WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN MANAGEMENT

Women are better educated today and hold more jobs worldwide than ever before.
Yet most women continue to suffer from occupational segregation in the
workplace. There are invisible artificial barriers, created by attitudinal and
organizational prejudices, barring women from top executive jobs.

Women represent more than 40 per cent of the world's labour force. Yet their share
of management positions remains unacceptably low, with just a tiny proportion
succeeding in breaking through the glass ceiling to obtain top jobs. According to
national surveys, women's overall share of management jobs rarely exceeds 20 per
cent. The higher the position, the more glaring the gender gap. In the largest
and most powerful organizations the proportion of top positions going to women is
generally 2 to 3 per cent.

The assertion that an insufficient number of qualified women exist to fill more top
jobs is rapidly becoming outmoded. While gender differences still exist in
professional study choices, women worldwide are demonstrating their intellectual
ability and are approaching the levels of men in educational attainment. They are
also gradually increasing their share in scientific and technological studies,
although their representation in engineering remains low.

Governments, enterprises and organizations have, over the years, committed

themselves to policies and programmes to advance women. While these have met
with varying degrees of success, they have undoubtedly had a positive effect,
especially on younger generations of men and women. Given women’s increasing
level of qualification and work performance, it might have been expected that they
would have moved more quickly up the career ladder in recent years. This has not
been the case, and for many the pace of change is just too slow. Participation in
decision-making is proving to be one of the most resistant areas yet for gender
equality.

One of the greatest challenges that remain is how to make the structures and
dynamics within organizations more conducive and sensitive to gender equality
concepts and practice. This is particularly crucial in environments where new
management structures and work roles involve restructuring, downsizing,
decentralization and delayering in the bid to be more globally competitive.
Without such a watershed change from within firms and enterprises, women will,
in the years to come, continue to experience "glass ceilings" and "glass walls" as
invisible barriers to positions of management.

“When you educate a man, you educate an individual; when you educate a
woman you educate a whole family.” - Mac Iver

Women by virtue of being ‘born managers’ have a greater chance of having

facile victory over men. Women in India have entered and reached the pinnacle of
business echelons and other bastions, which earlier considered as male domains.

Empowerment of women in management is of great significance not only to India

but also to entire world. The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian
Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and
Directive Principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also
empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of
women. The role and rights of the women need to be protected. There must be an
effort to analyze these issues and try to work out a strategy for women’s equal and
effective role in Management.