Try to revisit that iconic scene from “3 Idiots” where Farhan declares that after pursuing engineering for the past 4 years, he now desires to follow his passion for photography, only this time, put a girl in his place. She of course would face the same disappointing glances from her stereotypical family, the long sighs and frowns but with an additional question from the society- “STEM was not your place to begin with, why did you even bother?” We see men switching from one career to another, from medical science to culinary arts, and it is celebrated as either a bold move or following one’s calling. With a woman making the same choice, however, means being thrown a myriad of questions dissecting her academic performance, persona, potential to the point her mustering up the courage to tread on a path less followed is overshadowed- by societal doubts of whether women globally possess any analytical prowess at all.
CANNOT BE SCENE
Speaking of movies, only 12% of movie characters with STEM jobs are played by women. Only South Korea and China stand out by casting equal numbers of women in leading roles, apart from that only 23% films feature a female protagonist according to a research “Gender Without Borders” conducted by Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media” across 11 countries. It was also found that having a female director hikes up the number of female presence to 6.8% but the percentage of female directors is actually pretty scarce, sitting at only 7%, industry breakdown shows. Then there is the ever persistent glare that never stops chasing women- emphasis on their appearance. Women are twice as much portrayed, compared to men, in sexually suggestive setups. Shockingly, fictional female characters do not escape this either as fictional females aged 13-39 are sexualized in equal amounts. Objectification of women is the first step to justifying violence against them and fostering that revolting climate across multiple industries only adds to it.
Even in the 1960s, if a woman was aspiring to work behind the camera the only role she’d be offered was that of a secretary, with her other options being modeling or acting, as if her merits elsewhere were a ruse. Instead of applauding their burgeoning interest to venture into different frontiers, the system keeps adding fuel to travestying their image. The New York Times rightfully drifts our attention to the notion that lack of examples in literature leave the impression and promote the stereotype that intelligence is a man’s quality, females do not equate to it. The constant objectification and stereotyping deeply scar how we all perceive women and unfortunately, how the system chooses to constantly deny them the platforms they deserve. As a result, women are quite literally missing from several scenes.
BROKEN RUNG TO C-SUITE CEILING
While more representation of women in C-suite positions yields 34% greater returns, it is baffling how shareholders are still doused in an invisible bias of not choosing women for these leadership roles. Explains why if anyone is asked to name CEOs, names of female CEOs don’t immediately pop up.
Yet the struggle begins much earlier than one would think as even before they face the C-suite ceiling, women encounter the “broken rung”, according to a shocking report by McKinsey & Co. and LeanIn.Org . The report called “Women in the Workplace” shed light on the fact that while we remain zeroed in on the glass ceiling, it is the initial missed promotions, obstacles for first step-up to manager, the disadvantages from the get-go that eventually sum up to women’s lack of representation at the top. Turns out that what curbs women’s career growth can be traced back to the very root level of their journey as the report showed only 72 women were hired and promoted for every 100 men which entailed women holding only 38% managerial level positions where men hold a staggering contrast of 62%. As a society we turn a blind eye to these issues and suddenly question women’s whereabouts in the C-suites, closely followed by their competence to acquire those seats as we still tend to look at the C-suite as a “Boys Club” only.
Interestingly though only 5% of the Fortune 1000 companies have female CEOs, they account for 7% of the Fortune 1000s total revenue. Still, women are only made boss 18% of the time, even after the trail of success they have left behind, the bias remains. And like everything else, there is an explanation to it as well.
Research conducted by PayScale shows that men are more geared towards promoting other men and women are geared towards promoting other women. If there are no women in leadership roles to begin with, how are more women systematically going to advance to the next stage given the nature of the pipeline? So it all again brings us to square one- the broken rung. Even though there are organizations championing for women’s presence in the C-suite, they are not taking a holistic approach to the bigger problem at sight- the snowballing that starts at the entry levels by not mentoring, not investing, not accommodating young women’s growth like they truly deserve. Besides, women in leadership roles attract a wider pool of talented women as according to the S&P study, recruiting a female CFO resulted in twice the number of female directors as well as pivoting the board towards expanding significantly in overall diversity just after two years of hiring you guessed it, a female CFO.
Companies with greater gender diversity outperform companies with below-average diversity by 46% to 58%. And diversity has proven to be a catalyst for greater innovation and breakthroughs. Women have been a proven fit for driving these key factors and have certainly risen up to the occasion, but the system is still catching up at a snail’s pace.
AMBITION WAS NEVER THE PLIGHT
Women’s aspirations to soar high has been sadly questioned even after they have turned tables around on multiple occasions. To even think what the picture was decades ago is bewildering but hearing a certain story will help paint the struggle and the sheer hypocrisy of our society- an overachiever in terms of both academics and ECAs with a blazing spirit went to her high school counselor to discuss her plans for going to Princeton. Why Princeton? Well, her brother whom she looked up to so much had gotten enrolled there recently. Although she had the grades, the potential and was clearly up for the challenge- she was met with dismissive and discouraging feedback from her counselor, in whose opinion the young girl was reaching too high. That girl not only got into Princeton later on but also many other high profile colleges and went on to become one of the biggest changemakers of our times. She also served as arguably the strongest First Lady of the USA, so much so that for her influence, vigor and impact throughout the presidential campaign and presidency she was thrown sticks and stones like she herself was a presidential candidate, not a first lady- Michelle Obama.
If that was what Michelle faced just a few decades back in a developed country like the USA, it is simply harrowing to imagine the scene at underprivileged fronts. No surprise that on every continent women are more prone to face hunger than men despite producing between 60% and 80% of the food in most developing countries. Even research backed up the fact that women do want the same promotions as men and they are not sitting around for it. The recent decade alone has seen a monumental surge of women in previously perceived unorthodox sectors. Not only that, women have disheveled any visible restrains in terms of skillset to make themselves better suited for various major roles.
NO SILVER BULLETS
The coronavirus pandemic has widened the gender gap by a generation and closing it will take concrete efforts by policymakers around the world, a new report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has found in their investigations. While there are no silver bullets to improve the gender parity, we have to now cautiously try to inch closer towards it or risk spiralling back in terms of progress and economic growth.
The remedy points to one direction in the end- nurturing, mentoring, guiding our impeccable women with brimming potential. Next time a woman makes a bold move, instead of probing on her wits and spirit, let us appreciate wholeheartedly how impeccably multidimensional she is. Increasing the presence of women will send a domino effect throughout the pipeline and give bona fide faith to numerous women that they too can be seen, their voices and actions will indeed make significant difference.
Women for decades after decades have curved tunnels through mountains with grit, perseverance and merit. Faced rain and hail , not just survived but thrived. It is the world that must comply now, women have shouldered more than their acclaimed share through and through. From handling the avalanche of inequality, hurdles and injustice to reigning actual mountain tops, women have done it all. Time after time. Yet the society has repeatedly caused the female tribe disservice by not fostering their talents which only resulted in a backlog for our entire human race. Women have always been ready, but when will the world be?
By Tasnuva Tasfia Puspita
