Through the glass ceiling

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw CMD, BIOCON

International women’s day is not only about celebrating the role of women in society, but about drawing attention to gender issues that continue to affect our modern society as well. The articles featured in ET’s Women’s Day special is a perspective of the laudable and lamentable status of women across a wide cross section of the economic spectrum. According to the latest Grant Thornton’s International Business Report, 40% of businesses worldwide have no women in senior management, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2004. However, the good news is that Asian countries have an edge over the rest of the world.

The Philippines ranks numero uno with 97% of businesses that have women in senior management, followed closely by China’s 91%, with Japan at the bottom of the league with 25%. India’s position is encouraging, with women being represented at senior management levels in 56% of Indian businesses, ahead of the European average of 52%. The UPA government has adopted ‘inclusive growth’ as its political mantra, but only alludes to backward classes and ethnic minorities. Despite this, women are silently transforming their social roles from being passive to active participants in the economic mainstream.

Ela Bhat’s Sewa, Awake (Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka) and others are helping to instill an entrepreneurial psyche amongst a wide cross section of women, both in urban and rural India. Women-led businesses, however, have suffered from a stereotypical image of being small and local, largely restricted by the extent of funding. This sadly reflects yet another ‘glass ceiling’ that prevents women from aspiring to compete on a larger scale.

This apart, women in leadership roles is gaining credibility in the corporate world where India bagged three of the top 50 slots of the most powerful global business women ranked by Fortune magazine. If India is to deliver on the prophecy of becoming the third largest global economy by 2050, women will have to be an integral part of economic growth as well as economic reform.