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Discriminatory Practices in Indian Companies
Author(s): C. Vijayalakshmi, Kamalpreet Dhaliwal and Rajen K. Gupta

Source: Indian Journal of Industrial Relations , Apr., 2006, Vol. 41, No. 4 (Apr., 2006),
pp. 329-354
Published by: Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/27768037
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IJIR, Vol. 41, No. 4, April 2006
DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES IN INDIAN

COMPANIES
C. Vijayalakshmi, Kamalpreet Dhaliwal

and Rajen K. Gupta
Today's organisations face new challenges thrown by changing

demographics and increasing diversity in the workplace.
Differences generate conflicts and are manifested as
discriminatory practices that reduce both individual and
organisational effectiveness. Existing literature highlights
several factors including gender and caste as discriminatory
factors operating in Indian workplace. An exploratory study
using Critical Incident Technique was conducted to identify
discriminatory factors that are prevalent in Indian workplace,
nature of their interactions and their influence on organisational
decisions. The study revealed gender, region of origin, education,
marital status, age and caste as discriminatory factors that affect
a number of organisational decision events, viz., recruitment,
job allocation, transfers, promotion and termination. It was found
that several of these factors operate simultaneously in an
organisation. The findings have been discussed using Social
Identity Theory as proposed by Taifel and Turner (1979) along
with the implications of the study.
INTRODUCTION
As organisations vie with each other to become global entities,

today's workforce is characterised by diversity?diversity in age,
C. Vijayalakshmi and Kamalpreet Dhaliwal are Doctoral Scholars (OB) and
Dr. Rajen K. Gupta is Professor, Human Behaviour and Organisational
Development, Management Develoment Institute, Gurgaon.

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330 Indian Journal of Industrial Relations
gender, religion, region of origin, education and so on. Diversity

in workplace has become an almost universal norm. Sadri and
Tran (2002) claim that diversity in the workforce has become a
demographic reality across the globe.
Stem (1993) observed that 'Indian society has, like Europe's,

the diversities of a continent and the unities of a civilization'. Such
is the measure of diversity in Indian society whose features Indian
industry had inherited. (Ratnam and Chandra, 1996).
Changing demographics and increasing diversity in the

workplace represent new challenges for people in organisations
today. Differences generate conflict, and poor performance is often
the result of this conflict when it is unacknowledged,
misunderstood, or simply ignored (Church, 1995). While our
inherent diversity empowers organisations to face future
challenges, discrimination reduces its long term efficiency and
effectiveness as it affects employee morale and commitment.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Diversity and discrimination have drawn the attention of

organisational researchers. Although a diverse workforce and
workplace diversity management is often argued to be critical to
organisational competitiveness, little is known about how
organisations are reacting (Miller and Roney, 1999).
Theoretical Basis for Discrimination
Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1985) has received

considerable attention in the study of inter-group discrimination.
Chattopadhyay et. al (2004) in a review of recent developments
in relational demography approach claim that employees compare
their own demographic characteristics (e.g., sex, race) with those
of other members of their workgroup or unit and that the extent
of perceived dissimilarity with their colleagues influences their
identification with their workgroups. These have largely been
explained by two related theories labeled Social Identity Theory
(Tajfel & Turner, 1986) and its development as Self-categorisation
Theory (Turner, 1987).

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Discriminatory Practices in Indian Companies 331
According to Social Identity Theory, discrimination between

groups is a function of inter-group social comparison. Social
Identity Theory (SIT) so far offers most fitting approach to
explaining differences in work effort and performance outcomes.
Social identity theorists assume that the social environment is
organised into meaningful categories that ultimately result in inter
group discrimination. According to SIT, people classify themselves
into multiple hierarchically organised social categories (Stryker,
1968). The classification of the social-world as "us" (in-group) or
"them" (out-group) results in discriminatory behaviour and
negative attitudes toward out-group members. This discrimination
is triggered by self-serving motives. To maintain and enhance a
positive self-regard, individuals dispose themselves positively
toward members of their own group and discriminate against
members of other groups. It is a widely shared view that people
are motivated to maintain or enhance a positive self-image by
comparing themselves with others in a manner that favours the
self (Tesser, 1988). According to SIT, this motivation can also be
satisfied by favouring one's in-group over the out-group, a process
that typically results in in-group favoritism (Brewer, 1979). Studies
show that members of in-group engage in self-enhancement not
only by praising their own groups but also by derogating out
groups (Rustemli et. al, 2000).
Discriminatory Practices
Diversity management originated in the USA where it is

reportedly being embraced by many organisations and where it
has become the basis of a large consulting business (Miller and Roney,
1999). McDougall (1995) highlighted the recent growth in the
concept of managing diversity as an alternative to equal
opportunities. In her article she considered whether the difference
between them is simply one of semantics or of material substance
and concluded that these differences were significant and had
significant impact on organisational outcomes. Church (1995)
reported a case study of a single workgroup in a large marketing
organisation, which highlighted the important dynamics of these
diversity-related conflicts. The behavioural effects of diversity related
issues and the consequences of not consciously processing the
accompanying anxieties are often observable in small group settings.

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He investigated issues concerning the intra-group and inter-group

effects on attitudes and behaviours using data collected by a
participant observer. Stephenson and Lewin (1996) claimed that
public policies have limited success in promoting diversity in
organisations. Networks in organisations have to be tapped to
augment existing programmes in achieving non-discriminatory or
"fair" employment practices within organisations. Jackson (1994)
has argued that organisations, which seem only to implement the
law, are following poor behavioural programmes, and there will be
negative effects. She analysed models of integrating equal
opportunities into the organisation in the context of op?rant
conditior ing. Those who seek a more positive approach based on
reinforcing desirable practice will achieve more positive and
sustaining outcomes. A shift from equal treatment to the valuing of
diversity is also needed, based on a consideration of behavioural
principles.
Ratnam and Chandra (1996) have anlaysed salient aspects of

demographic, social-cultural, techno-economic and organisational
factors that account for diversity in the Indian context. They also
highlight the major issues and opportunities in coping with the
magnitude and complexity of the challenge of diversity in
managing people in the Indian workplace. The authors have used
case studies to delineate discrimination practices of Indian
organisations. However, there is limited evidence of employees'
perspective of discrimination. There is also no conclusive proofs
of the impact of discrimination on employees.
Caste and class as factors of discrimination were studied by

Dhesi (1998) and Jain and Ratnam (1994), while Nath (2000),
Gupta et. al (1998) and Honour and Palnitkar (1998) have studied
gender issues in discrimination. In an extensive empirical study,
Kundu (2003) indicated the prevalence of gender and category
(racial) discrimination in Indian organisations. Male employees
rated female employees to be less qualified, less competent, and
less productive than females rated themselves. General category
employees perceived that minority and socially disadvantaged
employees were less competent and productive. Almost all
employees believed that minority, socially disadvantaged, and
disabled employees were provided with comparatively less

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organisational supporting terms of working facilities, promotions,

and salary increases. Even females of the general category
believed that they had less chance of receiving working facilities,
promotions, and salary increases than males from the general
category. Further, each category of employees believed themselves
to be more important than others. However, the study fails to
capture the organisational events that are impacted by
discrimination.
Kingdom et. al (2001) investigated the extent to which education

contributes to women's observed lower labour force participation
and earnings than men. Findings suggest that women do suffer
high levels of wage discrimination in the Indian urban labour market,
but that education contributes little to this discrimination.
These studies have considered the factors in isolation.

However, several studies by Kleiner (Kleiner 1998; Phomphakdy
and Kleiner, 1999; Kapur and Kleiner 2000; Carton and Kleiner
2001) and by Shephered (1995) show various factors such as
age, religion, race, gender, colour, disability operate in tandem
in workplaces. Therefore, it becomes necessary to have a holistic
perspective of discrimination in the Indian organisations in an
effort to appreciate and understand its complex manifestation
in workplace. Hence the present study was carried out with the
following objectives.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the current study are listed below :
1. To enumerate factors of discrimination that operate in Indian

organisations;
2. To identify how discriminatory factors affect specific

organisational decision events.
METHODOLOGY
The following section provides details of the methods used in

data collection and analysis.

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Sample
The objective of the study was to understand Indian
organisational practices, so the respondents should have first hand
knowledge of Indian workplace. As the research involved
capturing sensitive organisation specific data, it was decided to
use in-depth interviews in place of questionnaire based survey. In
a recent review of research in Social Identity Theory,
Chattopadhyay et. al (2004) suggest use of in-depth interviews to
understand the processes underlying employee behaviours.
Managers with at least two years' work experience belonging to

both private sector and public sector organisations were chosen as
respondents for the study. The respondents were chosen randomly
from participants of Management Development Programmes
conducted at Management Development Institute, Gurgaon.
Data Collection
Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with each of

the chosen respondents by either of the researchers. The
respondents were briefed about the purpose of the interview before
the start of the interview. They were asked to describe their
experiences regarding discriminations that operate in their
organisations. The choice of discrimination factor was left to the
respondents. The most frequent dialogue is described below:
Researcher: Will you please tell us about your organisational

experiences regarding discrimination?does it exist?
Respondent : Discrimination?do you mean gender discrimination?
Researcher: It could be gender; it could be due to other reasons

as well.
Of the seventy-five respondents, seven respondents claimed

that they had not encountered discrimination in their
organisations. When the respondents answered affirmatively, they
were asked to describe specific incidents when employee
discrimination was perceived by them. An open-ended

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questionnaire as described by Critical Incident Technique

(Flanagan, 1954) was then used as a base to structure further
interview process. The sequence was usually as follows:
When did the incident happen?
Describe what led up to the situation.
Exactly what did the person(s) do or not do that may be

considered discriminatory?
What was the outcome or result of this action?
The first two questions describe the antecedents of the event;

the third describes specific actions and the fourth the results of
the action. CIT has been found ideal in identifying effective
practices in organisations and has been used in organisational
studies (Dickson et. al, 2002; Edvardsson and Roos, 2001; McNeil
and Pedigo, 2001; Liefooghe and Olafsson, 1999).
Critical incident technique focuses on specific incidents "By

an incident, it is meant any observable human activity that is
sufficiently complete to permit inferences and predictions to be
made about the person performing the act" (Edvardsson and Roos,
2001) To be critical, an incident must occur in a situation where
the purpose or intent of the act seems fairly clear to the observer
and where its consequences are sufficiently definite to leave little
doubt concerning its effect (Flanagan, 1954; p. 327). Hence, for
the purpose of the study, the participants were requested to narrate
incidents where the decisions lead to unambiguous results (e.g. a
person is recruited or is not recruited).
The interview ended with an open ended question "Is there

anything else you want to add?' When the respondent replied
negatively, s/he was thanked for having spared time and shared
information and the interview was concluded.
Data collection was done in phases covering ten respondents

individually and then the interviews were content analysed for
recurrent themes. The process continued till no more new theme

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was emerging from the interviews, which happened at the end of

seventh cycle, i.e. seventy. A total of one hundred and four
incidents were recorded as respondents narrated more than one
incident of discrimination. Table la provides gender details, Table
lb, religion and Table lc caste details of the respondents. A review
of the tables indicates that there is a preponderance of male
respondents (66 per cent) over female respondents (34 per cent);
Hindus (84 per cent) over Non-Hindus (16 per cent), Non
scheduled Caste/Tribes (91 per cent) over members of Scheduled
Castes and Tribes (9 per cent). The significance of these skewed
percentages of respondents is discussed in later sections.
Data Analysis
Sixty-eight interviews involving one hundred and four
incidents of discrimination were content analysed using grounded
theory methodology to identify discriminatory practices in industry.
As Glaser (1999) states Grounded Theory is-?what is, not what
should, could, or ought to be." The Grounded theorists are
interested in ways in which human actors negotiate and manage
social situations and how their actions contribute to the unfolding
of social processes. (Willig, 2001).
Grounded theory involves progressive identification and

integration of categories of meaning from data resulting in a theory
as a result. Grounded theory method provides a framework from
deriving categories from data and to arriving at a final theory or
mode (see Strauss and Corbin, 1990).
The transcripts of the interviews were content analysed with

the following objectives:
To identify factors of discrimination that were prevalent in

Indian organisations.
To identify significant organisational events that are affected

by discriminatory practices.
To understand the patterns of discrimination that hinder a

person's career progression.

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To identify important facilitating factors that help

individuals overcome discrimination.
Data were collected till no new trends emerged and theoretical

saturation was obtained (see Strauss and Corbin, 1990), as
explained in the previous section.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of the study indicate that discrimination is a

prevalent organisational reality in Indian context. The study
further provides reasons to propose that discrimination is a
complex phenomenon governed by several factors that are
simultaneously operating in the organisational context. Summary
of results are presented and discussed below.
Tables 2,3 and 4 provide the percentages of responses described

by the respondents and are clustered sector wise, gender wise and
event wise. Some respondents narrated more than one incident,
where they perceived discrimination. Some also attributed more
than one factor as cause of discrimination.
Region of Origin
Of the total incidents narrated, 39 per cent of incidents pertain

to region of origin as the discriminator, making it the single largest
discriminator, higher than gender (28 per cent) and marital status
(24 per cent). While gender and marital status emerged as the
most crucial discriminatory factors against women, discrimination
based on region of origin emerged as the single most important
factor reported for men (38 per cent). When respondents claimed
that a person from a particular state or linguistic group favoured
another person from the same state or linguistic group, such
incidents were coded as discrimination based on region of origin.
Such incidents accounted for 39 per cent of the total incidents of
discrimination described by both male and female respondents
and 66 per cent of total incidents described by male respondents.
Region of origin as a discriminatory factor was prevalent in

both public and private sector organisations. It affects most aspects

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of career viz., recruitment, job allocation, transfers and promotion.

While transfer to a person's hometown or place of origin was an
acceptable practice among the respondents, they also narrated
incidents where transfers were guided by similar places of origin
of the boss and the subordinate in question than by the merit of
the case. Sometimes, transfer was also a punishment posting for
an "out-group" employee. Similar considerations were also found
in cases of job allocation and promotion.
A HR manager claimed that in the public sector enterprise

where he worked his boss would appoint a person from his own
state from a panel of candidates short listed.
"If everything else is same, my boss preferred a person from

his home state. So much so that though ours is a Public Sector
enterprise for which applications come from all over India,
the number of employees from our state was approximately
35 per cent of the entire department's strength and 75 per
cent of all the appointments made during his period. The rest
were transferred from regional offices to head quarters by him".
As it may be obvious from the above quote, the respondent

himself was from the same state as the boss. Another respondent
described his company's informal policy of hiring labourers from
a distant state.
"Though we are located in Raj as than, most of our workers

were brought in from Orissa and local workers constitute a
very small fraction of our the workforce. Neither my boss nor
the management was Oriyan. The Oriyan workers were
preferred over the local workforce because they accepted lower
wage rates for the same job. Also, as these Oriyans were migrant
labourers, they were also disinclined to be involved in trade
union activities as opposed to the local workers."
"My boss was openly supportive of employees belonging to his

state of origin. During review meetings, even a small deviation
of mine will be blown up and I will be pulled up in front of
everybody. While major accidents happening in the sections
headed by people from his state will never even be discussed."

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A respondent from a nationalised bank mentioned that the

employees who belonged to the region where the branch was
located got more opportunities and preference to handle crucial
issues than the employees who were posted from other regions as
the management assumed that the local employees knew the
region better and hence, could understand the customer issues
better. Their promotions were also hampered as they were
perceived to be 'outsiders who had no understanding of local issues
despite having worked in the region for considerably long tenure.'
One of the respondents narrated that he was posted out of his

region of origin as a punishment for some misunderstanding with
his boss. Another mentioned that he was treated as 'an outcast'
by his colleagues because all of them were from the same region of
origin and the respondent belonged to a different region.
"There were several times, when I had missed important

meetings because I never knew about the events as most of the
conversations of my colleagues would be in their language.
They would not even keep me informed."
Region of origin depicts intra-racial discrimination within

Indian nationals while racial discrimination is inter-racial
discrimination between Indians and foreign nationals. Seven
instances of racial discrimination narrated refer to preference given
to foreigners over Indian employees during promotions despite
the better qualifications and performance of the Indian nationals.
In six cases, respondents were employees of multinational private
sector companies and in one case, the respondent was an employee
of an International Funding Agency. Promotional avenues of
Indians were limited and higher management positions were not
easily accessible to them in such organisations.
Jonsson (2001) concluded that it is difficult to identify the true

causes of ethnic discrimination. Kapur and Kleiner (2000) studied
the nature of racial discrimination in US beer industry. Le and
Kleiner (2000) in their review of empirical research concerning
race discrimination in workplace conclude racial discrimination
is still very obvious in the hiring and promotional practices of
United States companies. The current study suggests that region

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of origin is an important discriminatory factor operating in Indian

organisations. There are hardly any Indian studies that consider
the impact of racial discrimination within Indians based on their
region of origin.
Gender
Gender has been a very frequently mentioned factor of

discrimination accounting for 28 per cent of total number of
incidents narrated. It has been found that many respondents
equated discrimination to gender discrimination during the initial
stage of the interview till clarification was either sought by the
respondent and /or was provided by the researcher, as mentioned
in methodology section. Gender as a discriminatory factor was
mentioned by both male and female respondents and in both
sectors of organisations. Gender was the most prominent
discriminatory factor that affected recruitment (15 per cent) as
compared to age (2 per cent), caste (2 per cent), region of origin (3
per cent) and marital status (6 per cent) Gender's role in
discrimination was more prominent in recruitment followed by
its role in transfers, job allocation and promotion.
Of the instances of recruitment described, where gender was

the perceived cause of discrimination, only two instances relate to
preference of women over men for a particular position? front
office positions and in Human Resource Department. All other
incidents relate to preference of men over women. It also includes
those incidents where women are never considered for a post. In
fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, women were not
considered for sales and production posts.
"In my company, we never call women candidates for sales

posts. They cannot travel to upcountry markets like us (men).
"They (women) cannot be expected to make late night client

calls like us."
"Shop floor employees do not like to take orders from female

bosses-so we do not hire women as Graduate Engineering
Trainees in our factory."

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One woman respondent had to undergo several rounds of

interviews before the organisation considered her for a production
post while men applying for similar post were not subject to as
many rounds of interviews.
"Can you work in shop floor? Can you handle labour problems?
If you get married you might quit. These were the questions
and comments thrown at me several times. None of my male
classmate who attended interviews at the same company were
ever asked such questions."
One of the male respondents narrated how he was not

considered for a front office job on the grounds that the job
involved frequent telephonic contacts with the customers and
that the management had decided to hire a lady candidate for
the post.
It may also be conjectured that the low proportion of female

respondents (34 per cent) as against 66 per cent male respondents
may indicate that gender was a significant discriminator
preventing women from entering workplace. Indian census, 2001
has stated that while there are 275,014,476 male workers (69 per
cent) there are only 127,220,248 female workers (32 per cent). In
an earlier study, Ratnam and Jain (2002) reported the percentage
of women in various sectors vary from 35 per cent in agriculture,
11 per cent in manufacturing sector, 21 per cent in social services
sector. They argued that labour force participation is low among
those who drop out of the workforce after secondary school and
before graduation. It is relatively higher among the less educated
and among graduates. Overall, women's access to education and
employment (as indicated by labour market participation rates)
continues to be low.
Once they are recruited, women are given jobs of lesser

organisational importance. It is particularly true in IT industry,
where they are given documentation over development or project
implementation. It is also true of other sectors such as fast moving
consumer goods (FMCG) industry and manufacturing
organisations where women are usually given administrative
positions in support functions.

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"If women are taken for overseas project assignments, it is

difficult to manage the logistics of boarding, lodging, travel
etc. The boys can be asked to share a single flat?what will the
lady do? So we prefer to put them on desk jobs."
"In my office, I have never been given important assignments

as it would involve working after office hours. My boss works
late and expects all of us to stay late. Most crucial meetings are
held post six p.m. I am usually given only routine jobs."
One of the female respondents stated, "Despite so many years

of work experience, I am given less challenging and more routine
jobs than the male colleagues with same work experience."
Another employee informed
"Whenever the organisation starts a new operation, I have

never seen a woman being made in charge of it, it is always
the men who get the opportunity and hence they get
promotions easily." Another woman respondent claimed that
"My organisation has a clear demarcation of jobs on the basis
of gender. Only females are recruited for the front desk jobs,
and for the managerial levels only men are recruited."
Women are given preferential treatment during transfers.

Respondents narrated several incidents where women are given
preferential treatment during transfers decisions. It is usually the
men who are transferred to field areas or 'hardship postings'.
"Last time, my female colleague was permitted to stay in the

same place on compassionate grounds that her husband and
children can not move with her. I was asked to go as my family
could move with me. They (the organisation) do not seem to
understand, my wife and children hate moving as much as
my female colleague's family.
Gender was a discriminatory factor in promotions in incidents

where men bypassed women. Many women claim that they have
been sidelined from strategic roles on account of their gender and
their lack of experience in handling such assignments was later
given as reasons for not promoting them.

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"I was repeatedly bypassed for promotions claiming that I have

not worked in important assignments. And important assignments
were not given to me as I can not work after office hours."
"Of the two candidates who have been short listed for the
promotion as head of our quality control department, I was
better qualified than my male colleague. I have a PhD in
chemistry while he was a mere graduate. Both had requisite
years of experience. However, he was chosen on the grounds
that he had better interpersonal relations with the
subordinates. In these twenty years, my subordinates have
always treated me with the respect due to a boss. With him, it
is different?they have tea together, smoke together and go
often to each other's houses. As a lady, I have to maintain my
distance. These very people will not tolerate a woman being
friendly with her male colleagues."
A respondent was denied promotion, in the private sector, as

she had-gone on maternity leave during the tenure period. During
compilation of seniority list, her colleague who had joined later
than her superceded her in the seniority rankings as the maternity
period was considered as being absent from duty, though she was
legally eligible for the leave.
Several studies have focused on gender discrimination in

workplace both in India and elsewhere. Cai and Kleiner (1999)
list five factors that impede women's careers in USA- stereotypes
and perceptions; lack of access to mentoring; discrimination; family
responsibilities; and the costs of setting up one's own business.
Shepherd (1995) observed that in USA gender biases operate

in sales jobs. Ratnam and Chandra (1996) claim that "males for
sales" was also prevalent in India and in terms of the broad patterns
of employment traditional sexual division of labour is still
pervasive. Their report also states that today's women are coaxed
into the workforce by their demanding parents or husbands and
point to better practices to manage gender bias.
Gupta et al (1998), based on an empirical study involving 162

managers of both sexes, found that even at senior level positions,

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female managers continue to be perceived as "women" first,

women need to work harder than men and need to prove their
competence more often than men do. Men perceive women as
less committed to their jobs and less capable of contributing to
organisational goals. Male stereotyping, exclusion of women from
male communication network, commitment to family
responsibilities, lack of business experience, and not being in the
pipe line long enough are some of the barriers to women's
advancement.
The current study also found that stereotypes of women as

incapable of long hours of work and frequent travel have been the
primary causes for non-recruitment of women in traditional
organisations and in production department of several industries.
However, women respondents claimed that they were indeed
working long hours and were traveling frequently as much as
their male colleagues in organisations such as management
consultancy firms, market research agencies, non-government
organisations (NGOs) and on shop floor. It may also be possible
that since both the researchers were women, gender could have
been highlighted as a discriminatory practice by respondents.
Marital Status
Marital status was considered as discriminatory factor in both

private sector organisation (30 per cent) and public sector
organisations (19 per cent). It was mentioned by both male (6 per
cent) and female (18 per cent) respondents. Most women
respondents claimed that their marital status was always discussed
in the interviews.
"Before marriage, I was told in the interviews that once you

get married, you would quit and follow your husband. Even
when I tried denying it, claiming that career was very
important for me; it did not cut much ice with the
interviewers."
One woman mentioned that her interview for a job focused

only on her marital status rather than on her technical knowledge.
She was not asked anything about her previous job experience

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but was questioned on her marital status and its implications if

she got married.
A HR executive of a private sector firm disclosed how, in his

organisation,
"dining the performance appraisal meeting for promotion of

candidates, marital status of women are normally discussed.
Many a time, a married woman is bypassed on the grounds
that she cannot spare sufficient time for handling higher
responsibilities as she has to manage her family. Very rarely a
man's family responsibility is discussed in the meetings."
Men on the other hand narrate their experience as negative

discrimination against single men, who were transferred, while
married men were given head office posting so that they can be
close to their families. They also had to undertake frequent out-of
station travels unlike their married colleagues in similar positions.
Kuta and Kleiner (2001) claim that discrimination in the workplace
based on marital status is an especially multi-faceted issue. In the
recent past, as women have gained status and number in the
workplace, discrimination based on marital status has become a
more complex issue, both socially and legally. Their studies are
consistent with our findings that married women and single men
are discriminated against in workplace.
Caste/Religion
Several studies describe the role of caste in Indian society and

its perceived effect in Indian organisations. Ratnam and Chandra
(1996) described the nature of caste based discrimination in a hotel
chain in India and the measures taken to reduce caste
discrimination. Further they argued that in private firms owned
by Hindus it is unusual to find Muslims in senior managerial
positions. Dhesi (1998) state caste-community discrimination and
class discrimination overlap. However, in the case of socially
deprived categories, the latter accentuates the former. The impact
of modernisation notwithstanding, the inegalitarian sacral
tradition of caste is still found to have strong hold over the minds
and lives of Indians.

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In the present study only public sector employees mentioned

caste as a source of discrimination. Of the one hundred and four
incidents analysed, only four instances describe the discriminatory
effect of caste in organisational decisions of recruitment and
promotion. All the incidents relate to the reservation policy to be
followed by Public Sector Units (PSUs) as reason for discrimination,
though their organisation was legally bound to follow the
guidelines. Only one respondent claimed that he was transferred
out of a region on account of his religion as the management was
not confident of his acceptability by the local customers.
Hence, findings of the current study point that caste

discrimination is not very prevalent in Indian organisations.
Though religious discrimination is hotly debated, the study did
not find it to be a significant discriminatory factor in organisations
and their decision processes. It may be conjectured that since the
sample was predominantly Hindus (84 per cent) and members of
non-scheduled castes and tribes (91 per cent) caste/religion based
discrimination was likely to be under reported.
Age
The incidents where age was a discriminatory factor involved
men from private sector companies. A respondent was rejected
on the grounds that he was 'too young' for the post of an IR
managers as most of the shop floor employees were older men,
though he was a postgraduate with a few years of work experience.
In another case, a respondent was rejected as he was 'too old' for
a software developer's post as most of the other employees were
in their twenties and the respondent, who was looking for a career
shift, was in his late thirties.
In case of transfers, older employees were given preferential

treatment over younger employees. Similarly, in case of promotion,
a younger, otherwise qualified employee was not promoted, as he
would then be several years younger than his subordinate, who
was not eligible for promotion. Kleiner (1998) studied age
discrimination in workplace in USA and Japan. Ratnam and
Chandra (1996) state age mix diversity is found in Indian
organisations with long history. The mixed effect of age in

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organisations needs to be studied further across various decision

events.
Relationship amorjg Factors of Discrimination
Several respondents stressed that the incidents that they

described involved several discriminatory factors acting
concurrently in influencing the decision. In this study job allocation
was found to be influenced by all factors except caste while gender
impacts all decision events.
It was also found that most of the factors had both a positive
and negative effect on the same decision event in different contexts.
Men were preferred over women in several industries. However,
women were preferred in certain other positions such as HR.
During transfers, women are usually given preferential treatment.
Social factor that distinguishes employees based on their region

of origin is another all pervading factor that impacts all decision
events of workplace. This factor is only not only discriminatory in
nature but also plays a significant role in building networks in an
organisation that acts as a cushion against other discriminatory
variables. Given -that India has diversities of a continent (Stern,
1993), the predominance of intra racial discrimination amongst
Indians is only a natural consequence. The role of gender as a
discriminator has been widely researched and publicized.
However, there is scant research on discrimination faced by men
in their workplace, barring those on caste based discrimination.
Though instances of caste, religion, race discrimination were few,
it may be conjectured that these operate as a larger whole -
discrimination based on the social background of a person in
conjunction with his/her region of origin.
Marital status also brings to focus gender difference in its effects

? married women were not preferred during recruitment while
single men were transferred more often as compared to their
married colleagues. The effect is compounded when the colleague
is older as well. The place of transfer may be affected by similarity
of region of origin of the employee and the decision-maker.
However, an older employee may be bypassed for promotion.

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Nath (2000) examines the impact of social, organisational and

personal biases on the progression of professional women in India.
Women managers in India have been generally successful in rising
to the executive suite in Indian organisations, despite a culture
that might suggest otherwise. These women were successful
because of the interplay of organisational and familial support,
coupled with the individual drive for success each woman
demonstrated. The women respondents discussed the role of their
family and the organisational support particularly of their
immediate bosses as crucial contributors to the success of their
career.
The current study emphasizes the complex nature of

discriminatory practices in Indian organisations. In the light of
Social Identity Theory, we may conjecture that Indian employees
put themselves into multiple hierarchically organised social
categories in terms of their gender, region of origin, education,
marital status and so on. So a person may perceive himself/herself
to be member of several social groups. Core categories such as
gender and region of origin act as stronger discriminators of the
in-groups and the out-group while acquired categories such as
marital status may act as barriers to a lesser degree of exclusion.
The in-group members in their self-enhancement indulge in
favourtism for their members and discriminating against out-group
members as explained by Social Identity Theory.
We also conjecture that SIT also provides apt theoretical

support to justify the superimposing power of competence to
overcome any discriminatory factor. In organisations where
academic networks are more powerful than gender based or
region based groups, educational qualification may act as a
powerful facilitator in the organisational context that helps a
person overcome inborn discriminators such as gender and
region of origin. It is an extension of Social Identity Theory,
where membership to a dominant in-group helps a person
overcome his/her less powerful discriminating factors. Every
group, in its attempt to maintain and enchance a positive self
regard, would dispose itself positively toward even an out
member, whose expertise is well regarded by the organisation.
In this explanation lies the ultimate key to overcome any

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discrimination. If an individual works to enhance his/her
competence and expertise s/he can overcome any discriminator
that may act as a hindrance to his/her career, while the other
possible facilitators making conscious attempts to become
members of powerful in-groups either through mentors or by
aligning with influential superiors.
IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS
Organisations need to be aware of the discriminatory practices

that creep into workplace. Gender discrimination has received wide
spread attention in recent times. However, the stereotyping of
female applicants as incapable of working long hours and
incapable of frequent travels has been broken by women managers
in several sectors. Hence, all departments should be supported to
employ more women in their work force. It was also stated by
respondents that organisations need to rethink their HR practices
by encouraging both male and female employees to have regular
work hours and staggered traveling instead of glorifying irregular
work hours as "essential for success." Several industry leaders
espouse such values, but industry practices do not reflect them.
Such practices would also nullify to some extent the discriminatory
effects of marital status of employees. Region of origin of an
employee acts as a powerful discriminatory factor and needs to
be addressed. Other social factors like caste, religion, race need to
be handled holistically to reduce discrimination while bearing in
mind that this factor contributes to the development of informal
networks among employees and spells in-group vs. out group
affiliations of an employee.
LIMITATIONS
The study was exploratory in nature. Hence, the findings may

not have generalisability across all Indian organisations. The sample
was selected using convenient sampling where women, members
of backward castes and members of religions other than Hinduism
were under represented, though it may be argued that under
representation may indicate strong bias against these groups
(women, backward castes and non-Hindus) preventing them from
entering the Indian companies in the first place. Larger sample

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using random sampling may highlight more factors than was

elucidated in the study. Use of critical incident technique (CIT)
restricted the study of discrimination to specific decision events.
However, the process by which the factors manifest may be more
complex than what was captured by CIT.
CONCLUSION
The study highlights the pervasive nature of discrimination in

Indian organisations. The focus of the study was to identify factors
of discrimination that operate in Indian organisations and their
impact on various decisions events of workplace. The study
provides pointers to the complex nature of the phenomenon where
several factors such as gender, caste, region of origin, and marital
status are more prevalent that other factors such as caste, religion,
race, age and seniority. Their impact is seen in recruitment, job
allocation, promotion, transfers and of employees. Further research
needs to be conducted to unravel the cause and effect of
discrimination in Indian organisations
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Table 1: Respondent Characteristics
la : Gender and Sector Classification
Gender Private Sector* Public Sector** Total

Male 21(31) 24(35) 45(66)
Female 10(15) 13(19) 23(34)
31(46) 37(54) 68(100)
lb : Religion and Sector Classification
Religion Private Sector Public Sector

Hindus 24(35) 33(49) 57(84)
Non Hindus 7(10) 4(6) 11(16)
31(46) 37(54) 68(100)
lc : Caste and Sector Classification
Caste Private Sector Public Sector Total

NonSC/ST 29(43) 33(49) 62(91)
SC/ST 2(3) 4(6) 6(9)
31(46) 37(54) 68(100)
""Private sector includes Indian and Multinational Companies
**Public Sector includes Government Departments and Public
Figures in parenthesis denote percentages
Table 2: Discrimination Factor: Sector wise Responses

(Tables in 2, 3 and 4 list number of incidents narrated relatin
sector of employment of the respondent; figures in par
percentages)
Factor Private Sector Public Sector Total
Gender 17(36) 12(21) 29(28)

Marital Status 14(30) 11(19) 25(24)
Region of Origin 12(26) 29(51) 41(39)
Caste NA 5(9) 5(5)
Age 4(9) NA 4(4)
Total 47(45) 57(55) 104(100)

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Table 3: Discrimination Factor: Gender wise Responses
Factor Men Women Total

Gender 8(8) 21(20) 29(28)
Marital Status 6(6) 19(18) 25(24)
Region of Origin 39(38) 2(2) 41(39)
Caste 4(4) 1(1) 5(5)
Age 2(2) 2(2) 4(4)
Total 59(57) 45(43) 104(100)
Table 4: Factors of Discrimination and Organisational Decision Events
Factor Recruitment Job Allocation Promotion Total

Gender 16(15) 4(4) 5(5) 29(28)
Marital status 6(6) 5(5) 5(5) 25(24)
Region of Origin 3(3) 19(18) 13(13) 41(39)
Caste 2(2) NA 2(2) 5(5)
Age 2(2) NA 1(1) 4(4)
Total 30(29) 28(27) 26(25) 104(100)

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Discriminatory Practices in Indian Companies

Author(s): C. Vijayalakshmi, Kamalpreet Dhaliwal and Rajen K. Gupta

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/27768037

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DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES IN INDIAN

C. Vijayalakshmi, Kamalpreet Dhaliwal

Today's organisations face new challenges thrown by changing

As organisations vie with each other to become global entities,

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gender, religion, region of origin, education and so on. Diversity

Stem (1993) observed that 'Indian society has, like Europe's,

Changing demographics and increasing diversity in the

Diversity and discrimination have drawn the attention of

Theoretical Basis for Discrimination

Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1985) has received

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According to Social Identity Theory, discrimination between

Diversity management originated in the USA where it is

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He investigated issues concerning the intra-group and inter-group

Ratnam and Chandra (1996) have anlaysed salient aspects of

Caste and class as factors of discrimination were studied by

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organisational supporting terms of working facilities, promotions,

Kingdom et. al (2001) investigated the extent to which education

These studies have considered the factors in isolation.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the current study are listed below :

1. To enumerate factors of discrimination that operate in Indian

2. To identify how discriminatory factors affect specific

The following section provides details of the methods used in

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Managers with at least two years' work experience belonging to

Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with each of

Researcher: Will you please tell us about your organisational

Respondent : Discrimination?do you mean gender discrimination?

Researcher: It could be gender; it could be due to other reasons

Of the seventy-five respondents, seven respondents claimed

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questionnaire as described by Critical Incident Technique

When did the incident happen?

Describe what led up to the situation.

Exactly what did the person(s) do or not do that may be

What was the outcome or result of this action?

The first two questions describe the antecedents of the event;

Critical incident technique focuses on specific incidents "By

The interview ended with an open ended question "Is there

Data collection was done in phases covering ten respondents

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was emerging from the interviews, which happened at the end of

Grounded theory involves progressive identification and

The transcripts of the interviews were content analysed with

To identify factors of discrimination that were prevalent in

To identify significant organisational events that are affected

To understand the patterns of discrimination that hinder a

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To identify important facilitating factors that help