Workplace Gender Equality

“GENDER EQUALITY” is a convenient societal catchphrase, used to portray holistic workplace and community standards.

Patriarchy - A system urges boys not to be weak and implores girls to be considered vulnerable.

Sustainable development Goal 5 - Gender Equality - highlights the plight of girls seeking education and working women across the world. The details paint a worrisome picture of our future. The gender pay gap costs the global economy 160 trillion dollars. One in three women experiences one form of sexual violence in their lifetime. Only 65.46% of the women are literate compared to 82.14% men. Out of 48.5% population of women, only 27.4% are in the workforce.

We need to work on solution-driven strategies to resolve systemic gender inequality from its roots—global systems with progressive numbers promise to deliver a massive impact. However, will they bring change into our home, workplace, and community?

The concept of sustainability involves thinking about our future generations. How do we plan on inscribing the concept of gender equality on our future, leaving behind the very same discriminatory environment in which we grew up?

These simple questions can bring a massive change in the perspective towards gender and work. Cleaning dishes, cooking, helping kids with homework, grocery shopping, handling tech issues, managing finances, healthcare, gardening are skill-based gender-neutral jobs.

At the workplace, Women in authority face challenges and prejudice. They strive to project leadership with care and humility. A woman’s leadership success implies two outcomes, women are equipped to lead, and men can accept being led. As women take up more leadership roles and represent the challenges on a global scale, the gender gap in leadership roles will subside.

All solutions and ideals get shattered when there is a compromise on financial freedom. Everyone must be entitled to understand their pay scale and get access to plan their salary. Even stay-at-home spouses are entitled to financial freedom. However, not many women worldwide have the minimum luxury to plan their finances with their pay. This is one of the prominent, submissive forms of discrimination educated working women face - financial abuse.

In a society, anywhere in the world, a girl is reminded of her limitations at every stage of her life by people around her. We must stop this demotivating mindset from creeping into our future. The solution is right at home, teach our future generation to be loud, confident, and firm on their choices.

When we understand and get inclined to the concept of gender-neutral jobs at home, workplace, and community level, we will be heading towards a sustainable future.