In India, it is concerning to see women gradually leaving the workforce due to increasing family obligations. Despite initial strides, the number of women in office roles fades away with time as societal expectations often prioritize familial responsibilities over career pursuits.
A woman named Ayushi Mona Singh took to X (formerly Twitter) to write a very interesting and hard-hitting thread about this. She highlighted this trend of seeing gender diversity in a workplace flip gradually. At first, you see a decreasing number of female faces during online meetings.
At some point, as a working woman, you start seeing other women disappear.
It begins slowly. You are on a Zoom call and you are the only female face.
You are in a meeting room and someone presumes you are not good at what you do because you are so 'well-dressed'.
— Ayushi Mona Singh (@TheMonaFactor) January 2, 2024
You get to see average men take over stages at academic institutes as guest speakers. They readily become team leaders or jump jobs for promotions.
Gradually mediocre boys you know become guest speakers at your alma mater. Men who are wayyy junior to you become team leaders on no better grounds than their own deluded belief in their level of competence OR because they have jumped 2 progressive jobs for a promotion.
— Ayushi Mona Singh (@TheMonaFactor) January 2, 2024
Women, on the other hand, are married off and go on maternity breaks. After such major life shifts, many decide to dedicate themselves completely to raising kids and taking care of the family.
Meanwhile, women get married off to NRIs. They lose time in adjusting to the workforce there.
Some women go on maternity breaks and find that they’d rather not do both and over-stretch themselves. Unless they have specific skills that back-to-career programs seek they’re lost.
— Ayushi Mona Singh (@TheMonaFactor) January 2, 2024
Many also realize that their husbands’ income is enough for the two of them and hence, are allowed to pursue other passions.
Some women realize that with their husband’s income they can pursue side passions like freelancing or baking that gives them better control of how they manage their time, no office politics, unrealistic travel and pressure that screws up their health.
They drop off.
— Ayushi Mona Singh (@TheMonaFactor) January 2, 2024
Towards the end of it all, you may realize that the women still working at an office have financial obligations, are single or are privileged in some way.
One day you turn around & see all women who are still around in the workplace have
(1) Major financial dependencies (bread earners, no family support)
(2) Still single/young
(3) Generationally wealthy & privileged women whose house help is substituting their husbands share— Ayushi Mona Singh (@TheMonaFactor) January 2, 2024
Men on the other hand are obligated to work as per social convention.
Men of course, have no choice but to be employed to be socially respected.
That’s also why they orchestrate such focus into their careers.
But do Diversity pundits realize that maniacal focus that propels an average woman is incredibly difficult?
— Ayushi Mona Singh (@TheMonaFactor) January 2, 2024
How much a woman is able to further in her career depends heavily upon how much her family supports her. If she has to move cities because of her husband, the stacks are against her.
A predictor of a woman’s potential is support from family.
Grades/ skills wane away because women are busy moving cities for the husband,
dealing with being looked over due to inherent biases in society &
opting out after realizing the game is stacked against them all along.— Ayushi Mona Singh (@TheMonaFactor) January 2, 2024
So, there’s this unspoken rule – men find it smoother to climb the career ladder as compared to women. Why? Well, women often juggle work and family duties, throwing in some extra hurdles. Family obligations can slow down their career game altogether. It’s a bit unfair, isn’t it?