International Women's Day

I have never seen such media coverage of the International Women's Day. I think until the last few years, I did not even know that such a day existed, and got celebrated! Pardon my ignorance, but I still feel the culture of celebrating different kind of days - Valentine's, Father's, Mother's, AIDS, Women has a lot to do with the media. The special edition of Economic Times for the day was edited by 3 illustrious and noteworthy women. There were point of views from various women from a cross section of society. It was a very good read, and I for one thanked god for having such a day full of lot of interesting reading material.

Having said that, the day prompted me to think and ponder. Why just one day out of 365 - does that mean men rule the other 364 days? Well, I wont say I am necessarily hurt, but sorry man(and men), the question did pop up in my liberal mind. Again, as the day unfolded and I struggled to work from home, balance the needs of my child with the demands and aspirations of my career, a million questions kept knocking at my door. Is life really easier or tougher for the women today? With more and more choices and demands on the women, is emancipation truly what we asked for? Do we still have a decent corporate culture which allows women to work as well as balance their roles as mothers and caregivers? Do corporates really care? Should corporates really care?

What do I want - a spic and span house which feels like no one lives here, ultra clean kitchen which looks like nobody has ever cooked, an obedient child who lets me work when I want to, and showers me with love and affection and some naughtiness when I am free, a husband who prefers to help out in housework instead of watching television, a job where I get a good pay, with very challenging work, but with flexi timings and the ability to look after my kid while working from home?

Could life really get simpler..or am I too demanding ?

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.