Teena Sharma
Director, Women Foundation, AssochamIt’s time for a transformational change.
The status of women in a society gets reflected by the roles played by them in its institutions such as family, political or other social groups. This gets replicated in the Corporate Sector as well.
Though women constitute more than half of India’s demography, the unequal status at work place is quite visible. This is because of the beliefs and attitudes of the men folk who create effective resistance against women’s advancement in their career by restricting them to stereotypical roles, inequitable wages and structural constrictions to progression and leadership.
Travel and Tourism industry executives are overwhelmingly male dominated across the Globe and as women are not openly talking about it a Leading activist in the US has suggested that
“Grassroots activism is now the go-to tactic for achieving gender equality in the travel industry. Lobbying male executives one-on-one isn’t working, so women are employing their collective influence, reminiscent of recent movements like the Women’s March in Washington, D.C.”
This is equally true of India though some perceive initiatives like flexi time, leadership training, sexual harassment policies etc. to be a game changer, but a majority of women employees feel these are inadequate until the time we have policies that embrace equal opportunities with equal compensation
Therefore it is time that to bring about the transformational change both through activism and policy advocacy and move from addressing gender equality as a compliance issue to one of actively bridging the Gaps.
About the Author
Teena Sharma is a social activist and presently working as the Director and HOD of Assocham Woman Foundation. She has worked extensively on Woman & Child Rights over the years. She is also the official spokesperson of BJP.