CEO speaks: Challenging the real barriers
So, the story begins like this… In 1908, about 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. A year later, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Woman’s Day.
The idea to make the day global emanated from a woman called Clara Zetkin, a communist activist and advocate for women’s rights, who suggested the concept in 1910 at an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. About 100 women who came from 17 countries readily agreed with her suggestion.
But Clara’s idea for an International Women’s Day had no fixed date. It wasn’t formalised until a war-time strike in 1917 when Russian women demanded “bread and peace” — and four days into the strike the Tsar was forced to abdicate and the provisional government granted women the right to vote.
The date when the women’s strike commenced on the Julian calendar, which was then in use in Russia, was Sunday, February 23. This day in the Gregorian calendar was March 8 — and that’s when it’s celebrated today.
For more than a century, people around the world have been observing March 8 as a special day for women.
All successful women and thousands of others who have made a mark of their own thrive on young-age personal experiences. The crux then is to start early. Teaching them to learn to take action, make positive choices about their own lives, help others, become critical thinkers, express their feelings and acknowledge the thoughts and opinions of others — all entail concerted efforts of parents, teachers, mentors and society at large to engage young minds in education — something that will give them wings to fly and reasons to soar higher.
Girls’ education goes beyond getting them into school. It is important to ensure that they learn and feel safe while in school; have the opportunity to complete all levels of education, acquire the knowledge and skills to compete in the labour market; gain socio-emotional and life skills necessary to navigate and adapt to a changing world; make decisions about their own lives; and contribute to their communities and the world.
According to UNESCO estimates, around the world, 129 million girls are out of school, including 32 million of primary school age, and 97 million of secondary school age.
Age is always an important criterion. Cognitive development at an early age is critical in preparing young minds to be able to manage complexities, make judgments, and plan better for the future. Some changes are hard to miss, like when parents turn around and realise that their child seems to have grown a head taller. However, what may be the most miraculous change is something that they can’t see — the transformation in how the child can think — or cognitive development.
This year, the UN’s theme is ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’, aims to recognise and celebrate the contribution women and girls are making to technology and online education — something that is considerably a new segment and has brought about a revolution, post-Covid, in imparting education not just in metropolitan cities but also in the remotest corners of the globe.
Still, race and gender continue to create divergent and uneven outcomes for women. Women of colour continue to experience occupational and economic disadvantages. This ‘legacy’, stereotyped by specific situations of women in society, needs to be broken.
India, unfortunately, has one of the lowest female participation rates in the workforce among developing countries — ranking 135 among a total of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2022.
Women have made incredible progress in joining the workforce, fighting for equal pay, and rising to the top of their fields. But some career paths are still out of reach for them.
While a woman-contingent marching at the Republic Day parade is a sign of the strides women are making, it will still take years for the Army to have an equal place for women.
The number of women in the IITs across India is quite low; though the counts are better in the case of IIMs.
The Reserve Bank of India has not had a female Governor ever since it was formed on April 1, 1935. There is not much women representation as financial analysts; most firefighters, technicians, pilots and even open-heart surgeons in India are males. Women are yet to make strides in the secondary sector, which involves technicians, potters, carpenters and factory workers.
Winds of change are, however, visible here and there. The Indian Armed Forces have been gradually increasing the participation of women in various roles. In 2021, the Indian Air Force inducted its first batch of women fighter pilots, and the Indian Navy recently announced that it would begin allowing women to serve on warships. The Indian Army is also considering frontline services for women.
In the unorganised sector, which employs more than 90% of the Indian workforce, women have made noticeable advancements. From bus conductors and drivers to fuel station attendants to cab drivers — women are seen in newer roles, which were earlier preserves of men.
Women have not landed on the moon, nor have they landed the top job at ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) yet.
However, DRDO scientist Dr Tessy Thomas, often referred to as India’s ‘missile woman’ and Dr VR Lalithambika at ISRO who led Gaganyaan — India’s first human space flight programme; Mission Director of Chandrayaan-2, Dr Ritu Karidhal and her colleague Dr Nandini Harinath, who were also part of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) are shining examples of women empowerment.
Even the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced a “pay equity policy”, stating that its centrally-contracted men and women players would get the same match fees.
But a lot still needs to be done for women who script underlying profound messages for the future, inspire those waiting in the wings to make their presence, more importantly, their skills, felt far and wide.
Dr Sanku Bose, Group CEO
(Techno India Group)
