Dr. M. Muneer
What HR can do to close the gender gap
G e n d e r
G a p
The global gender gap, defined as the difference between men and women as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, or economic attainments or attitudes, will not get narrowed in the near future without all the major stakeholders working together with a solid agenda – that of economic growth by inclusion
T
he recent observation made by the Supreme Court of India has left the critics of gender equality fuming: “The structures of our society have been created by males and for males.” This seems to be the case globally too, with many developed and most developing economies having laws that discriminate against women. Billions of women (over 2.8) are legally restricted
from having the same choice of jobs as men. Over 100 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and a handful of countries have laws that allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working! India seems to have the worst participation of women in the labor force at
24 percent when globally it is at 63 percent (as against the 94 percent of men), most of the women are in the informal and vulnerable employment (domestic help, agriculture), and are always paid less than men. During the recent elections in Assam, reports suggested that women workers in plantations of marquee companies are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The global gender wage gap is
The COVID19 crisis has increased the impact at the bottom of the pyramid where financial independence for women just got obliterated 106
| July 2021
