💡 Read this with an open mind. I do ask some tough questions here.
Situation: Where we are today?
Hypothesis: Why does it happen?
Link to LinkedIn post - where all this started
Situation: Where we are today?
- Amongst top 100 in aptitude exams like CAT, less than 10% are women
(There’s 1 female out of top 47 scorers in CAT 2021) - In all CXO positions, there are just ~5% women
- Even in entry level positions of highly recognised jobs like consulting, tech, women are ~20%
Hypothesis: Why does it happen?
In earlier generations it happened because girls weren’t allowed to do higher study. Very less % went to even college.
Fast forward to today, a higher % of girls complete their college. Still we’re at the situation mentioned above.
In my opinion it happens due to some very subtle activities we undertake everyday. Whether you’re a man or a woman, answer the following:
- Have you been asked to learn to cook?
- When guests come to house, did you get up and get water for them? (Without being asked for it?)
- When a room you share with someone is dirty, did you clean it on your own?
- If maid isn’t at house, who does the household work? Who helps?
- Have you been asked to rethink your career choices because you are at marriageable age?
- Have you been asked to take admission in a nearby college or take a nearby job because it isn’t safe to travel far?
- Have you been forbidden to move out of your hometown?
- Have you been asked to take a lighter career because you need to have kids and take care of family?
You don’t need to give me these answers, just be true to yourself. Every question asked above is a yes for most of the women (and definitely for some men).
What happens through these small things is that it induces a responsibility in young girls minds, that they have a compulsory responsibility for the family, and they might or might not be free to pursue a career. In any case, family comes first and she should feel guilty if she keeps her career as a priority. For the entire family, the career of boys is highest priority and marriage of girls is highest priority. So she spends time in other things, helping cook, taking care of family & so on. These eventually hit the time & effort needed to prepare for exams and to study in general.
If equal time is given by boys & girls since childhood, the results should be around 50% (or atleast near 33% for CAT - equal to enrollment ratio - wait, why is the enrollment ratio so screwed?). But it can never be <10% like it is today!
So this is more of a grassroots problem (remember how we give children different toys? Yes, it starts there).
And while we can pat ourselves in the back when a woman tops UPSC or CAT, it only happens once in a decade, on an average, and that’s a shame.
How are we solving it today?
We are very good at putting bandaids to solve the symptoms of this grassroot wound. We’d prefer to hire women to have more gender diversity, we’ll add reservation for women to enter colleges, we’ll give them extra marks. By doing this, we’ve higher number of women in fields where there were almost none. But this won’t solve the basic problem at hand.
Although, it still does some good & some bad things. Explained below.
Good things
- This acts as a source of inspiration & motivation to young girls. If they never see a woman CEO, they’ll think this is a man’s job. Just like when you see your mom taking care of house daily, you think by default, it is a woman’s job and never ask your dad why he doesn’t do it. We need such sources to make our young girls believe that they can grow up and be whatever they want to be!
- This puts more women in power, and they can then solve the grassroot problems! The situation today is such that 70% men don’t even realise this is a problem (see my LinkedIn post comments). If they don’t realise it, they can’t solve it. We need representation from women to tell you what the problem exactly is and help solve it (trying to do that!)
Bad things
- It creates certain hatred in men’s minds. “Why can a woman at 97%ile get xxx college and I can’t at 99%ile. This isn’t fair.” “Consulting companies will take all women yaar, you’ll get a shortlist, don’t worry. Men have to worry more.”
So many men say this. They start with saying it is unfair, move to hating women for having it easy (which isn’t true by the way), start mocking women in general and don’t ever see the real problem. - This is the easy way out for politicians (and similar kind) rather than solving the real issue. “So many of our daughters are working in companies now, so if 30% of them are not getting education, there’s nothing wrong”
- Doesn't always solve problem for women in need. Women who already are in MBA might get slight advantage and get into top consulting - doesn't solve the problem for girl in village who couldn't study.
My opinion
It is a tough problem to be solved. It won’t fully solve in a day, a year, or even a decade. But we will start seeing differences soon. Provided, we see the problem, we see today’s solution is inefficient, but still needed upto some level, and we focus on solving the actual problem.
If it seems like an insurmountable problem, try these:
- Next time your sister is doing some household work, say “I’ll do it, you go study”
- If a girl talks to you about how she just wants to get married, tell her there’s so much more to the world than just marriage, give her examples
- When a relative isn’t sending his daughter to a new city for college or job, speak up. Tell how experiences & exposure help people
- Ask your dad to help in house work - cooking, cleaning
- When a woman colleague quits her job, ask why - you will be surprised to know how many fully educated women face societal pressure to prioritise family over herself
👉🻠PS: The above will only apply to ~85% of people. So if it doesn’t apply to you, amazing! You’re in a great environment, try to spread it as much as you can!
Also - there are certain issues men face, like - pressure to earn for family, getting a degree to become “marriageable”; and I would like to talk about them in future. But most of them don’t limit the opportunities available to them or options they’re ‘allowed’ to pursue.
Link to LinkedIn post - where all this started
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/chhavihere_people-society-career-activity-6884715179502899200-op2H