For Men May Come and Men May Go but I Go on Forever

“For men may come and men may go, But, I go on forever”

These words by Lord Tennyson in his famous poem “The Brook” seem to be apt when we talk about the relevance of gender in today’s world, where “I” in the above lines can refer to gender inequality. Having a greater emphasis on men in the workplace can only lead to gender imbalances, not just quantitively, but qualitatively.

Gender Equality can benefit not just women, but also the men. It is not just about bringing in gender diversity in the workplace, it is about bringing different skill sets to the table, irrespective of gender. Gender equality is about fostering an environment for men and women to be able to achieve gender neutrality- the point where gender no longer has a role to play in the important decisions taken by a company.

The Pressing Need To Go Beyond Numbers To Address Gender Equality

Why are we talking about gender equality? Is it just because of a part of a “Corporate Social Responsibility” campaign that we need to address the needs of the “oppressed”? Is “empowering” women equivalent to taking the extra burden on men that they “have to” carry in the workplace?

Having a gender diverse team is as important as how women are perceived in those diverse teams. Do women’s opinions matter in the team? How much do they matter? What are the expectations of a woman in the team? Are they less, as compared to the expectations of men? These are the questions to be analysed when we want to measure the extent of gender equality in a company.

According to the McKinsey Report (1), women are underrepresented in all levels of positions in a company. What is more troubling is when we look at the number of women in more higher level positions like Vice President, Senior Vice President, C-suite, etc., the number of women themselves are decreasing. So, what does this suggest? In the entry level, the representation of women is around 48%. In the C-suite, there is a meagre 23% representation of women.

Is it time for governments of all nations to start addressing "office-dropouts" and “stagnation of women in the lower roles”? What are the issues to be addressed?

Stereotypes To Fight Against…

Maternity Leaves

It truly is great to know that, now, we are in a position where companies realize the importance of women in the workplace and offer paid maternity leaves. This enables women to cater to their child and come back to work. But, is this gender equality?

What we are missing out are the men! If companies enforce paternity leaves so that the men to are involved in the raising of a child actively, it does more good in the long run. Longer paternity leaves emphasize the fact that it is not just the responsibility of the women to take care of the child, but it is equally important for the men to be involved as well.

Work-Life Balance

Happier people contribute to a happy home and a happy home effectively leads to men and women to be more productive and efficient. When the working hours are so long that the employees do not have any energy whatsoever to contribute anything to the house, it naturally leads to women sacrificing their work life to stay at home to give the much-needed attention the children in the family. This is because, traditionally, this is supposed to be a woman’s job and not working in a professional setting. If companies make work-life balance a priority, then it leaves sufficient time for the employees to spend time with their family. This not only helps the women but also takes the pressure off from the men.

Gender Neutral Languages

How often have the terms “Female CEO” or