Embracing intersectionality to achieve inclusive workplace culture
s Women@Work 2024: A Global Outlook report, only 10% of women in India believe their organisation is taking concrete steps to fulfil its commitment towards gender diversity. Lack of flexibility and inadequate benefits are resulting in a loss of gender-balance and talent for employers. So, it is upon all of us to shift the perspective through continued enhancements of initiatives and policies and integrating inclusion into day-to-day operations.
Championing inclusivity and diversity in the workplace should be seen as a collective responsibility, going beyond the confines of gender. It’s encouraging to witness increasing conversations aimed at bringing more men within the fold of these dialogues. All genders need to be equipped with the requisite knowledge and resources to become visible allies to women from diverse career levels and backgrounds.
Having women as allies helps because they relate to each other’s lived experiences and serve as powerful role models. But with men and others as allies, organisations will be able to tackle some of the deep-rooted social conditioning and biases that have long prevented women from realising their true potential at work and beyond. Indian women with partners, for instance, shoulder a disproportionate share of domestic responsibilities, including childcare, elderly care and other chores.
While it will be a long journey to change societal attitudes entirely, corporates can do their part by creating more enabling mechanisms for sharing the load. Apart from sensitisation sessions, parental care packages that focus on paternity care as much as maternity care may help move the needle. Around 30% of women in India say they don’t want to progress into a more senior leadership position, as
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