The Hindu Business Line : Breaking new ground

Women have made inroads into traditional male bastions, along the way continuing to play the traditional role of homemaker, but it has not been easy.

When Rajashree Birla, wife of Aditya Birla, came onto the boards of the Aditya Birla Group companies some years ago, it was time for celebration for the shareholders. Being part of the promoter family, it was natural for her to make it to the boards of her companies.

There is an occasional presence of women in some of the new economy companies and private sector banks. But overall, women's representation on boards of companies continues to remain very small, especially in some of the old-economy sectors.

There is a large presence of women in managerial positions, especially in a city like Mumbai. ICICI Bank in Mumbai is known for a large representation of women in very senior positions.

HSBC's chief, Niall S.K. Booker, has been quoted as saying that the bank wants to promote more women officers to executive positions. However, at some stage, women do opt out, because the top management across all sectors is largely bereft of women.

But when women do make it to the top, there is cause for both recognition and celebration. Recently, two women from India figured in the Fortune magazine ranking of the top 50 most powerful women in international business — Vidya Manohar Chhabria, Chairperson of the Jumbo Group, and Naina Lal Kidwai, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pvt Ltd.

Technology has rendered some changes to job profiles. Says Christa Wichterich, in her book The Globalised Woman, "Jobs have been mechanised out of existence but new ones have been created at the same time, work has been made less back-breaking, but new health risks introduced, productivity has been increased but traditional skills put to one side and forgotten."

Researchers maintain that women's role in the urban workspace is still in the process of evolving. With loss of many types of jobs in a globalised environment, women continue to be responsible for childcare and the food security of the family at the very basic level.

Globally, women's presence in the work place is estimated to increase over the years and touch 70 per cent in 2010. The aspiration to "succeed" in the workplace follows much later because most women in India enter into jobs primarily for income. As the years go by, aspiration prompts women to continue working, having met financial security at home.

Simplistically speaking, inadequate childcare continues to be the single most stumbling block for women aspiring for `growth' in their professions.

In PSU banks, a large number of women opt out of promotions to the officer grade, as it would involve transfers out of the city.

However, in the new liberalised atmosphere, the prerogative of `refusing' a promotion is being taken away from the employee. Yet women are taking on more risks, reaching out for more responsibilities and seeking to come into their own in an ever-changing economic environment.

But the picture is not all bleak. Women are making inroads in diverse fields.

Recently, a group of women got together to launch India's first all-women political party, the Womanist Party of India. This group of enterprising women, led by Varsha Kale, says it has the support of 10,000 women and plans to contest in both assembly and parliamentary elections. The `failure' of mainstream political parties to take up issues relating to women has prompted them to set up a political organisation exclusively for women.

Way back in 1990, Sadguna set up an all-women driving school, Scluki, which stands for Sincerely Concentrate and Learn Unique Lesson with Keen Interest, in Bangalore.

Instances are plenty where women have made forays into non-traditional areas. In1966, Durba Banerjee made news for being the first woman pilot. Yet again, in 1987, she became the first woman pilot on the wide-bodied Airbus A300.

The Shri Mahila Sewa Sahakari Bank in Gujarat is yet another example of an initiative taken by 4,000 self-employed women workers.

In June 2003, the residents of Bishanpura Akalgarh village in Punjab elected an all-women panchayat.

In 1986, Captain Saudamini Deshmukh in command, and Captain Nivedita Bhasin as co-pilot, flew the F-27 aircraft from Kolkata to Silchar and back, with an all-women cabin crew.

There are other instances too. Bageshwari Qamar is the first woman shehnai player, Professor Sudipta Sengupta one of two women scientists in Antarctica, Mandakini Lele, first woman priest, and Surekha Shankar Yadav, the first woman railway engine driver in India, and Justice Sujata Manohar, first woman Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. The list is endless...

But while Indian women have held their ground in male-dominated arenas, there is also the other side to the picture — large numbers of women confined to remaining at home or being daily wage earners in the unorganised sector.

According to researchers specialising in women's studies, the acceptance of globalisation and liberalisation has not changed the pattern of employment.

There may be a token representation of women in purely male work zones but the large majority of women continue to be part of industries or positions that are traditionally carried out by women.

Even in the globalised era, women are hired for industries such as textiles, food processing, toys, electronic goods, and pharmaceuticals.

At the non-industrial level, apart from the traditional job openings, the metros have thrown up huge opportunities for women in call-centre jobs, primarily because India is emerging a business process outsourcing hub.

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