Over the past 10 years, professional woman in India have witnessed a quiet revolution in gender relations at work and family relations at home, comparable to the social transformation the United States experienced starting in the 1960s. However, in a new Working Mother Research Institute report, entitled Professional Women in India: Changing Social Expectations and Best Practices for Global Corporations, researcher Karine Schomer, Ph.D., finds many obstacles still face Indian professional women.
“Ceilings to their aspiration are made of more than glass,” writes Schomer, who has studied trends among professional women in India for more than 20 years. “Traditional social attitudes and cultural patterns have not changed overnight. Overt discrimination may be receding, but the ‘old boys networks’ may still be operational. The skills and confidence to push for career advancement are not instantly acquired. Practical infrastructure challenges can vex the most determined of women as they try to make lives that embrace both work and family.”
Commissioned by Working Mother following its fourth annual Global Advancement of Women Leadership Summit, held in Bengaluru, India, in 2009, this important research report finds that Indian women professionals see themselves as true trendsetters both at work and home.
Indeed, writes Schomer, their momentum is unstoppable. Indian women now represent 40% of students enrolled in college, with many earning degrees in science and engineering, and opting for demanding and sometimes uncertain careers in private industry rather than the security of lower-paid jobs in education or government service. Once overwhelmingly concentrated in traditional “women’s jobs” in human resources, public relations and administration, women are now moving into technical, finance, marketing and other job functions. Many middle class families, especially in large urban cities, are coming to link their aspirations to a higher standard of living to having daughters and daughters-in-law who are educated and can contribute significantly to the family income.
Private industry was at first somewhat slow in recognizing the importance of this demographic and cultural shift. But in the past ten years, especially since 2003-2004, there has been a groundswell of corporate interest in diversity and gender-inclusion initiatives aimed at capitalizing more fully on the new female talent now available and eager for challenging work. “The realization has come that, in the global economy, winning in the “war for talent” is a major competitive factor, and that India’s educated professional women are a significant asset that should no longer be undervalued and underutilized,” writes Schomer. Professional Women in India: Changing Social Expectations and Best Practices for Global Corporations details the challenges now facing multinational corporations operating India as well as best practices for how employers can respond with the most effective initiatives, programs and policies to support the recruitment and success of the highly desirable talent pool that educated women in India represent.
To learn more, download the entire report.
Source: Professional Women in India: Changing Social Expectations and Best Practices for Global Corporations By Karine Schomer, Ph.D., President and India Practice Leader, Change Management Consulting & Training, LLC
