00:04More and more women are now working in corporate offices across India but very
00:10few go on to make the journey to the boardroom or other leadership positions.
00:14A recent study by the International Labour Organization shows that when it
00:20comes to women in management India ranks 32nd among 34 Asia-Pacific economies and
00:26that women here are in only around 11-12% of managerial positions.
00:33Devina Mehra, founder, chairperson and managing director of First Global is among those who
00:40have broken that glass ceiling.
00:43She is often ranked among Fortune India's most powerful women and has turned her asset
00:49management business local.
00:50When I came to IIM, IIM Ahmedabad, I was 19 years old, I didn't know the share.
00:58I didn't even know the share.
01:00I didn't even know the share.
01:01I didn't even know the share.
01:03I didn't know the share.
01:03So I started working there.
01:06After MBA, I joined the city bank in investment banking and corporate side.
01:20But for most women, professional qualifications and performance alone do not guarantee career
01:27advancement.
01:28I think it's a bit true.
01:32Men are in a more powerful position compared to women.
01:35Although women are growing, they are in bigger positions, better positions, higher powerful
01:39positions and they don't let anything stop them.
01:42But it's still a bit of a biasness that we see a lot in private sector definitely.
01:47I think this should be overcome with the upcoming generations.
01:51They are more open to the point of equality.
01:57Many things can hold them back.
02:00Marriage, motherhood and unequal burden of family responsibilities.
02:05Working in the office, when women go back home, they are not getting the kind of support
02:09that is required to compete in this world.
02:11Since the working market is very competitive, we need full support like men get.
02:18You know?
02:19So that is one thing.
02:21After marriage, women are facing more problems than single women.
02:25Because here we are doing everything on our own.
02:28We have our schedules.
02:29We are doing things for fun.
02:31And when we are coming back, then we have full time to focus on the work.
02:35But that is not the scenario with working women.
02:38Many times it can also boil down to what men who take decisions think women can handle.
02:44We expect that the women will also gain the opportunity and the attention of the family.
02:49The attention of the family, children, their parents and their parents, all the responsibilities of them are at their own.
02:58Whether you say that they have to keep them in the house,
03:03but they also manage them to manage them.
03:05They also have their responsibility.
03:07They have to pay attention to their children.
03:09They have to give them to their children.
03:10They have to send their children to their class.
03:13Leadership roles may demand long working hours, frequent travel, and meetings beyond office time.
03:19So some women even turn down promotions because they cannot balance these expectations with family life.
03:40So what can management do to bridge the gender gap?
03:44The ILO survey lists mainly three interventions.
03:47Maternity leave measures to prevent and address violence and harassment and equal pay initiatives.
03:54The maternity leave is only six months.
03:56I think it should increase.
03:58Because the baby needs to be needed for one year for one year.
04:02And the child needs to be needed for one year.
04:06But are the management listening?
04:09Human resource professionals say companies are now aware of the need for more women in leadership positions.
04:16Companies in India and Indian companies both have been doing a lot of best practices in terms of
04:23to ensure that women get an opportunities like in terms of giving them a flexibility of work,
04:30work from anywhere environments, also like giving them opportunity to take a mandatory career break as and when it's needed,
04:37giving them opportunity to return to work, you know, if they have taken a break for let's say six months,
04:44one year or two year,
04:45they get an opportunity at equal level to come back and join their organization.
04:49The ILO study suggests that gender equality is not just about fairness.
04:55It also comes with better business outcomes.
04:59And yet, in the survey, the percentage of companies across the world implementing gender equality initiatives declined from 37.4
05:08in 2018 to 26.5 in 2025.
05:13For corporate India, the test is whether they will walk the talk on this,
05:17whether they will turn promises of equal opportunity into more women in leadership positions.
05:23So, with the...
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