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STANDING UP FOR ‘WOMANHOOD’ Companies in every continent, are trying to increase support for women in their organisations. Benefits of inclusivity and diversity are clear in a workplace, but often when it comes to women groups, millennials make it clear that they don’t want to be pigeonholed by a demographic category. They also reject the idea of ‘one-size-fits-all’ women’s initiatives.
hallenges are manifold. On one hand ‘cultural appropriation’ is a question. On the other, it is important to ensure women are well incorporated within the company and its board, although the requirements remain various. There is a wide range of changes and growth among industries- the tech revolution and STEM are becoming significantly important, but they have always been male dominated areas of work. Actual barriers have perhaps lowered in 2019, but, ‘gender stereotyping’ still frightens women to push boundaries. The purpose of gender inclusion is to recognise that until gender neutrality is achieved, policies, programs and language need to be broader to encompass the fluidity of gender expression and orientation. Nadia Nassif, the CEO and founder of Springboards Consulting said, “Individual cultural context plays a huge role in shaping how individuals communicate, are motivated and are perceived. Take networking, for example — the “do’s and don’ts” can be pretty mysterious to multicultural employees. In facilitating a learning initiative at a Big 4 consulting firm, I heard from a young Asian woman struggling to understand what was appropriate: ‘How
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do I promote myself without coming across as too showy or aggressive? Is it OK to talk about my kids? Can I ask others about their personal life?’ Faced with challenges that relate to both cultural and gender identity, this woman ended up feeling disconnected from her colleagues, even those in the women’s employee resource group.” Shefali Davda-Bhanot is the Director of Seventh Degree Limited, assisting employees with career changes, particularly those looking to enter the world of technology start ups from the corporate sector. She told the Asian Achievers Awards, “Inclusivity is an important subject and it should not be a topic that comes and goes. Inclusivity is not just the right thing or an ideal thing to do, just conceptually, but the benefits are much more than one realises- from happier employees to empowering a productive workforce. There are statistics and facts that show diverse and inclusive environment always produce happier employees. “We are fortunate to see the big
corporates have cultural community groups- even faith based rooms, dedicated to their work planning. But yes, I would say that women are generally still shyer than men, especially during negotiating salaries or discussing promotions.” Neelam Heera, founder of the charity Cysters, spoke about the social side of women’s inclusivity- the definition of ‘womanhood’, especially for those women who are facing identity crises under societal pressure. Through Cysters, she combats some of the misconceptions around reproductive health and feels that issues around women’s reproductive health can often be trivialised by healthcare professionals and sexualised by the ethnic community due to cultural beliefs. Speaking to the magazine, she said, “At Cysters we are inclusive of the transgender community. They are traditionally not seen as women. Some may still have ovaries and uterus, and in transition being men, but still would have health conditions of a woman. Since these health conditions are termed for women, they have no one to tun to. With the theme of inclusivity we would be supporting this community as well. “We want to challenge the societal impression of ‘womanhood’. Women aren’t just there to have children. This is years of conditioning by male dominated society. There are plenty of women who don’t want to have children or can’t conceive. Not only we raise awareness, but Cysters actually challenge these misconceptions and stand for what ‘womanhood’ actually is.”
2019 | ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS
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