The Front Line

Yamini Sequeira pays tribute to women in leadership and those who have stood the test of time – and writes that it is time to press the reset button on gender policies in the workplace

Amid the global disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, an enduring and refreshing reality has emerged: women standing at the front lines of the crisis – as healthcare workers, caregivers, community organisers, leaders and more.

Quite apart from their heroic contribution to crisis mitigation, women have been among the most severely affected by the pandemic – after all, they have had to take on a disproportionate burden during these unprecedented times.

Yet, it has been universally acknowledged that some countries that have been successful in combatting the chaos caused by the pandemic are led by female presidents and prime ministers – a telling statistic that reflects the potential of women leaders when they’re truly empowered.

International Women’s Day 2021 is aptly themed ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world,’ which celebrates the tremendous efforts of women and girls around the world, in shaping a more equitable future and recovery from the pandemic.

Likewise, the ILO notes that “women have been more affected than men by the pandemic’s labour market disruptions. Globally, employment losses for women stand at five percent versus 3.9 percent for men. In particular, women were much more likely than men to drop out of the labour market and become inactive.”

The global recovery effort offers a great opportunity to press the reset button on gender policies in the workplace – to improve the ratio of male to female employees, and increase the representation of women in senior management and at board level.

In Sri Lanka, both these gender markers display low female representation although it would be fair to say there’s a growing consensus among corporates that they must do more to bridge the gender gap and head towards parity.

Not long ago, a woman CEO was appointed to helm a diversified listed company. This development is an ideal springboard for others to follow suit. Regulatory frameworks have been a driving force in embracing gender diversity in the workplace but enforcing such policies rather than indulging in lip service holds the key to meaningful progress.

McKinsey & Company’s report entitled ‘Diversity wins: How inclusion matters’ reveals that “companies whose boards are in the top quartile of gender diversity are 28 percent more likely than their peers to outperform financially.”

Mentorship holds a special place in a woman’s journey as both male and female mentors can be transformative, and encourage them to keep the faith.

Perhaps half the battle needs to be won in the mind when it comes to females in this part of the world where family, society and culture play key roles in defining what women should or should not do.

These are the shackles that need to be broken to give women the same confidence enjoyed by their male counterparts – i.e. that they can do anything if they set their minds to it.

Many women who have made it to the top of their businesses or professions say they’ve faced negative stereotypes in the workplace at some point or another, which led to them being perceived as less capable than their male colleagues or their views not being considered as equally important to the decision-making process.

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020, it will take another 100 years to achieve gender equality if the current rate of progress is anything to go by. If that statement doesn’t shock men as much as it does women, that would be a crying shame.

Time is running out, and countries and business houses need to move fast.

As Gloria Steinem – a world-renowned feminist, journalist and activist – once explained: “The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organisation but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.”