SDG 5: Gender Equality

Introduction to SDG 5: Gender Equality

One of the most important SDGs today is the Gender Equality goal. First of all, to think that we need a goal for such a fundamental human right such as Gender Equality is in itself a painful thing. The middle-east countries like UAE, Yemen, Lebanon, and Asian countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and India are amongst the worst-ranked in the world according to a Gender Gap Report published by WEF (World Economic Forum) in 2018 ((Ahmed, 2019)¹) as can be seen in the figure below:

There have been some improvements with more number of girls going to school and receiving education as compared to what the situation was 15 years ago ((UNDP, 2019)²). But majority of the women across the globe still face discrimination on multiple fronts. There were only 74 girls enrolled for primary level education for every 100 boys in 2012. There are laws in at least 155 countries which hamper the economic opportunities women can get. And the global cost to economy because of this gender gap is almost close to $160 trillion. And this is also a fact that at least one out of every 3^rd woman faces one or the other form of sexual or physical harassment through the course of their lifetime ((UN India, 2019)³).

While such statistics still remain, Gender Equality will always be one of the most crucial sustainability goals for the world.

Relevance of Gender Equality to India

Let us first look at the facts mentioned in India’s UN website about SDG goal number 5, Gender Equality (((UN India, 2019)³) :

India has grown quite a lot when it comes to its economic growth. But when we look at the sustainability goals, especially the Gender Inequality goal, India is still far behind the major superpowers of the world. India is ranked 108^th in the Gender Gap Report published by WEF in 2018 ((Ahmed, 2019)¹), which shows the current need for a lot of development in this area. If we consider the capital of India (New Delhi), this city has seen 92% women experience at least some kind of sexual violence against them in the public areas. If this is the situation in the capital of India, it definitely doesn’t set good examples for other parts of the nation.

The Government of India has launched multiple schemes to improve the situation of women in India both, on the Economic front as well as the safety front. These include the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Abhiyaan (An initiative which aims at education as well as equal opportunities for the girls of India), Janani Suraksha Yojna (This aims at advancing and educating people about the need for safety for the women of India), and Sukanya Samridhi Yojna (Aimed at the prosperity of the girls of India). But these schemes have had little impact as of now, which will further be explored in the later part of the blog.

Business Implications of Gender Equality

Women constitute over 50% of the skilled workforce across the globe ((Rainmaker, 2019,)⁴). This statistic is enough for us to realise that gender equality holds great relevance in the corporate world. There has been extensive research on the subject of gender equality in the business world. These studies have pointed out that the companies which invest in promotion of gender equality witness an increase in productivity, organisational effectiveness, and customer gratification. This is pretty evident among the Fortune 500 companies, as among the Fortune 500 companies, the ones which have a higher representation of women on their board, outperform the others.

In general, it has been found that there is a strong correlation between the company’s Performance and gender diversity in the organisation. The reason behind this is probably that a diverse workforce brings in varied outlooks, and produces a comprehensive evaluation of various issues leading to better decision making and thereby, increased profits ((World Economic Forum, 2019)⁵).

Now, talking about the business implications of Gender Equality, let’s understand what constitutes gender equality in the corporate setup and what it means for the companies –

1.       Equal pay for Equivalent work

One of the most Important parameters of measuring equality in workplaces. The importance of equal pay for the same work has been highlighted by a study conducted by Randstand US, where it was found that 49% of women would leave their job if they got to know that their male counterparts, working in the same position were paid more, which means loss of good talent for the organisation. Also, according to a study, organisations that prioritize gender wage equity tend to perform better and are 54% more likely to beat industry average employee turnover benchmarks ((Worldatwork.org, 2019)⁶).

Now, the principle of Equal pay for equivalent work seems to be very natural and obvious, but the reality is pretty different. The gender pay gap in India, stands at 19%, in favour of the males, and the gap widens even further in the case of high skill requirement jobs ((Bhattacharyya, 2019)⁷). And this staggering wage gap is present in many parts of the world. So, organisations must step up and implement this principle to foster gender equality.

2.       Access to leadership roles, irrespective of gender

Again, this may seem something very natural, but the data shows us the situation is actually pretty different. Women represent fewer than 50% of leaders in every industry analysed - and in some fields, such as energy and mining or manufacturing, the representation of women is even lower, with women holding fewer than 20% of leadership positions ((World Economic Forum, 2019)⁸). The rate of progress has been very slow as over the past decade the percentage of female leaders have increased by a meagre 2% ((World Economic Forum, 2019)⁹). Now, the reasons why it is important for organisations to have women in leadership roles are-

·       It creates a multiplier effect in enhancing the gender equality in an organisation as it has been seen that women leaders hire more women as compared to male leaders.

·       A World Economic Forum research also indicates that female CEOs pay their high earning women more than the male CEOs do, which can help in reducing the gender pay gap and thereby give the women an incentive to join these organisations.

3.       Zero Tolerance towards Sexual Harassment

This is an issue which has gathered a lot of attention over the last few decades and is perhaps, the hygiene factor for creation of a gender diverse organisation. Sexual harassment in organisations has been one of the biggest reasons of women being reluctant to join the corporate world. So, for organisations to promote gender equality and in order to create a comfortable environment for women, they lay down strict policies towards any act of sexual harassment.

Let’s have a look at what some organisations are doing for Gender Equality-

 Aditya Birla Group:

The HR head of ABG, Santrupt Misra, mentioned that the group constantly strives to remove hurdles for women and create a conducive environment for them. It also looks to ensure that women are well represented in the executive positions as well ((M, 2019)¹⁰).

2.     Hindustan Unilever Limited:

HUL launched Project Shakti through which it is empowering nearly 110,000 women Micro-entrepreneurs across 18 states by providing them livelihood opportunities by training them in sales and distribution. The company is also committed to have at least 50% of its managerial positions filled by women by 2022 ((women, 2019)¹¹).

3.     Tata Consultancy Services:

TCS has a strength of more than 100,000 women employees, increasing the count by 11 times in the last 15 years, thus making it one of the highest employers of women in the world., TCS has fulfilled and exceeded its Million Women Mentors (MWM) pledge, nurturing more than 55,000 mentoring relationships encouraging women to take STEM courses ((Tcs.com, 2019)¹²).

4.     Infosys:

Infosys has incorporated Infosys Women Institute of Leadership (IWIL) which facilitates women to identify their leadership style, discover their strengths, identify areas of improvement and also nurture talent in others. It has designed an exclusive leadership program by partnering with a premier business school for women in middle management ((Peoplematters.in, 2019)¹³).

5.     Tata Steel:

Tata Steel launched “Tejaswini Programme” where training camps are held for rural women aiding them in learning income generating activities like poultry farming, goat rearing, mushroom cultivation, tailoring and saura painting thereby protecting women from social discrimination. Also, to attract female talent in the manufacturing sector, Tata Steel has launched a scholarship program named as “Women of Mettle” ((Globalcompact.in, 2019)¹⁴).

Analysis and the way forward: 

For a country as vast and as diverse as India which has had deep rooted biases against the female gender throughout the course of its history, the action must start at the grassroots level. Concentrated efforts are required in the field of education, and labour force participation of women to change the inherent mindset of Indians which can consequently, positively alter the course of the evil that is gender inequality. In the short run, focussed governmental effort and support are required in the form of policies and initiatives to increase the representation of women in the country’s core developmental and political activities to initiate a self-sustaining cycle of gender disparity reduction. The 1/3rd reservations that have been extended to women in the Panchayati Raj system have brought about a positive change, which has seen the participation of more than a million women in the local governmental bodies of our rural administrative units. [(@businessline, 2019)15)or NITI AAYOG].

However, to counter the deep-rooted bias, a more fundamental attitudinal shift is required. The best long term course of action seems to be to bring about a peripheral change in the education system of our country, starting young. Educating the school children from a young age would go a long way in bringing about a lasting impact on the society. 

The government has embarked on various such schemes to bring about a fundamental change. Some of such crucial schemes from The Ministry of Women and Child Development are ((Pib.gov.in, 2019)¹⁷):

i. Swadhar and Short Stay Homes to provide relief and rehabilitation to destitute women and women in distress.

ii. Working Women Hostels for ensuring safe accommodation for working women away from their place of residence.

iii. Support to Training and Employment Program for Women (STEP) to ensure sustainable employment and income generation for marginalised and asset-less rural and urban poor women across the country.

iv. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) to provide micro-finance services to bring about the socio-economic upliftment of poor women.

v. Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme for Children of Working Mothers (including single mother) to provide daycare facilities for running a crèche of 25 children in the age group 0-6 years from families having monthly income of less than Rs 12,000.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act covers all women, irrespective of their age or employment status and protect them against sexual harassment at all workplaces both in public and private sector, whether organised or unorganised.

Though the steps taken by the government need to be applauded, results on the ground are demoralising, highlighting the dearth in the seriousness of implementation. Though India has grown at a rate of around 6% over the past decade, the female labour force participation has reduced from 34% to 27%. There has been a stagnant 50% male -female wage gap with a 27% wage gap in white-collar jobs.

All of the above data leads us to believe that while governmental support is extremely crucial for women in the administrative divisions of our country, it is equally vital for women to receive support in the corporate sector as well. NITI AAYOG through their ‘Strategy for New India @75’ has suggested providing incentives to companies that employ more than 30% women in their workforce 

Providing support to working women or mandating corporate to support their women workforce during the difficult period of childbirth by providing maternity leaves, as well as paternity leaves so that women can get much-needed help, would go a long way. Mandating the availability of crèches in certain industries would also be a much required a positive step for working women who have to let go of their jobs after going through the natural process of motherhood ((UN India, 2019)¹⁶).

This year a top research organisation surveyed 3,519 companies in 23 developed economies, representing 98 million employees, and ranked them based on 19 gender equality criteria ((Cdn2.hubspot.net, 2019)¹⁸).

The primary parameters which they were ranked on were-

• Gender Balance- Women continue to occupy for the most part the lower levels in the workplace: 36% of the workforce are women, versus 21% in senior management, 15% at executive level and 22% at board level
• Gender Pay Gap- Women worldwide still get paid 23% less than men and, at the current rate of change; there will be no equal pay until 2069. This inequality results in reduced incomes, leading to reduced spending and investment by women. 
• Parental Leave- Many companies still view parenthood as an issue that complicates employment, despite the fact that parents return to work with new, critical skills that can drive business performance
• Sexual Harassment-Overall, 58% of companies globally do not have an anti-sexual harassment policy. 

These companies represent all those which are publicly listed and have a market capitalisation of more than USD 2 billion.

The top-performing company this year is Diageo with a score of 74%. There has been an increase in the average score of the 100 best-performing companies over the past few years, up to 62% this year compared to 57% in 2018. 

The data shows that the MNCs which have been heavily investing in India have been a part of our social developmental story as well, bringing about a positive change in society and ultimately promoting gender equality through gender-neutral jobs.

Gender inequality has been a deeply rooted evil in India throughout its recent history. For India to truly become an economic powerhouse in the coming year’s gender inequality needs to be done away with. To combat the issue, stronger political will is required, along with concerted efforts from the corporate sector. 

Stakeholders in our country have been responsibly chipping away at the inequality wall to slowly and gradually realise the equality dream, but this can finally be realised only when the next generation grows up free from any bias towards the other gender. 

Authors : Harshit Verma | Lakshay Mehndiratta | Nitish Jadhav | Samar Singh Chouhan | Sarthak Harnathka | Sudhanshu Kumar Tetarbe

References

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