Withdrawal of women from labour force is a waste of talent

Good education is just a means to secure a better groom

We need women at senior positions to help draft women-friendly policies

There is Lack of mentorship for women in various professions

Parents are usually scared to let their daughters work in sexist environments

The three-day ‘Women in Engineering’ ‘WIE Conferencia 2017’ that was held in Hyderabad recently threw up some interesting statistics reflecting the gender inequality that exists at workplaces in India. Quoting the findings of a study commissioned by the World Bank in 2015 study speakers bemoaned: At 53 percentage points, India has one of the worst gender gaps in the world when it comes to labour force participation. If the workforce participation rate for women in India was the same as for men, roughly 217 million women would join the labour force. The under-representation of women in India’s labour force has been a chronic problem. Not only other countries in the BRICS grouping, but peer emerging economies in Asia such as Indonesia fare much better when it comes to employing women.What exactly will employing those additional 217 million do for India? The report says it will boost the country’s economic output by as much as 27 per cent. Another interesting and relevant statistic is that only 10 per cent of educated women in India actually go on to become part of the workforce. Against this backdrop, it is worthwhile considering the primary bottlenecks to educated women in our country which prevent them from joining the workforce and realising their potential.Hyderabad Times turns to a few prominent women to dig deeper into the skewed workforce statistics.There are only certain industries and services that welcome women workers. Many girls choose Physics, Electronics, and Chemistry as their subjects in college, but when they step into the professional world, they find those fields dominated by men and prefer to opt out. In 2009-10, the total number of women attending to domestic duties in India was 216 million, more than Brazil’s population. Of them, graduates and post graduates numbered 12.7 million, twice the population of Singapore. Clearly, the large-scale withdrawal of women from labour force involves enormous waste of talent hampering the growth of the nation. Creating more jobs and ensuring better working conditions will encourage greater female participation in the economy. As more women join the workforce, voices against gender-based inequalities will grow louder. Prof Rekha Pande , Centre for Women's Sudies, University of HyderabadThe two major reasons are marriage and children. These are the responsibilities that demand women to quit their jobs or not have a career at all. In Indian culture, family plays a strong role and women are expected to take care of household responsibilities. Even today, when we raise our girls to be independent, certain ideas are drilled into their mind — it is a man’s job to work and protect women and a woman’s job to stay at home, be a wife and mother. I guess every girl has been told this one line: “Your in-laws will expect you to be a good cook”. Good education for a woman is just a means to secure a better groom. No wonder, women choose family, marriage and motherhood over career. No, I am not asking women to undermine marriage and motherhood, but they must realise that they are undermining their potential; they can do wonders if they wish to. Vishala Reddy , entrepreneurTo achieve any kind of empowerment or independence, education and literacy are a must. But in India, while we see women excelling at academics, sadly this doesn’t translate into high participation at the workplace. The break in their career starts at the mid-manageriallevel, where because of lack of infrastructure, eco-system and cultural mindsets, women drop out off the economic radar, preventing them from rising to senior positions. This causes a huge skew in policy formulation, which never benefits from women’s perspective and experience. Unless more women overcome challenges and obstacles to rise in their chosen field, the situation would look bleak for future generations of women. Today, we need more women at the top to help draft better policies and take decisions to enable more women to continue at the workplace, thereby helping our nation reach its true potential. Vanitha Datla , Regional Chairwoman, Indian Women Network IWN-CIII would say lack of awareness about opportunities is one reason. There is also this myth that certain job roles are male bastions. For example, in IT, there is this perception that ‘coding’ is essentially a male turf. Lack of mentorship for women is a huge factor as well. The industry-student interaction for femalestudents is also dismal. If companies do more in terms of increasing the participation of women in the form of internships and employment opportunities, it willdefinitely be a step in the right direction. And finally, there are genuine issues which need to be addressed such as ‘pay parity’ which can go a long way towards creating a healthy workplace atmosphere and encourage women to make a successfulcomeback.— Divya Vadlapudi P, Chairperson of FTAPCCI (Federation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry) Ladies WingI think people haven’t yet broken out of the traditional fold. Even in this 21st Century, the goal of most parents is to get their daughters married once they finish their studies. This mentality of people has to change. Secondly, there is also a safety quotient associated with women. There are many men in professional environments who objectify women and look down upon them. Parents are usually scared to let their daughters work in sexist environment and hence opts to get them married and curb their aspirations long before they begin. But in my opinion women should empower themselves. A working woman is more confident and believes in herself. It not only gives her financial stability but also emotional stability and self-confidence. Hence I believe this trend needs to change for good. Shakila Kundu , musician