Women at the top?
IBM has recently announced that it is lowering the entry criteria for women, so that more women can get employed and help balance the sex ratio within the company.
What IBM wants: Women at the top
I am not sure what the motives are, but I am assuming that IBM is looking at creating cross functional teams with diverse mindsets, a team building approach much preached by the management gurus of all ages. However, I am not sure if lowering the bar is going to help better the culture and team spirit in the company. Unless the merits and motives of a gender balanced workforce are understood by the majority of the employees, it is going to irk the existing workforce. The life of deserving female candidates is going to get tougher, as they will be under constant scrutiny and judgement by their male colleagues. They may have to prove each career advancement far more, and carry the brunt of the disgruntled workforce.
I personally feel that women in engineering (and other professionas where they are outnumbered by the men) face a daunting challenge of constant assessment by everyone around. I just hope things do not get tough for the truly deserving female candidates and they do not have to prove at every step of their employment tenure that they deserve to be in. I hope the organization has educated its employees on the need for a diverse group and they do not develop a negative mindset towards their female counterparts.
Having said that, I really feel that lowering the bar is not the solution. It is more like a quick fix. It discourages merit, and promotes inequality. Encouragement has to happen in terms of a better culture and work-life balance for female employees.
What IBM wants: Women at the top
I am not sure what the motives are, but I am assuming that IBM is looking at creating cross functional teams with diverse mindsets, a team building approach much preached by the management gurus of all ages. However, I am not sure if lowering the bar is going to help better the culture and team spirit in the company. Unless the merits and motives of a gender balanced workforce are understood by the majority of the employees, it is going to irk the existing workforce. The life of deserving female candidates is going to get tougher, as they will be under constant scrutiny and judgement by their male colleagues. They may have to prove each career advancement far more, and carry the brunt of the disgruntled workforce.
I personally feel that women in engineering (and other professionas where they are outnumbered by the men) face a daunting challenge of constant assessment by everyone around. I just hope things do not get tough for the truly deserving female candidates and they do not have to prove at every step of their employment tenure that they deserve to be in. I hope the organization has educated its employees on the need for a diverse group and they do not develop a negative mindset towards their female counterparts.
Having said that, I really feel that lowering the bar is not the solution. It is more like a quick fix. It discourages merit, and promotes inequality. Encouragement has to happen in terms of a better culture and work-life balance for female employees.
posted by Sonal at 11:16 PM
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