Monday 7 July 2014

How Corporate Culture Impacts Gender Diversity At Your Workplace


‘The importance of Gender Diversity at workplace' is one of those issues that are often spoken about in conferences, reiterated in survey findings, and yet seldom are a priority unless there is a mandatory obligation for companies to comply with.

With the exception of a handful of countries such as Norway, New Zealand, Iceland, Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Canada, Philippines, women are generally under-represented in the corporate sector in a large number of countries all over the world.

Even in the Tech companies that are known to promote employee friendly culture, diversity remains an issue. Google admittedly has a gender gap, so has Facebook. LinkedIn, too would like to improve its gender diversity numbers says the company's Vice President of global talent, Pat Wadors. Twitter was criticized for filing the I.P.O. without a single woman on the board, subsequent to which it appointed Marjorie Scardino as the first woman director to its board.


What impedes gender parity at workplaces?


Among the factors that hinder gender parity at workplaces, ‘Cultural Inertia’ emerges as a predominant reason that holds back the adoption of gender diversity practices.
In Japan, for instance, women have been identified as the most under-utilized resources. A traditionally conservative country, Japan did not encourage its women to remain in full time employment, notwithstanding their high level of education. Faced with the problem of an ageing population and shrinking workforce, Japan is now waking up to the fact that utilization of women talent pool is crucial for the revitalization of its economy. ‘Womenomics’, a term coined by Kathy Matsui in 1999, now forms a vital component of Abenomics, the set of economic reforms advocated by the Prime Minister Shinjo Abe.

India Inc. too has a long way to go for bridging the gender gap at workplace. In India, while entry is easier and a reasonable percentage of entry level positions are filled by women, the percentage of women declines sharply as we move up the ranks. What happens in between the levels is an oft-repeated story.

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