S TATUS OF WOMEN AND MINORITY WORKERS : GLOBAL HR PERS PECTIVE Authored by: Debdatta Gupta & S ubhasree Basu

Roy.

ABS TRACT The renowned economist Lester Thurow, Lemelson Professor of Management and Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, recently said, Great challenges lay ahead and our economic future is at stake. Organizations cannot compete in a global environment without using women. In this light, the article attempts to capture the post globalization changes brought about in the status and opportunities on offer to women and minority employees in global companies. Further, the article highlights the glass ceiling concept and how the global corporate giants are battling it out. Lastly, focus is set on the role of HR, in taking female and colored workers into the mainfold of employee base, in order to achieve productive efficiency, growth and innovation. Stephanie, an African-American, is inducted as a new member in the board of a regional bank. In a meeting dealing with her core area, she tries to put forward her views eloquently. The chairperson immediately cuts off Stephanie, requesting members to cut short so that the discussion can be fast got over with. Stephanie notices that the chair person never displays such behavior when any of her white male colleagues are addressing. The question that immediately haunts her is whether such biased treatment was due to her being a black woman. As a repercussion, Stephanie gets curled in further meetings because she feels peripheral. She is faced by a dilemma am I eligible enough to be an effective participant in this board? M any such Stephanies in Global Companies worldwide have similar tales to tell.. TRAD ITION TAKES TOLL ON FEMALE EMPLOYMENT Traditionally, women and minorities have been heavily marginalized in terms of active participation in the workforce. Women have been kept restricted from gainful employment. Facts support that women are the leading contributors to world food production. Production of 80% of basic food stuff in Sub Saharan Africa and Caribbean is contributed by women while it is 50% in case of Asia, yet there is negligible recognition for it. M any women are engaged in household work which is not only unremunerative but also eats upon the working hours available to women for paid employment. In developing nations, women are engaged in unremunerative activities for 31-42 hours per week as against 5-15 hours for men. In Kenya, women are engaged 10 times more than men in household activities. In India, females are engaged for at least 20 hours more per week than males on household chores. Even when women are employed outside the household sector, they continue to earn lesser wages than their male counterparts, take up more hazardous forms of employment, low security and social compensations, as reported by ILO (International Labor Organization).

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Electronic copy of this paper is available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=977896

Gender discrimination fangs from education to workplace. The starkest forms of job market discrimination are in terms of (1) ununiform hiring and promotion modes (2) imbalance in training and retraining accessibility (3) restricted availability of credit as well as other productive resources (4) distorted pay packages (5) unequivocal say in decision making. Michel Hansenne, Director General of ILO brings to light that, women are still deprived of equal scope and treatment in global working environment. Although it is true that more women are now taking to gainful employment yet most of them are just proliferating the community of working poor i.e. feminization of working poverty. Currently, as per ILO report, 45% of world women population aged (15-64) are employed. In both Western and Eastern Europe and USA the figure is over 50%, 54% for South East Asia, 49% in Caribbean, 44% for South Asia, 34% in Latin America and 21% in northern Africa (fig. 1). It is only the Gulf nations that are lagging behind in terms of female employment. Diagrammatic Representation:
Percentage of Female Employment 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% PERCENTAGE EMPLOYMENT

Percentage of Female Employment

a ld r ic or Af W rn e r th i a No A s a h ut ri c So me A ti n n La e a b ib ar C ia ... As rn te SE es W A US rn & e st Ea
REGION

Fig: (1) Besides gender discrimination, a study by Jaynes & Williams(1988) cites an example of racial discrimination among the work force. Racism comprises of behavior, speech or practices which undermine a group and elevate others due to their color, culture or ethnicity. The display of such racial behavior could be subtle or pronounced, voluntary or involuntary. In US, minorities holding white collared jobs are 3 out of 7, while the same figure is only 1 for African- Americans. Only 4 % of managerial positions are occupied by this minority section. This form of gender and racial discrimination in the working world is one of the prime concerns of global HR.

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Electronic copy of this paper is available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=977896

GLASS CEILING In this context, the concept of the glass ceiling becomes particularly important in the global HR perspective. The inception of this terminology (introduced by Hymowitz and Schellhardt.), dates back to a 1986 Wall Street Journal report. Glass Ceiling indicates the obstacles confronted by women, who aim the senior level berths and higher compensation packages in various government or non government organizations. The hurdles pertaining to glass ceiling are dispersed at all corners of the world and further accelerated by the dictates of tradition and culture. Glass ceiling concept basically crops from the gender related hindrances: Corporate policies and practices Training and career development Promotion policies Compensation practices Preferred leadership styles Power in corporate culture M aintaining the status quo Tokenism in top management circles Source: adapted from Oakley J.G (2000 October). Gender-based barriers to Senior M anagement Positions: Undertaking the Scarcity of Female CEOs. Journal of business ethics] The three reasons identified for women failing to gain business exposure in the global arena are: Clearing the obstacle of selection procedures General perception is that, women are immobile compared to men due to personal liabilities Absence of proper mentoring and networking on cross border assignments. The impact of the glass ceiling is even more precarious for the women of color. They not only have to combat the harshness of gender discrimination but also racial and ethnic discrimination, while struggling up the corporate ranks. A 2004 research report pinpoints the restriction of African-American women from informal networking and their turbulent relations with their white counterparts. Despite the fact that 75% of Fortune 500 companies are pursuing work force diversity programs, nearly 37% of African American women voice the lack of ample scope for making it to the senior level berths. Racial discrimination could become pronounced in the hiring process, promotion schemes, harassment of minorities, redundancy and dismissal of minority workers which is not in line with the policies for their white counterparts. It is true that tradition cannot be reversed in a day but it is high time to realize that gender equality measures should be adopted not only on moral grounds but also as an anchor for productivity, growth and innovation to enhance sustainable development. In this context, the ILO has adopted a strong mandate to advocate equality between males and females in the world of work. The ILO has taken up a bifurcated approach encompassing the identification of specific needs and concerns of both men and women on one side and on the other side, implementing targeted interventions for the same.

S MAS HING THE GLASS CEILING With the advent of globalization, there has been a marked improvement in the corporate management of employment. In both the developed and developing blocks the legal system is being adapted feasibly to achieve realistic workplace equality in all respects. Global corporations are embarking on amendments in their workforce management policies in order to ensure equality and uniformity among all employees. Women employees are being cushioned with safer working environment and congenial working conditions particularly reduction in working hours including overtime. Companies are patronizing persistent measures to improve skills as well as employment awareness among women. IT S ECTOR: THE TREND S ETTER The IT S ector is working wonders as far as work force diversity is concerned. The IT Sector involves highly sophisticated activities requiring skilled workers with sufficient technological and technical know how. Traditionally, this sector has been a male dominated domain, with bulk hiring of male workers. However, in the post globalization scenario, workforce diversity has become the buzz word in the IT sector worldwide. The sector has now thrown its ramparts open for the fairer sex. Nasscom records throw light on the fact that females are closing in the wedge (in fact surpassing them in some areas) with their male counterparts. According to Sangeeta Gupta, VP, Nasscom, in the software industry, the male to female ratio is 76:24. However, in 2007, this ratio is likely to be 65:35.This trend is likely to continue and in fact gain momentum.
% OF IT FEM ALE WORK ERS

35%

16% 21%

AUSTRALIA INDIA JAPAN EUROPE UNITED STATES

30%

28%

INFORMATIONSOURCE: www.cisco/web/about/ac227/ac222/employed/employees/employee_diversity/index.html

FORTUN E 500 COMPANIES

FORTUNE 500 COMPAMPANIES

BOARD MEMBERS

WOMEN EXECUTIVES

11.1% board seats held by w omen. 86% of Fortune 500 companies(429) have

75%of Fortune 500 (376) com panies have

at least 1 officer as w omen

50%(258)of Fortune 500 com panies have

1 or m ore w omen directors

188 of Fortune 500 com panies have 2 or

m ore women directors 34 com panies have women directors 1.1% are inside directors

m ore than 1 fem ale corporate officer Women m ake up 2.7%of top earners In April 2002 there were 6 CEO s in the Fortune 500 com panies

[INFORMATION SOURCE: breaktheglassceiling.com/statistics-women.htm]

GLOBAL COMPANIES MAKING A D IFFERENCE In the present global scenario, several global giants are taking measured steps towards workforce diversity and ensuring effective equality for all employees irrespective of sex or race. IBM, the global IT giants ad vocation of equality, began in 1899 when one of its forerunner companies employed its first Black and female employees, years prior to the implementation of the U S equal opportunity law. One hundred and seven years down the line work force diversity is much more than a fair play policy for IBM. The organization makes untiring efforts to set right the discrimination of colored people and evolving a suitable way for integrating females into the business operation base in nations where they are barred from attaining higher education. The organizations work/life programs are aimed to make its employees more productive and attending to their needs. The program is fragmented into three strategies namely Improve the in-house work/life culture Attend the needs of employees in terms of elasticity in working hours and delivery of work Provide amenities for child/elder care to employees. These work/life programs are basically designed keeping in view the women employees. The focal point of IBMs programs over the years has been to guarantee a safe and appealing work environment for female workers so that it can persistently tap the fairer section of the workforce and benefit from it. Accolades for patronizing workforce diversity (2005):

TOTAL E-QUALITY Award for exemplary diversity and equal opportunity programs Named as company with best diversity practice in the market place by Great Place to Work Institute in M exico. Women of Color winner for the third time.

BAYER CORPORATION, a fully owned subsidiary of Bayer AG, with its head quarter at Germany is another frontrunner in work force diversity measures. BAYER views workforce diversity as an innovative move. S ome of the key programs undertaken by the company are Associate Development Program aimed at enhancing the ratio of women and people of color in employment base. The associates are individually placed under managerial cadre mentor who guides them in career development strategies and upgrading their level of competency through 2-3 year long rotational assignments. Career Development program which targets engaging women in international assignments under local mentors with full training arrangements, relocation benefits and support to spouses and children. Race Equity Program tries to emphasize on the companys zero tolerance policy of racial biased ness and create awareness among workers about the ombudsmans part in attending to such cases of racism. In response to these measures, participation of women at various levels in the company has increased:

LEVEL EXECUTIVE LEVEL VIC E PRES IDENT LEVEL DIRECTOR LEVEL

1998 2.6% 8.8%

2001 6.7% 12.8%

13.6% MANAGERIAL LEVEL (women of color) 1.7%

21.6% 3.3%

INFORMATION SOURCE: www.catalyst.org/award/files/winners/Bayer.pdf

As a global giant CIS CO, salutes the need for work force diversity in the present era of globalization. The company is aware of the advantages of accretion in female participation in the employee pool. The company has devised dedicated programs for increasing women participation especially in the field of Science & Technology. S teps being taken by CISCO: At present there are 32 CISCO Womens Action Network (WAN) operating in 24 countries, involving 3000employees, which caters to guidance and proper career framing opportunities for women. Networking Academy Gender Initiative provides the scope of IT training to women all over. The company works in co-ordination with Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) at the University of M aryland Baltimore County in July 1998, to improve female participation in Information Technology.

Proportion of Women and Ethnic Minority Employees at CIS CO FY2006 CATEGORY PERC ENTAGE OF TOTAL EMPLOYEES 22% PERC ENTAGE IN VP POS ITIONS AND ABOVE 14%

Women

Ethnic Minorities* *US data only

43%

17%

Women at CIS CO in FY2006 50 percent of new hires in the past four quarters in finance and corporate communications are female. Nearly 40 percent of new hires in the past four quarters in operations and marketing are female. Approximately 25 percent of total new hires at CIS CO are female.

INFORMATIONSOURCE: www.cisco/web/about/ac227/ac222/employed/employees/employee_diversity/index.html

NISS AN has achieved commendable success as a global company primarily due to the fact that it has been optimally able to tap diverse talent and skills through the policy of workforce diversity. Some of the actions undertaken by the company as a part of its employment diversity program are: Diversity Development Office has been set up stressing on three objectives i.e. supporting women employees not only on their career front but also in managing their household responsibilities. Women employees are placed under career advisors to aid them in paving their career path properly. Practical training sessions are organized (upto 6 months duration) for imparting application oriented knowledge.

NISS ANs progress through gender equality: In the FY 2005, 19.2% of the new hires in Japan were women. In the FY 2006, this ratio spiraled to 26.8%. In Nissan Europe SAS (France) which manages the European operations of Nissan M otor Company 8% of the employees are women. In the next 10 year span, the company targets doubling the proportion of female employees especially in departments like sales & marketing which are bold reflectors of market diversity.

[INFORMATION SOURCE: www.nissan-global.com/EN/DOCUMENT/PDF/SR/2006_E_p35-40.pdf]

Besides the above mentioned global giants, there are several other global companies which are effectively tracing the policy of work force diversity and are benefiting from it. According to Society of Human Resource Management, among the women managers of Top 10 Companies for Executive Women 30% are reported as colored which voices the encouragement offered by these companies to minorities, thereby reflecting their egalitarian approach. TOP 10 COMPANIES FOR EXECUTIVE WOMEN: DIS PLAYING A BRAVE S HOW RANKS COMPANIES S PECIAL FEATURES 1 HS BC North America 47% managers are women, 32% direct reports to CEO, 49%managers receiving promotions are women 68% managers receiving promotions are women, 42 percent of 2 American Express the top 10 percent highest-paid employees are women receives perfect score for work/life benefits and 45 percent of its 3 JPMorgan Chase managers are women 33 percent of its board of directors are female and 3.75 percent 4 AT&T of its procurement budget goes to 354 Tier I women-owned businesses 33 percent board of directors are female and 54 percent of 5 Wells Fargo managers are women 7.25 percent of its procurement budget going to Tier I (contractor) women-owned businesses and another 5.75 percent 6 Comerica Bank to Tier II (subcontractor)women- owned businesses, 54 percent of managers are women , and 64 percent of managers receiving promotions are women 40 percent of its top 10 percent highest-paid employees are 7 S odexho US A women, and 44 percent of all managers female. 51 percent of all managers are women, and 17 percent of them 8 HBO are black, 5.75 percent are Latina and 8 percent are Asian American. 44% percent of managers are women and 18 percent of them are 9 Cingular Wireless black, 8 percent Latina and 5 percent Asian American. Marriott 48% of managers and 48 % of manager receiving promotions International and 18 percent of the board of directors are women Source:http://www.diversityinc.com/public/367.cfm 10
Article: The Top 10 Companies for Executive Women

CORPORATE INDIA: NOT LAGGING BEHIND The ILO says women represent 50% of the population, 30% of the labour force, perform 60% of all working hours, receive 10% of the worlds income and own less than 1% of the worlds property. Globalization is definitely narrowing the gender rift. It has brought in the realization that, performance can never be gender based. A female employee can be as much diligent and efficient as her male counterpart. With this realization, has come a sweep of corporate policy measures like work force diversity, career guidance for female employees, safeguard against sexual harassment and special welfare schemes for them. In India traditionally women took to productive employment only under financial stress. As a result, the female work participation rate was higher in the lower social strata but not so for the privileged classes. However, at present, the die seems to have rolled the other way round more and more corporate houses in India are encouraging female workers in highly skilled jobs thereby leading to record number of female employment in the recent times. Thus the weight age of females in the Indian labour market is rising. This may be supported by a report of Times News Network, December 26, 2006 which states that, Industry Chamber Assocham is reserving some of its top berths for women professionals from the corporate sphere. It is giving an increased importance to women in spearheading important committees especially, in the insurance and financial sector. Assocham, which has an existing men-women ratio of 40:60, is securing some top posts for women as well. This is indeed an achievement on the part of women. The Assocham Chamber has corporate patrons like Nicholas Piramal, Bank of Baroda, Trident, Gitanjali Gems, Assam Company Ltd, M ahindra World City, Cosmos Industries, AR Airways, Emirates Shipping Agencies, IDC India, Jindal Global Finance Investment Ltd, Sutherland Global Services and Zoom Developers. Thus, ultimately India is also breaking out from the shackles of age old traditions to make way for the new age women as an effective and productive constituent of corporate India.

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INDIAN WOMEN S CALING HEIGHTS Principal, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (India), started career with TCS in 1984, now heads Cap GeminisAdvanced Development and Aruna Jayanthi Integration, and Application M anagement, moved on to account management, sales, and business development and quality. Presently leading 250 peoples team, hoping to build up a large organization from her independent business. She is chief technology Lydia Lobo officer, Aptech, and is teacher turned techie, now deciding boardroom strategies. She holds techo-managerial role. Staring with a career at Computer Point as a marketing executive Director, Knowledge Services Group (KSG), SAP India, Saadia looks S addia Lobo after KSGs knowledge-based products and services and trains corporate clients. Gayathri Parathasarthy head of Development Integration Services, a Strategic Business Unit (SBU) for the IT services division at i-flex Gayathri solutions. From being a programmer to a business unit head she now Parathasarthy leads a team of 190 professionals in M umbai and Bangalore handling various types of projects, focusing on corporate and investment banking. Chief Executive Officer at PepsiCo International .She was Indra Nooyi President,CFO of the company previously and contributed a lot in restructuring the company. Source:http://www.itpeopleindia.com/20020225/cover1.shtml
Women in IT shatter glass-ceiling myth

OTHER S IDE OF THE S TORY A counter argument that may be posed in this regard is that the glass ceiling is virtual and does not actually exist. Some deviant views on this indicate that rather than workplace discrimination, women themselves voluntarily choose not to pursue high flying career. Women in general, give more importance to familial duties, responsibilities and child bearing & rearing. There are instances in the global corporate world where women have stepped down from high slots just to accommodate or tend to their personal issues. Sometimes, the domestic and other social obligations become a hindrance in their way to ascend the acclivity in the professional domain rather than the gender bias. Lastly, as we speak of work force diversity, we concentrate on the global corporations and ignore womens or minority communitys entrepreneurial success in small enterprises. With these counter views we are thus faced by a baffling question does the glass ceiling really exist or is it just a myth that is being chased world wide?

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CAN HRM WORK WONDERS ? Human Resource M anagement can play an active role in wiping out discriminatory forces within an organization. HR professionals are the core persons responsible for comprehending the behavioral structure operating within an organization and hence devise measures accordingly. Effective strategies that HR can implement to impede discriminatory motives within an organization are charted below: Taking note of the operating policies and programs of the organization (like hiring policy, pay package, promotion trends etc) and assessing their impact on uniformity in employee status is an important task Fact that an employee wants to stick to his/her organization depends on the culture and career prospects in that organization and for this reason wide inspection is to be done to observe employee behaviors. Flaws and potencies of the actions taken should be checked from time to time, so that women do not lag behind in their career path. Attention should be given so that there are no hindrances for women to reach top managerial positions. Hierarchy should be maintained properly and the barriers faced by the women employees in their advancement should be cleared by the line managers who are recruited for this purpose. Record should be kept of women at the top who have been successful in breaking through the glass ceiling and thereby reaching the top tier. Women at top levels should be recognized as mentors Effective ways for retaining women employees should be found by allowing proper incentives. Proper networking of the women employees, development of leadership ability and allowing scope in succession planning Optimally designed training programs both formal and informal should be introduced for skilled as well as unskilled workers irrespective of sex or race Assessing the wage level, emoluments, access to training programs, promotion, rotation and transfer strategies, assignment of international projects, for employees of both sexes at parallel designation should be done successfully. M apping the productivity of females against their male colleagues and developing policies for them.

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CONCLUS ION Despite the measures of workforce diversity and patronization of gender, race equity in global corporations, the impact of such actions seems to be superficial. On practical note sex and race discrimination continue to thrive .Although global companies blow the trumpet of ensuring recruitment, promotion, training and career development opportunities solely on merit basis ,yet the reality has a contrary story to narrate. As an aftermath, in spite of anti discrimination norms operating in the organizations it is mostly whites and males who are climbing the corporate ladder. Addition to women and minority workforce alone cannot provide them with equity. It has to be coupled with suitable and realistic antidiscrimination efforts. Diversity practiced in the absence of such efforts would only lead to enhancement in their exploitation, sexual or otherwise. M oreover fair play and impartial treatment is a requisite for talented employee retention and sophisticated organizational culture. Realistic equality is now the thought for the day. It is incorrect to mingle equality of opportunity with that of equality of treatment. Sometimes, it is crucial to maintain a different working method, based on this sexual difference. Besides equal pay for equal work, there should be stress on occupational safety especially in maternity and child care issues. Women serving as part-timers should be provided the same support as that of the standard whole time employees. Collective bargaining through trade unions is a way out for the fairer sex and minority race employees to raise their voice against the day to day adversities faced by them. Thus, taking into consideration the gender and race sensitive issues, it is high time that Global Companies realize the need for setting up a congenial work atmosphere where men and women of all race and creeds can work hand in hand on the same platform.

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REFERENCES 1. M ore and better jobs for women-An Action Guide. An ILO follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and The World Summit for Social Development by Lin Lean Lim . ISBN 92-2-109459-6. ILO Geneva, 1996. 2. Rethinking Political Correctness by Ely , Robin J, M eyerson, Debra E , Davidson , M artin N. Harvard Business Review ,Sept 2006, Vol 84,Issue 9 p78 -87, 10p, 3c.(AN 21882966). 3. www.workfamily.com/work-lifeclearinghouse/guest columns/gc0032.htm 4. www.catalyst.org/award/files/winners/Bayer.pdf 5. www.cisco.com/web/about/ac227/ac 222/employees/employee_diversity/index.html 6. www.shrm.org/research/quarterly/0402glass_essay.asp 7. www.nissan-global.com/EN/DOCUM ENT/PDF/SR/2006_E_p 35-40.pdf 8. www.itpeopleindia.com/20020225/cover1.shtml Women in IT shatter glass-ceiling myth 9. www.diversityinc.com/public/367.cfm Article: The Top 10 Companies for Executive Women 10. breaktheglassceiling.com/statistics-women.htm 11. Business World Online: Labor &M anagement, Friday, M arch 9, 2007/M anila, Philippines 12. www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/people/diversity 13. Women break glass ceiling in Info Tech sector 30 Oct, 2005, TIM ES NEWS NETWORK 14. Transforming Discriminatory Corporate Cultures: This is Not Just Womens Work by CHERYL LYN WADE St Johns University-School of Law St Johns Legal Studies; Research Paper No. 06-0041 M aryland Law Review, Vol. 65, No-2, 2006 www.papers.ssrn.com 15. www.workplacefairness.org/guide?attribute%5B%5D=221 16. www.japanlaw.info/lawletter/june82/mt.htm 17. Gender: equality between men and women www.ilo.org/public/english/gender.htm 18. World of Work, No 17, Sept/Oct 1996 www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/magazine/17/women.htm

Authors: SUBHASREE BASU ROY E-mail: subhasree@icfai.org DEBDATTA GUPTA debdatta@icfai.org

E-mail:

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