CHENNAI: A world where women are running half our businesses and men are running half our households would be a better world,’ read the quote at the entrance of the hall in Park Hyatt at Guindy where women gathered for a conversation on the topic — Women in Corporate Leadership. The event, organised by Her Story, a Chennai-based platform for discussion on topics that range from socio-economic issues, feminism to current affairs, had Uma Krishnan, MD and CEO, Barclays Global Service, and Vidya Mahambare, professor at Great Lakes Institute of Management with research interests in financial empowerment, as the guest speakers.
“Though equal ratio of men and women are being employed at entry level, most of the women discontinue in between and only men climb the ladders. This could be because of reasons including lack of opportunities, performance bias, marriage and motherhood. The social and cultural norms will not change overnight, but we have to start somewhere,” said Uma Krishnan.
Adding, Vidya said, “If we are to increase the percentage of women in top positions, we must increase the aspirations of girls at a tender age. In one of the studies conducted in rural India where researchers were recording the aspirations of boys and girls, and what aspirations their parents had for them, it was found that girls aspired lesser for themselves compared to boys. Not only that, parents also expected less of girls compared to boys. So, the change must happen in grassroots level.”
Both of them lauded Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, who showed her fullness as a leader as she efficiently and humbly navigated New Zealand through the worst terror attack in its history, after 50 were killed at two mosques in Christchurch in March 2019. “As a woman, it is very difficult being the authentic ‘you’ as you are expected to react and take decisions like a man. I used to go through a similar battle. Jacinda was herself when she made the decision on how to react to the issue; she showed the world they could respond differently and it worked. We, as women in the field, are improving and there is a long way to go,” said Uma.