New Delhi, June 11
Six decades post-Independence, perceptions that women are fragile and lack the qualities of effective managers are still hindering their success in professional lives, finds a major study on women managers conducted by the Centre for Social Research in Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore.

The study reveals why women are unable to break the glass ceiling and invariably end up in “secure positions” with little real power. The research shows that just two women (Usha Thorat and Shyamla Gopinath, both Deputy Governors of the RBI) have reached top positions in public sector banks ever since they were nationalised.

Based on a survey of 240 women managers and 24 human resource managers from the metropolitan cities across the country, the study lists three major restrictions in the women’s growth path - preconceptions of women being weak managers; lack of mentoring and restrictions the women face as working mothers and homemakers.

The research released today looked at women in four sectors of organisation - health, media, banking and finance and hospitality. The findings demonstrate that most women were confronted on their jobs with male egos, which led to loss of opportunities.

Over 72 per cent companies audited during the interview process of women mangers and HR managers had no specific gender policies to promote women to leadership positions or make the organisation gender inclusive. A majority of companies did not have gender-specific cells for reporting grievances of women staff.

Many organisations were outlawing statutory benefits offered to other employees when it came to women: flexible working hours were not being given to women in 49 per cent cases; 48 per cent were not getting transport; 51 per cent were being denied compensatory leaves and 58 per cent were being denied medical benefits.

In the hospitality sector, women make up just 9.1 per cent of the workforce; 82 per cent women managers admitted there were no gender policies. Although the banking sector by far seems the most suitable for women’s growth among the surveyed sectors.

The study states that just two women have risen to top positions in public sector banks since they were nationalised. Further, only 5 per cent women are in managerial positions in public banks today as against 30 per cent in private banks.

In the health sector, women candidates are preferred in physiotherapy and client relationship due to their caring nature. Glass ceilings exist with 30 per cent women admitting to men being preferred over them for several job assignments.

As far as factors hindering women at the societal level go, 18 per cent respondent women managers complained of conflicting roles, responsibilities and complaining in-laws who want the daughters-in-law to quit their jobs. The individual challenges lie where women themselves do not have the drive to move ahead and are complacent with the position that they are holding - 63 per cent in Delhi, 48 per cent in Bangalore and 48 per cent in Kolkata at the entry level; 47.8 per cent respondents in Delhi, 39.7 per cent in Bangalore and 48.6 per cent in Kolkata in the middle-level expressed aspirations to reach the top but admitted they didn’t know how to get there.