When work feminises but power masculinises

When it comes to gender issues, mostly crimes against women take centre stage — dowry deaths, domestic violence, infanticide, rape and molestation are often talked about loudly and in unequivocal terms. Crimes against women need to stop and raising voices against them is very important. However, another gender issue that needs equal, if not more, attention is discrimination against women in the workplace. Women are often paid less than their male counterparts, have equal skills and give an equal number of hours to their profession, yet they sooner or later hit the glass ceiling. India slipped from 129th position to 131st out of 148 countries in the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report. Studies show that women in leadership positions are far fewer in number than men. Often, to make a point, a few examples of women in top positions are thrown in.

Indeed, women like Indra Nooyi, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Falguni Nayar have demonstrated that women can not only participate in but also lead and transform industries at the highest level. Yet, their success stories, while inspiring, remain exceptions rather than the norm. The reality is that their participation in the workforce has not translated into proportional power. Men tend to dominate positions of leadership, prestige and decision-making, even in professions generally associated with women like cooking, teaching and nursing, and while the work remains the same, what changes is who controls it.

This pattern is structural. Labour markets are shaped by deep-rooted gender norms that assign women to roles seen as extensions of domestic responsibilities. These roles are often undervalued, poorly paid, and offer limited upward mobility. When sectors professionalise and profits rise, barriers — both visible and invisible - emerge that restrict women's ascent. One major factor is the persistence of the "glass ceiling". Women are often clustered in entry-level or mid-level roles but face systemic hurdles in climbing to senior management. This is not merely a question of merit but of networks, mentorship and institutional bias. Leadership processes are often reinforced by stereotypes that associate authority with masculinity. Equally significant is the "double burden" women carry. Changing this reality requires a reconfiguration of how work and leadership are structured. First, organisations must actively dismantle biases in hiring, promotion and evaluation. Transparent criteria and accountability mechanisms can help ensure that leadership opportunities are not skewed. The Government, on its part, must make policies that support work-life balance — such as flexible work arrangements, parental leave for both genders, and accessible childcare — essential. When women lead, it reshapes aspirations and normalises their presence in positions of authority. The way forward lies not just in opening doors, but in ensuring that women can walk through them — and lead.