CHAPTER 1

Diversity: the art of thinking independently together. -Malcolm Stevenson Forbes

1.1 Introduction

Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance. Kofi Annan
The Indian workplace has undergone significant changes in the last two decades with the opening up of the economy and its spin-off effects on the countrys social landscape. The scenario in Indian workplace especially MNCs is undergoing a radical change. With the opening up of the economy the prolific influx of international companies establishing themselves in India has made Diversity a buzzword in Indian workplace. Today one can see widely diverse workforce working together. Diversity is fast becoming a key metric for the organizations. Large and small organizations alike are developing mandates to increase the diversity across gender, ethnicity and culture. But when you talk about diversity in Indian workplace Gender diversity is one of the critical elements. According to a survey by HR consulting firm Mercer, around 90% of the companies mention Gender as their main focus of the diversity programmes. In a one day conference organized by the American Chamber of Commerce, India in association with the U.S. on 7th February 2013, U.S. Ambassador Nancy Powell said, Companies gain by recruiting the most talented employees, irrespective of gender. She also said, Research shows that creating a gender-inclusive work environment yields concrete positive results. If you systematically eliminate half of an available pool of contributors to business, government and broader society, you will also lose half of the potential. And that half could have included the next Bill Gates or Albert Einstein, not to mention Marie Curie or Hillary Clinton - if they had
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been given the same opportunities at education, advancement, nurturing, mentoring and access to opportunities." Over a period of few years the inclusion of women or having a gender diverse workforce has become an important matter. Organizations compete for human resources and if they restrict themselves to hiring only male workforce because of some traditional stereotypes they will have a very small pool of talent to choose from, hence shortage of workforce. Therefore to bridge the gender gap and to have access to a wider and a highly capable pool of talent the organizations are trying to breakaway the restrictions and hire both the genders. There are advantages galore in having a gender diverse workforce. A gender diverse workforce brings together a mix of experiences, opinion, talents and skills that help an organization to succeed. Both men and women offer unique contributions to the workplace. By promoting and employing without respect to gender, a workplace earns not only professional acclaim but employee and customer loyalty. It also helps in better decision making. But as said everything has its pros and cons, managing a gender diverse workforce poses a lot of challenges like stereotypes in the society, work-life imbalance etc. Statistics: Representation of Women: As per a survey conducted by TCS, In the global context, India is one of the countries with the lowest percentage of female employees along with Japan (24%), Turkey (26%) and Austria (29%). In industries like the Service sector and the IT sector, while women are well-represented overall, they are mostly concentrated at the entry levels. Service sector shows a more
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heterogeneous picture with 42% of respondents having less than 30% women in their workforce and 17% of respondents having up to 50% women. 70% respondents from the IT sector claimed to have up to 30% women while 17% respondents claimed 50% women representation in their workforce. Other industries have an even lower representation of women in their workforce in Finance sector, 73% respondents claimed 15% women representation; in manufacturing non durable sector, 50% respondents claimed up to 15% women while 13% respondents said they had more than 50% women. In the manufacturing non-durable sector, 80% respondents claimed to have up to 15% women in their workforce. The representation of women across organizations drops as the seniority of the role increases. The overall numbers of women are mostly found at the entry level and drop dramatically in senior and board level roles; 67% respondents claim having no women at all at these levels respectively. Therefore this research intends to identify these challenges and the ways to manage the gender diverse workforce

1.2 Scope of study This study aims at understanding that why the situation of women representation at workplace is still so bleak i.e. to identify the barriers in managing gender diversity in MNCs. It also tries to find out the most effective ways or measures to overcome the challenges being faced. The most voted or chosen method can then be recommended to the organizations being surveyed for their betterment.

1.3 Background of the study Diversity in organizations is much talked about phenomenon nowadays. In todays scenario it is believed that organizations which are tolerant to diversity in terms of culture, skills, gender etc are more successful than homogenous organizations. If organizations have to thrive in such a volatile and fast-changing global environment, they have to learn to welcome and manage diversity. At workplace, one encounters different kinds of diversity- Diversity of age, education, language, culture and gender. Existence of such wide variety of diversity ranging from age to gender, definitely poses challenges galore to the organizations. The inevitability of diversity is getting validity and so is the challenge for the leader to successfully manage and lead such teams. In context of Indian organizations, a survey reveals that Gender is the main focus of diversity efforts in India. Traditionally the corporate workplace has been a male dominated one but the situation is not the same anymore. Increasing number of organizations is moving towards inclusion of women due to their competence at the workplace and diversity in organization is slowly becoming a rule than an exception. Paradoxically, in Indian Inc the situation is still bleak and traditional stereotypes can be blamed for under representation of women in organizations. Off late, many surveys have brought out the importance of presence of women on boards not only for the sake of equality but also for the betterment and success of organizations and also because of the unique qualities in the way women lead.

This topic has been chosen to study the reasons and apprehensions of recruiting women on board and also what initiatives have been taken up in this regard. This research will also help in comprehending the challenges posed and ways/measure to manage such a diverse organizational environment. 1.4 Objective of the study To identify the barriers to gender diversity in any organization. To identify the measures being adopted to overcome the barriers

CHAPTER 2
Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another's uniqueness. -Ola Joseph

2.1 Literature Review Cox and Blake (1991) argued that diversity can be a source of competitive advantage. They claim that managing diversity promises advantages concerning marketing and distribution as a diverse workforce is in a better position to respond to desires and needs of culturally diverse customers in the market. According to Carrel et al (2000), Diversity can improve organizational effectiveness. Organizations that develop experience in and reputations for managing diversity will likely attract the best personnel. Managing diversity means enabling the diverse workforce to perform its full potential in an equitable work environment where no one group has an advantage or disadvantage, (Torres and Bruxelles, 1992). According to one study (Watson et al., 1993), culturally diverse groups relative to homogeneous groups are more effective both in the interaction process and job performance; these benefits occur after a diverse group has been together for a period of time. Hiring women, minorities, disabled, etc. will help organizations to tap these niche markets and diversified market segments. As all the segments of society have a stake in the development and prosperity of society as a whole, creating and managing a diverse workforce should be seen as a social and moral imperative (Mueller, 1998).

Svyantek and Bott (2004) reviewed nine diversity studies (published during 1989-2003) that investigated the gender diversity-performance relationship. Out of nine studies, four studies found no main effects, two studies found positive effects, two studies found negative effects, and one study found a nonlinear effect. Clare Rigg, John Sparrow, (1994) in their research work on "Gender, Diversity and Working Styles", say Generalized differences were identified in the approaches of women and men to definition of the job, overall style, decision making and interpersonal relationships. Men had greater visibility to other men, while a broader insight was offered by women interviewees into the women managers' approaches. The research further amplifies that in the context of patriarchal power relations, in which masculinity is defined as opposite and superior to femininity, feminine working styles are perceived as less effective in organizations, while masculine attributes tend to be regarded as normatively the way to manage. Such values can imbue recruitment, selection and development practices with gender bias. Recent management and leadership theory has advocated the value of a people-centered approach, which traditionally and stereotypically has been associated with women. This might appear to open up opportunity for women. The study concludes that there is a need to be alert to a redefinition of patriarchal relations as men seek to maintain status. Kevin Campbell , Antonio Mnguez-Vera, (2008), in their study Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Financial Performance, say, that the monitoring role performed by the board of directors is an important corporate governance control mechanism, especially in countries where external mechanisms are less well developed. The gender composition of the
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board can affect the quality of this monitoring role and thus the financial performance of the firm. This is part of the business case for female participation on boards, though arguments may also be framed in terms of ethical considerations. Their study suggests that investors in Spain do not penalise firms which increase their female board membership and that greater gender diversity may generate economic gains. Catalyst (2004) showed that more diverse companies achieved better financial results. Since then, interest in the business case for recruiting, developing and advancing women has been growing. Within a corporate governance framework, the composition of corporate boards is crucial to aligning the interest of management and shareholders, to providing information for monitoring and counselling, and to ensuring effective decision-making (Becht, Bolton and Roell 2002; Hermalin and Weisbach 2003) A major argument in support of management diversity is that a more diverse board of Directors may take decisions while considering a wider range of alternatives. Carter, Simkins and Simpson (2003) and (2008) enumerate several positive propositions of the business case for board gender diversity, among which this is a central one. Smith, Smith and Verner (2006), say, women directors may better understand particular market conditions than men, which may bring more creativity and quality to board decision-making. A more gender diverse board may generate a better public image of the firm and, through this, improve firm performance. It is possible that the external talent pool for board members increases once women have been appointed to particular executive positions.
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A heterogeneous board may slow down decision-making as the likelihood of reaching consensus may be smaller. The result will be a less efficient decision-making body, which may turn out to critically impede a firms competitive behavior (Hambrick, Cho and Chen 1996). Dulop, Venkoff (1999) say, even when women occupy similar positions and have similar educational levels, they earn just 80 per cent of what men do, though this is better than in most developing countries. According to (Haq, 2010), MNCs use affirmative actions and diversity management practices within their operations; this has improved opportunities for women. Despite the initiatives by MNCs to improve female employment status, women at management level India face inequality of opportunity, (Gupta et al, 1998).

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CHAPTER 3
Life lies in diversity, not in monotony. -M.K. Soni

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3.1 Research Methodology: Type of study: The study is descriptive in nature. The relevant data is collected with the help from questionnaires from respondents. This research work is limited to various MNC organizations in service sector like banking, insurance, telecom etc. Sources of data collection: It involves both primary and secondary research: Primary: Questionnaires and personal interviews. Secondary: Research works, internet, books & articles. 3.2 Sampling Techniques: Sampling unit: The research is conducted on MNCs located in Delhi and NCR Sample size: Sample size for this study is a total of 100 respondents. Sampling method: Random Stratified Sampling. 3.3 Data analysis Technique Data is analyzed on excel spreadsheet with the help of pie charts and graphs and SPSS is also used.

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CHAPTER 4
Creating

and managing a diverse workforce is a process, not a destination. R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr.

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4.1 Industry Overview- Multinational Corporations (MNC): As the name suggests, any company is referred to as a multinational company or corporation when that company manages its operation or production or service delivery from more than a single country. Why MNCs in India? There are a number of reasons why the multinational companies are coming down to India. India has got a huge market. It has also got one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Besides, the policy of the government towards FDI has also played a major role in attracting the multinational companies in India.

For quite a long time, India had a restrictive policy in terms of foreign direct investment. As a result, there was lesser number of companies that showed interest in investing in Indian market. However, the scenario changed during the financial liberalization of the country, especially after 1991. Government, nowadays, makes continuous efforts to attract foreign investments by relaxing many of its policies, latest being the green signal for the entry of FDI in India in the year 2013. As a result, a number of multinational companies have shown interest in Indian market. Reasons why multinational companies consider India as a preferred destination for business:

Huge market potential of the country FDI attractiveness Labor competitiveness

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Macro-economic stability

These reasons are very much evidence that prove the growing entry of MNC in India. And as they grow so would be the need to employ more people.

Advantages of growing MNC are in India:

Initiating a higher level of investment. Reducing the technological gap. Utilizing the natural resources in true sense. Reducing the foreign exchange gap. Boosting up the basic economic structure.

MNC and Diversity:

Diversity will help organizations to develop a flexible mindset that rewards performance and merit regardless of nationality.

Organizations need to extend beyond the traditional sub sets of diversity race, religion and must become a way of life embedded in the organizational culture.

gender,

Leadership must express and communicate their belief in diversity through vision and mission statements.

Inclusion of women at Board level changes the dynamics of meetings.

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CHAPTER 5
If we are going to see real development in the world then our best investment is WOMEN. -Desmond tutu

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5.1 Analysis & Findings: A survey was conducted by taking a sample of 100 employees working in various MNCs which includes Banking, Insurance, Telecom, IT and others. The total sample constituted 50 per cent male and 50 per cent female employees to evince a balanced gender response Originally questionnaires were administered to 100 respondents, out of which 20 were either half filled, badly filled or casually filled hence not included in the data analysis. Only 80 out of 100 questionnaires were subjected to analysis using Microsoft Excel. The data was studied on four parameters i.e. Overall, Gender, Designation (Level) and Years of experience with a view to meet the objectives and reach a good justified conclusion. Out of the 80 respondents, maximum numbers of male and female employees were between the age group of 26-35 years.

Gender & Age

60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Male Gender Female Percentage Below 25 26-35 36-45 45-55 Above 55

Fig: 1.1: Showing the % of both the gender in each age group.

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The designation of all the respondents was categorized into Senior, Middle and Lower level on the basis of hierarchy for the purpose of analysis. Maximum of the sample surveyed falls into the Middle level category.

Gender & Designation

50.00% Percentage 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Male gender Female Senior Middle Lower

Fig: 1.2: Showing the % of both the gender at each level. Majority of the sample population i.e. 31% has a work experience of 2-5 years, followed by 22% with a work experience of 0-2 years. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
0-2 years 30.00% 2-5 years Percentage 13% 12% 31% 14% 8% 10-15 years more than 15 years 5-7 years 22% 7-10 years 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% more than 15 Gender Fig: 1.3: Showing the % of years of experience Fig: 1.4: Showing the % of years of experience, gender wise. 7-10 years 10-15 years

Gender & Experience

Below 2 2-5 years 5-7 years

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5.2 The extent to which the workforce represents gender diversity: The data that was collected and analyzed reveals that in every organization that was surveyed maximum responded that their workforce represents gender diversity to a moderate degree (70%) i.e. a mix of both the gender whereas only 30% answered Very much. This finding is also justified as per the analysis done on the basis of gender and designation. To what extent do you think your workforce represents Gender Diversity?
0% 30% 70% very much to a moderate degree not at all

Fig: 1.5: Showing the overall percentage.

To what extent do you think your workforce represents Gender Diversity?

80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Male Gender Female

Percentage

Very Much Moderate

Fig: 1.6: Gender diversity representation of workforce by Gender.

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To what extent do you think your workforce represents Gender Diversity?

80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Senior Middle Level Lower

Percentage

Very Much Moderate

Fig: 1.7: gender diversity representation of workforce by Levels.

The analysis tells all the organizations that were surveyed have a gender diverse workforce to a moderate degree, which means that, the organizations today understand the importance of having talented and skilled people in their workforce irrespective of their gender.

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5.3 Percentage of female employees at different levels in your organization: According to the analysis the percentage of female employees is the highest at the lowest and the middle level i.e. between the categories of 30%-40% to 40%-50%. As you go up the levels the percentage keeps on decreasing.

What is the percentage of female employees at different levels in your organization?

100.00% 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% 0-10% 10-20% 20-30% 30-40% 40-50% Above 50% Different levels in organization

Percentage

CEO Board Member Senior Level Middle level Lower Level

Fig: 1.8: Showing the percentage of female employees working at different levels in the organization.

As the graph above shows that 92% people have answered that at the senior level the female representation is below 10%, this shows the presence of Glass Ceiling Effect and Leaking Pipeline, which are explained further.

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5.4 Should there be inclusion of women at the workplace: 89% of the total sample population says yes, there should be inclusion of women at the workplace. On the basis of the analysis done individually for both the gender maximum of them have responded positively.

As an individual, do you believe or think that there should be inclusion of women at the workplace?
2%

9% Yes 89% No Can't Say

Fig: 1.9: Showing the opinion of population regarding inclusion of women.

As an individual, do you believe or think that there should be inclusion of women at the workplace?
100.00% 80.00% Percentage 60.00% Yes 40.00% 20.00% 0.00% Male Gender Female No Cant Say

Fig: 1.10: Showing the opinion of male and female regarding inclusion of women individually.

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5.5 Reasons for increasing the representation of women at the workplace: According to the survey, majority of the people rated to genuinely avoid discrimination and to access a wider pool of talent as the most important reasons. Whereas pressure from internal and external bodies/stakeholders was rated as least important reasons.

Reasons for increasing the representation of women

50.00% 45.00% 40.00% 35.00% Percentage 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% To improve performance To be more responsive to market Women bring in a different skill set/qualities To enhance corporate image. Pressure from external bodies/stakeholders Pressure from internal bodies/stakeholders To genuinely reduce/avoid discrimination To access wider pool of talent

Likert Scale

Fig: 1.11: Showing the reasons for increasing the representation of women at the workplace on a likert scale.

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5.6 Perception of men & women towards increasing the percentage of women ; According to the survey 89% of the women and 71% of the men responded positively to this situation. No women responded negatively but 7% of the men responded negatively who when further interviewed said that this is because they cannot handle pressure and cant contribute effectively due to their personal commitments.

If your organization is trying to increase the percentage of women, how do you feel it is being perceived by men & women in the workplace?
100.00% 80.00% Percentage 60.00% 40.00% 20.00% 0.00% Women Gender Men Positively Negatively Indifferent

Fig: 1.12: Showing the Perception of men & women towards % increase in the women workforce.

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5.7 Barriers/Challenges that prevent women from entering the organization: The survey and thereafter the analysis clearly indicate that issues in maintaining work-life balance is the most frequently encountered challenge as it is rated the highest in Important and Most Important category.

Challenges that prevent women from getting into the organizations

60.00% Stereotypes in the society 50.00% 40.00% Percentage 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Attitude towards womens capability Lack of supply i.e. fewer women in the talent pool Women undervaluing their skills/capability Biases in recruitment/selection Issues in maintaining worklife balance Male dominated culture Absence of female role models Likert Scale

Fig: 1.13: Showing the most frequently encountered barrier.

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5.8 Measures taken up by organization to overcome the challenges: As per the survey and analysis the most highlighted measure taken by any organization or should be taken by any organization is top management support and flexible work arrangements for better management of Gender Diversity.

Measures taken by your organization to overcome the issues relating to gender diversity
45.00% 40.00% 35.00% 30.00% Percentage 25.00% 20.00% Flexible work arrangements 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% More rigorous selection/recruitment procedure Development of policies relating to inclusion of women Likert Scale Mentoring Gender diversity training programme Training/Coaching Top management support

Fig: 1.14: Showing the measures taken by any organization to overcome the challenges.

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5.9 Impact of improving gender diversity on Employee retention, Team performance, Employee engagement, Companys performance: It was found out that overall it the Team Performance that gets affected to a great extent because of gender diversity. Employee retention is also impacted to some extent. Individually men say the same, whereas women say that team performance and employee engagement both equally get affected to a great extent.

Do you think improving gender diversity will have an impact on any of the following?
60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Not at Not much To some To a great Total Extent extent Degree of impact Percentage Employee retention Team performance Employee engagement Companys performance

Fig: 1.15: Showing the impact on few issues in an organization

Do you think improving gender diversity will have an impact on any of the following? (by men)
80.00% 60.00% 40.00% 20.00% 0.00% Not at Total Not much To some Extent To a great extent Percentage Employee retention Team performance Employee engagement Companys performance

Degree of Impact

Fig: 1.16: Showing the impact on few issues in an organization (by men)

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Do you think improving gender diversity will have an impact on any of the following? (by women)
60.00% 50.00% Percentage 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Not at all Not much To some Extent To a great extent Companys performance Employee engagement Employee retention Team performance

Degree of Impact

Fig: 1.17: Showing the impact on few issues in an organization (by women)

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5.10 Hindrance in career progression due to gender: Out of the total sample population 86% says that their career progression was not hindered due to their gender and 14% of them say yes it was hindered which includes male-female both. Do you think your career progression is hindered because of gender?

14% Yes 86% No

Fig: 1.18: Showing hindrance of career progression due to gender.

Do you think your career progression is hindered because of gender?

100.00% Percentage 80.00% 60.00% 40.00% 20.00% 0.00% Male Gender Female Yes No

Fig: 1.19: Showing hindrance of career progression due to gender. (by gender)

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5.11 Reasons for hindrance: According to the analysis it was found that for men the most common reason for hindrance of career progression is unfair work assignment/allocation compared to colleagues of opposite sex and for women the most common reason is personal commitments interrupted my career.

Reasons for hindrance of career progression

90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% Percentage 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Male Gender Female Unfair work assignment/allocation compared to colleagues of opposite sex Not getting the sane opportunities as that of opposite sex Personal commitments interrupted my career Lack of support from manager

Fig: 1.20: Showing reasons for hindrance for both men and women individually.

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5.12 Reasons for no hindrance: It was found that for both men and women their own drive/determination was the reason that did not let anything else come in their way and hinder their progression.

Reasons if career progression not hindered

45.00% 40.00% 35.00% 30.00% Percentage 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% Male Gender Female Support from manager Good coach/mentor Flexible work opportunities Own drive/determination

Fig: 1.21: Showing reasons for no hindrance for both men and women individually.

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5.13 Perception towards womens ability to handle pressure: Overall 80% of the sample population says yes women can handle pressure whereas 5% says that women cannot handle pressure which when further questioned was answered that because women have family responsibilities too and sometimes tend to breakdown they cannot handle pressure.

As per your perception do you think that women are able to handle pressure?
Yes 5% 15% No 80% Can't Say

Fig: 1.22: Showing % of perception towards womens ability to handle pressure.

As per your perception do you think that women are able to handle pressure?
90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Male Gender Female

Percentage

Yes No Can't Say

Fig: 1.23: Showing % of perception towards womens ability to handle pressure. (By men & women individually)

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5.14 Best suited job for women working in organizations: As per the analysis both men and women agree that women are capable of doing all kinds of job mentioned.

As per your perception what type of job in an organization is best suited for women?
Supportive 2% 16% 39% 11% 10% 6% 16% Collaborative Decision making Coaching/Mentoring Developer All of the above None of the above

Fig: 1.24: Showing % of the jobs best suited for women.

Type of job best suited for women

50.00% Percentage 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Male Gender Female Supportive Collaborative Decision making Coaching/Mentoring Developer All of the above

Fig: 1.25: Showing % of the jobs best suited for women (by both male and female)

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5.15 Some key findings: As the analysis reveal that the workforce in every organization represents Gender diversity to a moderate degree, this proves the fact that the situation in Indias MNC industry is still very bleak. Efforts are being made to improve the situation but at a slow pace.
As mentioned earlier that if any organization limits itself to hiring majority of male

employees they have access to only a limited amount of talent, therefore the study reveals that the major reasons for increasing the representation of women is to get access to a wider pool of talent and to genuinely reduce discrimination.
The survey also brought out that organizations like Emirates and Sapient hire purely on

talent and skills irrespective of any gender.

The maximum number of female employees is present at the entry or middle level, but as

you move up the ladder this keeps on decreasing which shows the presence of Glass Ceiling effect in the organizations.
In India the problem of Leaking Pipeline was also explored i.e. with few women

making it from junior to middle to higher levels the pool of women to move to senior levels is much smaller, therefore the problem of leaking pipeline. Though inclusion of women at the workplace is seen as a positive step by both men and women at the workplace but there is a few percentage that perceives it negatively, reasons for which can be that women cannot handle pressure or they are not suitable for some roles.

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 Although almost all women had high aspirations, but everyone including men expressed that the most often the barrier that stops women from entering the organizations or performing to their best ability or to take up more responsibility is the issues in maintaining work life balance. Similar results were found in GDBM 2011 report on Gender Diversity and inclusion. The above mentioned barrier is also one of the main reasons that hindered the career progression of women. One of the very interesting revelation was that its not only women whose career progression is hindered even men have been facing the same problem reason being unfair allocation of work. Flexible work arrangements and top management support are the most effective ways to overcome the issue of work life balance. According to the survey few employees also said there should be development of policies related to inclusion of women. Performance of the team gets improved to a great extent according to the study. Employee retention and companys performance are also improved. This finding is also substantiated by a remark made in a film Closing the Gender Gap made by P rice Waterhouse Coopers in the year 2008. Women are considered strong enough to handle pressure and they are suitable for all types of roles like Supportive, Collaborative, Decision making, Coaching/Mentoring, Developer

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 In SAPIENT, they have a Women Leadership network which is to encourage women in the organization to overcome their fears and take up multiple responsibilities. There is no discrimination, everyone is treated equally. In some other organizations there are diversity & inclusion team which is itself leaded by women i.e. there is high top management support. It was also found out that women do bring a few different qualities along with them while they work in an organization like decision making ability as also mentioned by Joanna Barsh, Director at McKinsey&Co, in a research Women Matter (2010), Men tend to be more individual in decision making and better at corrective action; whereas women tend to be better at collaboration and decision making and they make sure that everybody is in it together, they have better organizing capabilities, relationship building, bring in better team environments, are emotional and understanding and have higher degree of integrity. Secondary sources also revealed that women who move to higher positions use a style of leadership that is highly effective in todays turbulent times. According to the secondary research, only 14% of the employees in MNC captive centers are women. This research also brought out that female representation drastically reduces as the experience level increases. Further it also revealed that long work hours, limited flexibility to work from home, high work pressures are some of the challenges.

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CHAPTER 6
Variety is the spice of life. -American Proverb

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6.1 Conclusion: Gender diversity in the workplace ultimately leads to better business performance for companies because women leaders are able to bring different viewpoints and are able to understand the perspectives of female staff members and the needs of female customers. Women employees bring with them a different skill set altogether which definitely affects the performance of the company. They have great potential and the capability to achieve good results, therefore it is important for the organizations to understand it and give women equal employment opportunities. This research aimed at identifying the challenges in managing gender diversity and also identifies the measures taken to overcome the challenges. The findings indicate that the biggest challenge, today being encountered in Indian MNC industry is the issue in maintaining work-life balance which has also been substantiated by various other researches. Even after few measures being taken by some organizations this problem still prevails. Flexible work arrangements and top management support are considered to be the most effective measures to overcome the above mentioned challenges. Though initiatives are being taken but the results are not very impressive and the implementation is also very slow and seems half hearted. It can be seen that though Glass Ceiling is much spoken phenomena that stops women from reaching the senior level positions but the research also brought out another much encountered problem in India which is Leaking Pipeline.

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The study says that having women on board and in the organization at various levels improves the team performance. Women are able to handle and pressure and are capable enough to perform all kinds of roles in the organization from being a developer to trainer to everything. Gender diversity has become the Need of the hour. Its like the Wind of Change, those who accept the change will survive and those who dont will suffer economically, financially and socially. Its time that the top management understands that gender diversity should not just be a trend to be followed, they need to be passionate about it, as said in one of the studies by McKinsey numbers matter but belief makes the case powerful. Underrepresentation of women on boards and various levels needs to be taken seriously if companies want to survive and grow in the current times. Gender diversity is an important policy for all businesses, increasingly acknowledged to contribute to better management and higher profitability. Therefore, the time is right to accelerate the change process.

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6.2 Recommendations: Gender Diversity Programme: Every organization should have a special gender diversity programme to deal with related issues. Work life balance: Work life balance being the issue of greatest concern companies should develop policies, programme and work culture that will address this. Flexible Approach: Companies should remain flexible in their approach i.e. they should not bind themselves by the initially formed policies; they should be flexible enough to tweak them or change them in order to retain and develop talent. Involvement of men: To improve the situation of gender diversity organizations should involve men and make them spearhead the cause of gender diversity. Men should be more empathetic. They should come out of their egoistic mode and think and treat women as equal instead of just reducing them to homemaker. Encourage transparency: Organizations should encourage a transparent working environment wherein the employees can easily share their problems so that proper solution is found and productivity is not affected. Rigorous involvement of top management: Countries like South Africa bounced back to democracy from apartheid by involving women in every field of work. Almost 38% of the women are working in South Africa and they aim to go up to 54%. Only with the support and continuous involvement of top management. Therefore, the familial tasks like child care etc cannot be performed by men as effectively as women, hence top management should not dissuade them but support by providing facilities like crche facilities etc.

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 Recognizing the skills and capabilities of women and giving them a fair chance to move up the ladder so that the Glass Ceiling Effect diminishes. Targeted Recruitment: Organizations should make an effort to follow a targeted recruitment policy i.e. reserve a certain percentage of women to be hired at each level.

6.3 Limitations: Education sector was not considered because data collected from this sector would have skewed the results. It was difficult to arrange interviews with people at senior positions, so I could talk personally to only a few. Partially filled, badly filled, inattentively filled questionnaires limited my study to 80 questionnaires.

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Chapter 7
Differences challenge assumptions. -Anne Wilson Schaef

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7.1 References/Bibliography: Andreoni J., L. Vesterlund: 2001, Which is the Fair Sex? Gender Differences in Altruism. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116, 293312. Bridging the Gender gap, article Hindustan times. Closing the gender gap, film by PWC, 2008 Catalyst, 2004, The bottom line: Connecting corporate performance and gender diversity. Daft Richard, Leadership (2005); Chapter Developing Leadership Diversity, Pg 290291. Desvaux, G, Devillard, S & Baumgarten, P, 2007, Women Matter: Gender Diversity, a corporate performance driver, McKinsey & Company. Earnest Friday, Shawnta S. Friday, (2003) "Managing diversity using a strategic planned change approach", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 22 Iss: 10, pp.863 880. Earnest Friday, Shawnta S. Friday, (2003) "Managing diversity using a strategic planned change approach", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 22 Iss: 10, pp.863 880. Gender Diversity in the MNC captive Centers in India, study done at Zinnov Gender Diversity Benchmark for Asia 2011 report. Konrad A. M., V. W. Kramer: 2006, How Many Women Do Boards Need?, Harvard Business Review, December, 84(12), 22. McKinsey Global Survey, October 2010, Moving women to the top. McKinsey Survey, 2010, Women Matter research.
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 Rose C.: 2007, Does Female Board Representation Influence Firm Performance? The Danish Evidence. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 15(2), 404413. Shatter the Glass Ceiling: Women may make better Managers, Human Resource Management 33. Smith N., V. Smith, M. Verner: 2006, Do Women in Top Management Affect Firm Performance? A Panel Study of 2,500 Danish Firms. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 55, 569593. Sebastian Reiche. May 09, 2013, Gender Diversity in the Workplace: Lessons from Global Top Performers. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Report on Age, Gender and Diversity Mainstreaming, 2 June 2008. WEF (World Economic Forum) (2012), The Global Gender Gap Report.

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7.2 Appendix: QUESTIONNAIRE A study to identify the challenges faced while managing gender diversity in an organization

Name of the Respondent: ___________________________________

Gender:

Male 1

Female 2

Age:

Below 25 years 1, 26-35 years 2, 36-45 years 3, 45-55 years 4, Above 55 years 5

Type of Organization*: Education 1, IT 2, Banking 3, Insurance 4, Telecom 5, Others 6 Designation (level): _________________________________

Year of Experience: 0-2 years 1, 2 5 years 2, 5 7 years 3, 7 10 years 4, 10 15 Years 5, More than 15 Years 6

1.

To what extent do you think your workforce represents Gender Diversity? Very much 1 to a moderate degree 2 not at all 3 What is the percentage of female employees at different levels in your organization? 0%-10% = 1, 10%-20%=2, 20%-30%=3, 30%-40%=4, 40%-50%=5, 50%-above=6\

2.

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CEO Board Member Senior Level Middle level Lower Level

3.

As an individual, do you believe or think that there should be inclusion of women at the workplace? Yes 1 No 2 Cant say 3

4.

According to you, what are the reasons for increasing the representation of women at workplace? (Rate the reasons on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 least important & 5 most important) 1 To enhance corporate image. Pressure from bodies/stakeholders Pressure from bodies/stakeholders To genuinely discrimination external 2 3 4 5

internal

reduce/avoid

To access wider pool of talent To improve performance To be more responsive to market Women bring in a different skill set/qualities

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5.

If your organization is trying to increase the percentage of women, how do you feel it is being perceived by men & women in the workplace? Positively Negatively Indifferent

By women

By men

6.

What according to you are the barriers/challenges that prevent women from getting into the organizations? (Rate the reasons on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 least important & 5 most important) 1 Stereotypes in the society Attitude towards capability womens 2 3 4 5

Lack of supply i.e. fewer women in the talent pool Women undervaluing skills/capability their

Biases in recruitment/selection Issues in maintaining work-life balance Male dominated culture Absence of female role models

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7.

What steps/measures, if any, have been taken by your organization to overcome the issues relating to gender diversity? (Rate the measures on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 least important & 5 most important) 1 Top management support Gender diversity training programme Training/Coaching Flexible work arrangements Mentoring More rigorous selection/recruitment procedure Development of policies relating to inclusion of women Others, please specify _______________________________________________________ 2 3 4 5

8.

Do you think improving gender diversity will have an impact on any of the following? Not at all Employee retention Team performance Employee engagement Companys performance Not much To some Extent To a great extent

Others, please specify ________________________________________________

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9.

Do you think your career progression is hindered because of gender? Yes 1 No 2

10. If yes in Question No. 9, then what do you think were the reasons? a. b. c. d. e. f. Lack of support from manager Unfair work assignment/allocation compared to colleagues of opposite sex Not getting the sane opportunities as that of opposite sex Personal commitments interrupted my career No idea Others, please specify

11. If no in Question No. 9, then what helped you to progress in your career? a. b. c. d. e. Support from manager Good coach/mentor Flexible work opportunities Own drive/determination Others, please specify

12. As per your perception do you think that women are able to handle pressure? Yes 1 No 2 Cant Say 3

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13. As per your perception what type of job in an organization is best suited for women? a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Supportive Collaborative Decision making Coaching/Mentoring Developer All of the above None of the above

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