family pressure, therefore tends to fall lopsided on women who complete three times more unpaid work. On the other hand, men invest about half as much energy in paid work.
- Homemakers: In numerous nations, social standards and customs not only restrict women at home, but also limit their working environment. There are even sign of pregnancy discrimination for pregnant women and working mothers all around the globe. Most of them are being deprived of the opportunity to lead and get promoted. Many countries still consider a woman who is willing to enter the labor market as someone who is defying social norms. This clarifies why female work investment is underneath 15% in nations like Yemen, Syria, Jordan or Algeria. But, its not just a cultural issue, instead according to a recent survey, 1 in 7 employers in the UK do not prefer to employ women who might have children.
- Transportation is not safe for women: According to a survey conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, around 60% of the women have reported physical harassment while traveling. The figure it seems is not an exception among the developing countries as well.
The UN states that sexual violence in public spaces reduce women’s ability to participate in school, work and public life. Understanding the depth of these issues, some cities have invested in CCTVs cameras along with special compartments for women in trains and buses, or pink designated areas for women. However, more actionable and appropriate measures are needed to be taken to guarantee equal opportunities and protection for women on a global level.
It is well understood that these invisible hurdle will not disappear overnight. Strict measures and protection policies can help in reducing the above mentioned barriers, while working together with private sector and civil society. For eliminating theses barrier, general people should be educated about gender equality.
Second-Generation Gender Bias: People who discriminate women and their values are being related to second-generation gender bias. It is contrasted with first-generation bias, which is deliberate, usually involving intentional exclusion. Gender bias is one of the most regularly appearing biases which can be shown in the workplace, as opposed to racist bias or personal bias. Few people in workplaces with gender diversity recognize it as a problem, and many people, including those who work in single-gender workplaces, are not aware of its happening at all.
Second-generation gender bias can make these transitions more challenging for women, where focusing exclusively on acquiring new skills isn’t sufficient; the learning must be accompanied by a growing sense of identity as a leader. That’s why greater understanding of second-generation bias, safe spaces for leadership, identity development, and encouraging women to anchor in their leadership purpose will get better results than the paths most organizations currently pursue.
Quite often, women are unaware of being personally victimized by gender discrimination, deny it even when it is objectively true or neglect when they see other women in general experience it. Women of the 21st century are, therefore working hard to take gender bias out of the equation, in order to be simply recognized for their skills and talents.
In the top level of organizations, women become rare, heightening their invisibility and scrutiny of those near the top. Cumulatively, a safe space for learning, experimentation, and community is critical in leadership development programs for women.
Identifying, understanding and acknowledging are the initial steps towards fighting the gender bias. However, standing tall and bravely overcoming the above hurdles are the most significant means. Below mentioned are a set of suggestions and measures that women as well as policy makers should take to beat the existing barriers.
Breaking the barrier: As it is known that workforce diversity is critical in an organisation. Therefore, diversity alone is insufficient, individuals also need to practice inclusion as well. Today, women comprise of 44 % of leaders at the assistant vice president and vice president levels. Hence, delivering a commitment to gender diversity ensures opportunities are fairly and squarely available for women. Decisions must be based on merit, not gender.
In many organizations, the gender bias is being removed, as the employees are helping to break down these barriers. Following measures define the actions taken by numerous corporate companies and MNCs:
- Constant support from the CEO.
- Each organisation has defined rules & regulations.
- Appropriate actions are taken againt sterotypes.
- Emphasis is given on the accountable individuals.
- Work progression is tracked and monitored.
- Organisations offer assistance to distressed individuals in every aspects.
By and large, the gender biasness can be removed totally if the academic education is given in the right way. Educating the society plays an important role in promoting leadership for creating future leaders. Currently, numerous innovative activist organizations are coming up with educational programs, professional grooming sessions and lectures for educating students, aspiring entrepreneurs and experienced professionals in transforming their former mindset into a refined and modern one. If the current era wants to witness significant changes within the next generation of leadership, more educational institutions must create and implement leadership development programs, including issues concerned to gender diversity and bias over women’s leadership abilities.
