'Gender bias is an unfortunate reality'

Published on:

05 Aug 2015, 12:00 am

Preeti Malhotra, chairperson, National Council of Corporate Affairs and CSR at ASSOCHAM, talks to Ruchi Naveen about gender bias across all sectors. Malhotra says, there has been a marked difference in the attitude of employers but there is still a long way to go

nWomen are better off today, but still far from being equal to men. Why is it still the caseIJ

The inequality is slowly but surely becoming minimal. But it will take a lot of time for a world sans gender bias. For most of the gender related differences, social taboos are to blame. We have carried this mindset that men are better for decades. It is not going to be very easy to erase this completely. Even today, women face these pressures at home. They have to fulfill a lot of expectations.

nIn most set-ups even the pay scale differs. Is that trueIJ

This is very much the case and it is prevalent in every sector. Women are still seen as only homemakers. Therefore when they foray into the business management side, not everyone takes them seriously.

The labour ratio in India is still skewed. How can we bring about a changeIJ

The gap would definitely be reduced as the new generation believes in equal participation of men and women. We can see family’s are now educating and promoting their daughters. The mind set is changing slowly. The regulators need to encourage women to train themselves to manage affairs outside of home.

Which profession has the lowest number of women at the workforce and how can we fill that gapIJ

In India, women lack participation in technical fields because they feel that sector should be handled by men better. The only way to change this kind of a thinking is through promoting more and more women to join this particular sector.

Tell us more about this positive trend that we have noticed in the job scenarioIJ

It’s happy to see that gender biases are under control in most cities and tier 1 areas as well. Women are being encouraged to venture out of their comfort zone and select a profession that was previously considered a taboo for them. We have a long way still to go but at least a start has been made.

What are the provisions that the Government and private companies offer to encourage women employmentIJ

There are many things that companies are doing to encourage their women employees. From motivational programmes to women empowerment, companies are doing everything possible to make sure that the women employees are well taken care of. They have introduced certain perks like transport facility to ensure safety, maternity leaves and in-office crèche so that the women employees feel at home away from home.