Group6_C | SDG5 : Gender Equality

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 5 – GENDER EQUALITY

Introduction to SDG 

“Men of quality respect women’s equality.” - Jeremiah Say

Women’s equality, however, remains a distant dream in India. The pandemic wreaked havoc on women’s work-life balance, and careers in general. Rural women have been leaving their workplace faster post the pandemic than their urban counterparts, even among the existing workforces. As of 2020, the proportion of women in the Indian population is 48.1%. However, they only account for 19.9% of the total workforce. In the current landscape, restrictive cultural norms regarding work and wages and the recent impact of job stagnation continue to deter women from joining the workforce. Over the last few decades, progress has been made within India and worldwide, but we’re far from attaining true parity.

SDG5, or Gender Equality, has attempted to balance the scales. An integral part of the 17 Sustainable Development goals, it primarily aims to end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere. Following its introduction in 2015, the percentage of women CEOs and MDs of NSE-listed companies increased from 3.2% in 2014 to 3.7% in 2019. Women's representation in higher education also rose. Among graduates in 2018-2019, women represented: Undergraduate degrees: 53.0%, MPhil degrees: 69.6%, PhDs: 41.8%. However, just 29 companies (5.8%) had women in executive roles on the Fortune India 500 list. Barring a few exceptions of women like Arundhati Bhattacharya, Indra Nooyi, Leena Nair etc., representation of women in executive roles is extremely limited.

Relevance in India 

 Figure 1: Hofstede's Masculinity Index

India (56) is seen to have higher Femininity than developed countries like Japan (95), UK (66), USA (62), showing an equal allowance of opportunities for both genders. This, however, stems from the religious nature of Indians who worship female deities. Unfortunately, this respect has not extended to the females at Indian homes who face inequality due to caste, class, socioeconomic and geographic boundaries. Urban women devote 312 minutes a day to unpaid domestic tasks. In contrast, this figure is just 29 minutes a day for urban men, and this large gender gap has resulted in India being ranked 112th out of 153 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2020. 

This is a grave concern to address and the other inequalities that women face in India. One of the major concerns is the declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) which has witnessed a steady decline from 976 girls per 1000 boys in the 1961 Census to 918 in the 2011 Census. The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme launched in 2015 aims to increase this through greater awareness to avoid female foeticide and promote the education of the girl child.

Now besides gender-selective abortions, there are concerns regarding the health of the mother and child given that under-nutrition is a primary concern affecting women in India, with 1 in 3 women being undernourished and 1 in 2 women being anaemic. The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana aims to improve on these. Still, concerns remain with the program's reach to those who need it the most, with RTI data indicating only 31% of eligible women received the benefits. 28

In addition to health and safety, the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna provides loans to budding entrepreneurs starting small and micro enterprises. Women entrepreneurs are the major beneficiaries of this scheme (68% of total loans), helped by reducing interest rates offered by financial institutions. As of June 2021, a total of 20.31 crore loans totalling an amount of Rs. 6.86 lakh crores have been extended to women entrepreneurs, and this has helped women become financially independent. 22 However, PMMY has seen mixed results due to the many NPAs due to the collateral-free loans being misused.

 

Figure 2: Government Initiatives for Women Development

Besides the government schemes, the proliferation of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) has resulted in women of similar social backgrounds coming together and becoming self-sufficient. The Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad is an example of the success of an SHG which employs 45,000 women as co-owners of the enterprise. 

Business Implications and Responses

Awareness

A significant implication is that the SDGs have started a conversation within the businesses on gender equality. This is integral in empowering women working in these corporate organizations. Over the years, corporates have become proactive in eradicating systemic gender bias through several initiatives. This has resulted in an improved representation of women in the workforce and addressed issues of worldwide equitable pay. 

Accountability

The target 12.6 of SDGs that advocates companies to integrate sustainability information in their reporting cycle has led to organizations providing data on the initiatives for empowering women. Further, corporates are required to analyze and set goals for the SDGs as per the guidelines provided by GRI. This encourages them to report their achievements, monitor the progress of their initiatives, and set ambitious goals. The availability of data on public portals has increased their accountability towards gender equality. 

Implications and Response 

Microsoft

Initially, Microsoft, in their yearly Citizenship Reports, was limited to data on the representation of women in senior executive positions. Since 2015, Microsoft has released detailed yearly blogs on their gender diversity and inclusion progress. For example, these blogs included data on several women hired in technical roles. They have published Diversity and Inclusion Reports that include comprehensive data analysis on initiatives fostering gender equality. 

Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs' launched the '10,000 women' initiative in 2008 to provide management and business education to women in underserved communities. Since then, the initiatives undertaken have increased to benefit women of different racial, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. The company has been reporting its initiatives as a part of their annual report, moreover, from 2019, the company is separately publishing a DEI Report.

ITC

ITC included creating a gender-friendly workplace as a part of its Code of Conduct. Their annual CSR spend for gender equality was INR 9.44 crore. Starting in 2020, they have instituted Grievance Redressal Systems and mandatory sensitization training while expanding the female workforce at their manufacturing units.

Nestle

To contribute towards SDG5, Nestle launched the Gender Acceleration Plan 2019 to increase the proportion of women in senior executive positions to 30% by 2022. This plan has provided a structure to the initiatives that improve gender diverse workforce and empowers women across their value chain.

BCG

BCG is active in starting conversations on gender diversity through their roundtable conferences, ted talks, and reports. They are in Gender and Diversity KPI alliance to measure gender diversity in the workforce. They released a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) report containing comprehensive data and analysis (US-specific) regarding the gender representation across different job functions.

Mondelez

Mondelez has been in action towards the sustainable transformation of its Cocoa production workforce in Ghana since 2008, including gender sensitization training and women empowerment initiatives and this has continued with its Gender Pay Gap reports since 2017 which aim to show reduction in the gender gap year-on-year.

Company Response

 

Analysis

 "Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world."

Although SDG5 states the above, gender inequality at the workplace continues to manifest in different ways. Women earning only 82 cents for every dollar a man earns, being limited to the lower rungs of seniority, and accusations of token representation are a consequence of limited participation of women in the workforce historically.  

Not only are women legally barred from pursuing careers in certain fields such as the armed forces, 18 countries like the UAE, Iran, Jordan and Bahrain deem it illegal for a woman to work. 

A World bank report estimates that this leads to a loss of 172 trillion USD in potential income annually across the world8. Additionally, the lack of equal opportunities translates to women-run businesses having 11% less productivity as compared to those run by men . 

Covid-19 dealt a further blow to the already dismal situation. The Centre for Sustainable Employment reports that the first lockdown led to 47% women losing their jobs, as compared to only 7% men 10. Working women further face the burden of household chores. At 4.5 hours a day, they clock in 9.8 times more household labor than the average employed man. 

Target wise analysis of SDG-5

SDG-5 can further be subdivided into the following targets. They have been analyzed individually in the Indian context, as follows:-

Target 5.1: End discrimination against women and girls

• 13.4% women in finance, real estate, business, IT 

• 85% women are passed over for promotions or wage increments.  

Target 5.2: End all violence against and exploitation of women and girls

• 405,861 crimes against women (3.5 per hour) 

• 30.9% were under cruelty by husbands or their relatives, 21.8% assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty.

• Most victims were women from marginalized communities. 

Target 5.3: Eliminate forced marriages and genital mutilation

• In 2020, 4.1 million girls around the world were deemed at risk of undergoing FGM. 

Target 5.4: Value unpaid care and promote shared domestic responsibilities

• The load of unpaid housework for unemployed women rose by 30.5% (economic value of INR 19 trillion)

Target 5.5: Ensure full participation in leadership and decision-making

• 23 percent large company boards in India have at least three women

Target 5.6: Universal access to reproductive rights and health

Rural women 26% more likely to die of reproductive health complications, than urban women

Implications of DEI Initiatives: Companies in the recent times are consciously trying to hire more women in their workforce, especially at the entry levels, as a part of their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. While this is an excellent initiative to ensure higher representation, women are often looked down on for the same, as it is considered that hiring them is not because of their talent but only due to gender diversity initiatives by the company. 

As per a McKinsey Report, women's representations across levels have increased since 2016; however, women and more so women of colour are highly underrepresented in senior leadership positions. The 'broken rung' is partly responsible for lower representation in the C-suite roles. For every 100 men promoted as managers, 86 women are promoted and the same manifests itself in the further levels. Until women reach the management positions at the same rate, the representation at the top will be uneven.

The Companies Act, 2013: It makes it mandatory to appoint at least one-woman director as a board member for certain companies. The initiative was touted as a great move to increase board representation; however, this has led to women being included only to meet the requirements.

 

Source: https://ficci.in/spdocument/23303/WOB_Final-Report_3103_V12_Final.pdf

Maternity leave policies: The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 was seen as a welcome change. Before the Act, the maternity leaves were unstructured, and women were just given 1-1.5 months near the months of delivery. The Act allowed for a more structured leave policy and was expected to increase the women labour force participation. However, the same has not helped much, and India is still one of the bottom 10 countries in the world for women's workforce participation. 

A survey of start-ups and SMEs by Local circles indicated that post the implementation of Act, 46% of respondents stated that they would prefer hiring more male employees than females and 11% only hired male employees, due to factors like cost concerns of employers, regressive attitude among others.

Suggested Path Ahead

Legally binding measures like SDGs only ensure growth in numbers. Firms follow these directives to stay in business and boost profits, but a change in mindset is the need of the hour. Diversity measures are looked down upon as token representation. Men still dominate the senior management because the idea of women in decision-making is inconceivable to some. We need holistic education starting from a primary level to inculcate an attitude of inclusion.

The SDG5 is undoubtedly a noble initiative aimed to attain gender equality in the longer run. However there is room for improvement in certain areas. The current goals are aimed at equality of women and framed using a binary idea for gender in mind. Even the transgender community has faced discrimination within society and workplace. Going forward, the goals can be expanded to include the transgender community.

Additionally, in their current form, the SDGs are an advisory, and exhibit a lack of repercussions for non-reporting of the progress of these goals. For example, BCG’s sustainability report lacked any substantial quantitative data on their progress on the SDG front and only reported one-off events conducted regarding the same. 

References:

1) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html

2) https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.TOTL.FE.ZS?locations=IN

3) https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/at-only-3-corporate-india-is-still-struggling-to-bring-women-to-the-top/articleshow/68589499.cms?from=mdr

4) https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/women-in-higher-education-show-steady-rise-enrolment-in-top-institutions-not-growing/articleshow/71267870.cms

5) https://www.fortuneindia.com/people/fortune-india-500-why-are-there-so-few-women-leaders/103961

6) https://www.nestle.com/csv/global-initiatives/global-youth-initiative/gender-balance-women-empowerment

7) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/diversity/programs/women-at-microsoft-scholarship 

8) https://www.mondelezinternational.com/Snacking-Made-Right/Reporting-and-Disclosure 

9) https://www.itcportal.com/sustainability/sustainability-report-2021/sustainability-report-2021.pdf

10) https://www.goldmansachs.com/s/sustainability-report/index.html

11) https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/india,japan,the-uk,the-usa/ 

12) https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-REB-34010

13) https://www.gvi.co.uk/blog/why-is-gender-equality-important/

14) https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/gender/overview#1

15) https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2021/7/faq-women-and-covid-19-in-india

16) https://lifestyle.livemint.com/news/big-story/why-indian-women-are-still-dreaming-of-gender-equality-111616942993743.html 

17) https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1707475 

18) https://www.itcportal.com/about-itc/shareholder-value/annual-reports/itc-annual-report-2015/pdf/report-accounts-2015.pdf

19) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_Development_Goal_5#Targets,_indicators_and_progress

20) https://mediaindia.eu/society/international-womens-day-2021-india/

21) https://wcd.nic.in/bbbp-schemes 

22) https://www.localcircles.com/a/press/page/maternity-benefit-act-indian-startups-smes-show-gender-bias-reluctant-in-hiring-women#.YbnuQ71BxPa

23) https://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/FINAL%20PMMVY%20%28FAQ%29%20BOOKELT.pdf 

24) https://www.hindustantimes.com/sex-and-relationships/maternity-benefits-act-yet-to-have-positive-impact-on-women-labour-force-participation-report/story-gkeABH8FTkq8TH5ogPVaaL.html

25) https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/sme/msme-fin-mudra-yojana-pm-modis-micro-credit-scheme-sanctioned-majority-loans-to-women-entrepreneurs-in-six-years/2308652/ 

26) https://www.nhp.gov.in/idztfgm-2021_pg

27) https://www.forbesindia.com/blog/missrepresent-women-gender-sexuality/women-hold-17-of-board-positions-in-corporate-india-but-only-11-leadership-roles/

28) https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/3863/country-case-study-sexual-and-reproductive-rights-india

29) https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/lijjat-papad-how-7-women-wrote-a-success-story-with-only-80-for-seed-capital-11618490058193.html 

30) https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/maternity-scheme-reaches-only-one-third-of-beneficiaries/article30009783.ece

31) https://blogs.microsoft.com/green/2014/10/21/microsofts-2014-annual-citizenship-report-and-environmental-sustainability/

32) https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2015/11/23/global-diversity-inclusion-update-sharing-our-latest-workforce-numbers/

33) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/diversity/inside-microsoft/annual-report

34) https://ir.mondelezinternational.com/news-releases/news-release-details/mondelez-internationals-cocoa-life-extends-its-leadership 

35) Sustainability Report 2020 - Nestle

36) Sustainability Report 2020 - ITC

37) Sustainability Report 2020 - BCG

38) Sustainability Report 2020 – Goldman Sachs

39) Sustainability Report 2020 – Mondelez