Q: Are women being supported in reaching their potential?

A: We need to look at this from two perspectives – family and professional.

Unfortunately, there are extremes in both spheres; just as progressive families and companies do their part to bring out women’s potential and enable them to advance to leadership ranks, others don’t even acknowledge this.

A substantive change is needed to foster women’s full potential.

Q: Is mentorship necessary?

A: From my personal experience, it’s everything in a sense. Mentors play a major role in breaking preconceived notions, sharpening self-awareness, understanding what’s tolerable and navigating such situations.

Good mentors for females aren’t necessarily only females – some of the greatest mentors successful women have had were progressive fathers, husbands and male bosses!

Not everyone is blessed with strong mentors at work or in existing relationships. Professional bodies such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) understand this and have programmes enabling members to forge vital partnerships acting as robust support systems.

Students and new members can access an array of tenured members in senior corporate roles with a gamut of experience, which goes a long way in building strong and resilient professionals.

Q: Can Sri Lankan women go global?

A: Of course! A positive change is investing in education with women carefully selecting renowned qualifications, making them marketable globally.

Female student enrolment in ACCA – a globally recognised finance qualification – has increased and many successful members from Sri Lanka are playing higher value adding roles in large corporates.

Q: How can the loss of females at mid-career be curtailed?

A: While many companies invest in diversity and other training programmes to address this, it rarely moves the needle or paints a picture as to why women plateau at a certain level.

I believe the main reason is that corporates don’t dig deep enough to uncover why fostering women leaders isn’t happening or identify the real roadblock. Work policies must be accommodative and understand that women have dual priorities.

One way companies can educate and build this culture is by supporting and empowering already successful female leaders as this paves the way for a powerful visual model for future leaders.

While we need the support of men to alter this, a lasting change will take place only when women understand the ecosystem, and invest in and power up our skills and accountability to be successful in these systems.

More importantly, change must begin at the individual level before becoming systemic, corporate or global.

Q: And what is your vision for businesswomen in Sri Lanka?

A: My vision is that the space we operate in is one of merit – safe – and where women are valued and celebrated for their authenticity and skills; an environment where they are not marginalised but able to build confidence, self-worth and create pathways for more deserving women to reach the helm of successful leadership.

Rathnakala Kumaragurunathan
Associate Director
Investment Research
Head of Training & Knowledge Management
Acuity Knowledge Partners
Member – Member Network Panel
ACCA Sri Lanka
Winner
ACCA Sri Lanka National Advocacy Award 2019/20