Women Empowerment: Professional Performance,

Development & Growth

Sandhya Pentareddy, Executive Director, VIT University

February 10, 2011NITTTR, India

Agenda

Introductions & Expectations – 30min

Women Empowerment – 30 minobservations from India and USA

Professional Performancewhy is it important for women empowerment

Challenges faced by You – 30 min

Professional Performance – 30 min

Agenda

Self Development

Career Growth

Work-life balance

Challenges and Solutions – 45 min

Resources and References

What is empowerment?

Who empowers women?

Empowerment

Empowerment - “process by which individuals and groups gain power, access to resources and control over their own lives. In doing so, they gain the ability to achieve their highest personal and collective aspirations and goals” (Robbins, Chatterjee, & Canda, 1998, p.91)

Women's Empowerment:educates and empowers women with the skills and confidence necessary to get a job, create a healthy lifestyle, and provide for themselves and their families – adapted from http://www.womens-empowerment.org/

Empowerment – from DictionaryTo give power or authority to; To enable or permit

Who Empowers Women?

A Woman herself

Women helping each other

Family

Communities providing support

Conducive Policies

Older women playing role models

Empowering Women - Tips

1. Self respect & discovery of self-worth

2. As far as gender goes, You are an Equal

3. Voice your own opinions. Be assertive.

4. Make an effort to change language that communicates

gender-bias and gender-stereotyping.

5. Develop skills and education

Life skills – communication, financial management

Career and livelihood skills

6. Work towards career growth

7. Develop Emotional Intelligence and Social Skills

8. Be healthy. Respect your body and mental health.

1. Nourishment

2. Say no to physical abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence

3. Personal leisure

9. Choices in Life are yours too Career choices Reproduction choices Lifestyle / Financial choices

10. Have control over your environment Be an equal partner

Empowering Women - Tips

Growth in Five Dimensions

1 Social Standing

2 Education

3 Career & Impact

4 Political Participation

5 Decision Making and Control over Life

India

Based on my observations:

Social Standing

Then (80s): Respected but considered inferior in capabilities. “A woman’s place is at home” was the general belief. Many women started challenging this.

Now: Due to rapid strides in education & career, more and more people are treating women as equals. Still a huge difference in moral standards and freedom. Identity still associated with Men in life, for the large part. More family orientation and less “individuality” for women even now.

Education

Then (80s): less awareness in economically challenged classes. Middle and Upper classes: Bachelor’s level education common. Women started getting into higher and specialized education – esp. Engineering and Medicine.

Now: still less awareness in economically challenged classes. Improvement in vocational training and enrollment. Middle and Upper classes: Large enrollment in specialized education. Getting into other fields also (Sales, Marketing etc.).

India

Career

Then (80s): Economically backward: house-hold work, cleaning jobs, construction labor. Middle and Upper classes: Teaching, Nursing, Medicine, a few in Engineering.

Now: Economically backward and less educated: petrol bunks, auto-cabs, bus-conductors, small businesses, retail, hotels & restaurants. Refreshingly far greater opportunities attributable to economic growth. Educated: A large presence in Engineering, IT, Medicine and diversifying across many fields – customer facing, business administration and leadership roles. In leadership roles, women are having to work harder to get noticed, compared to men. Glass ceiling – exists but is getting thinner and higher.

Political Participation

Then (80s): We have had notable women in politics right from freedom-fighting days. But fewer at grassroots level in Independent India

Now: More and more women are seeking political careers (still far less than Men). Reservations by Govt. Greater levels of participation in community programs.

Decision Making in Life & Control over Life

Then (80s): Mostly deferred to Men.Now: Women contributing a lot but in many regions / economic classes, still deferring to Men. A vast portion is still not having / playing an equal role in overall control over life.

USA

Social Standing

Then (90s): In control concerning freedom, moral standards and social standing. High level of “individualism” but has a culture that still identified them with their husbands. Not as competitive as men.

Now: Progressive. Making more impact. High awareness in personal development. More competitive than in 90s in many diverse fields. Still identified with their husbands despite high individualism.

Based on my observations:

Education

Then (90s): Women’s enrollment in higher education crossed over that of men. Ratio: 7:6. Enrollment in science & technology is less compared to men.

Now: Women enrollment in higher education is growing. 2007 ratio W:M:: 10:7. 1995 W : 2007W :: 7:10.

USA

Then (90s): Mostly into customer facing jobs, teaching and health-care. Less in technical. Income disparity.

Now: Seeing more women (than before) in technical jobs (lot of immigrants). Seeing more women at top of the pyramid compared to the past but still far less compared to Men. More competitive than before. Income disparity still exists. Glass ceiling – still exists but easier to break. Women are having to work harder to get noticed in leadership roles. Some big corporations are encouraging women.

Career Political Participation

Has obviously grown. Seen a woman president contender in primaries for the first time. More women governors.

Decision Making in Life & Control over Life

Recent years: House-hold decisions mostly by women. Also contributing to financial and other important decision making. Men are still implicitly recognized (but not explicitly) as ‘heads of the household’ but women are taking more and more control.

Motivating factors / Catalysts

Need Education Ambition

To improve one’s own quality of life To contribute to a larger body / Recognition

Policies Support systems to suit the environment

Women schools and colleges “Ladies only” buses, ladies hostels, protected environment. Special coaching Self-help groups

Motivating factors – Public Policies

Equal property inheritance rights in many states Income tax exemption – higher for women Encouraging nationalized bank schemes A.P. – Encourages women entrepreneurs through loans

and subsidies. Some states have reservations in education for women –

A.P. Reservations in political system – Village, Town and City

level -33%. Assembly/Parliament – bill pending. Women’s schools /colleges Support for self-help groups, micro credit Better Insurance policies for Women by LIC

Opportunity

Unmet/ Underserved

Need

Employment opportunities

Education opportunities

Entrepreneurship

Opportunity

Skilled

Employment

Opportunity

Prime

Employment

Opportunity

Professional Performance & Women’s Empowerment

Performance

ImpactCareer Growth

Empowerment

Economic Freedom

Challenges faced by You

Exercise:

Identify Challenges currently faced by you or your communities/ friends

at Work place

at Home

Towards the professional performance & growth

Towards empowerment of the groups you work with

Professional Performance

Formal Definition: Accomplishment of a given task measured against preset standards.

But it’s about• Not just doing to ‘the best of your abilities’ but doing what it

takes to get the task done, and done well!• Asking yourself constantly:

– Are we reaching our goals?– Are we meeting our commitments & expectations?– Can we exceed expectations and delight our

customers/partners/colleagues?– Can I go that extra mile?

If it’s worth doing, it is worth doing well !

Professional Performance

• An Individual

• A key player in Delivery of program / project / product

• A Manager / Leader

• A Teacher

• An Organization ?

What can you do as

Professional Performance

• Commitment & Sincerity

• Goal Oriented

• Know your eco-system – utilize and cater to it

• Process is important– Ethics– Respect

• Team work and high involvement

• Responsiveness and Responsibility

• Reuse available knowledge, information and best practices

What can you do as an Individual ?• Communication & Visibility to

stakeholders– Progress, hurdles, risks, challenges– Achievements – self and team

• Build lasting Partnerships

• Create repeatable best practices

• Learn and Teach– Learn from talented people– Mentor, Develop People

• Question accepted practices

• Innovate & Encourage Innovation

• Quality consciousness

• Motivate and Inspire

Professional Performance

Keep the customer’s needs & project goals at heart

Flexibility in requirements and scope Intermediate outcomes – monitor, share,

feedback Continuous improvement Quality consciousness

Delivery of a product/ project/ program

Professional Performance

What can you do as a Manager/ Leader ? Cater to

Organization needs Team needs Individual needs

Recognize that you are the bridge between the organization and the individuals Facilitate Support Anticipate Provide

Develop and coach people – performance & growth Instill best practices Notice and bring problems to the forefront See the ‘Individual slide’

Professional Performance

What can you do as a teacher ? Motivate

Share examples around the world Role models Success stories

Encourage students to speak up and participate Presentations Projects & Exercises Field visits & work wherever possible

Understand their dreams, potential, gaps & needs Facilitate realization of their dreams, potential Build critical skills necessary for the development of the

local area and individuals. Need-specific technical skills – ex: IT, Medical, Teaching Common skills – Communication, Language & Social

Professional Performance

Point to opportunities – higher education, jobs, resources Suppressed gender / community

Special attention towards needs and growth Educate them on equality / rights

Bring experts to school To motivate To give insight into their line of work, educational

requirements Opportunities in their line of work and how to get into that

line of work Build Partnerships

Community Experts International bodies who can share experiences and best

practices

Professional Performance

What can you do as an Organization?

Professionalism – What’s working in/for India

Based on my observation:

Ambition / Achievement Personal growth and improvement in quality of life Need for recognition Change / Impact

Drive to improve skills and education Competitive spirit Capacity and willingness to work hard Commitment to Goals Breaking the regional / country barriers Openness to partnerships inside and outside the country

Professionalism – Critical view of the gap in India

Based on my observation:

“Not my job” attitude “Doing (only) my best” syndrome Focusing on self and self duties, rather than on team work

and big picture Lack of quality Customer (un) friendliness Not taking enough ‘pride’ in fruits of labor Less emphasis on impact that the work makes and more on

remuneration Less knowledge sharing / information sharing Corruption

There are many people and organizations that work with integrity and towards excellence. Above is an over-generalization and is not the case in whole, but nevertheless a gap we need to fill in order to excel as a country and civilization.

Career Growth

1. Excel at your work. Remember “If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well”!

2. Go the extra mile.

3. Understand the big picture and put yourself in it. Contribute to it.

4. Volunteer for special assignments or improvements.

5. Take Initiative.

6. Develop positive communication and social style.

7. Be critical and notice opportunities for improvements.

1. Cost savings

2. Product ideas

3. Efficiency, Process improvements

Career Growth

8. Be innovative. Create opportunities for the team & organization.

9. Develop your skills

10. Be loyal – your manager, team, organization.

11. Respect, Responsibility, Reliability & Responsiveness!

12. Never say “That’s not my job” – notable difference between USA and India.

13. Be a great team player. Share the credit. Play ethically.

14. Network and develop partnerships.

15. Visibility, visibility and visibility!

Self Development

Dare to Dream. Have a Vision Develop a roadmap – steps to achieve your

vision SWOT analysis

Strengths Weaknesses & gaps Opportunities Threats

Identify development areas. Chart a plan to improve

Self Development

External and internal opportunities Visibility Help from Experts Integrity, Professionalism & Excellence Network Life skills

Communication, Language skills, Social skills, Emotional intelligence

Negotiation & People skills. Facing challenges.

Work-life Balance

In double income families, his work-life balance is as important as her balance.

Examples of how women make it work Moderate careers for both Demanding career for spouse and Moderate career

for self Demanding careers for both The key: Share the personal work load

Communication at work is important – reasons not excuses and not hindrances.

Professional Performance Gap in India

Challenges and Solutions

How do we continue to share our progress?

Email group

Face book

My contact information

www.facebook.com/vit.sandhya

Resources and References

Empowerment Theory: http://www.malone.edu/media/1/7/71/Empowerment_Presentation_A_Napier.s06.pdf

Women’s empowerment: http://www.womens-empowerment.org/

10 Simple ideas to empower women: http://www.ywca.org/site/pp.asp?c=djISI6PIKpG&b=295667

Women Empowerment in India – Milestones & Challenges – Dr. Rakesh Chandra http://www.empowerpoor.org/downloads/women%20empowerment.pdf

IES National center for education statistics (US)http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98

• High performance work practices: linking strategy and skills to performance outcomes, a CIPD report, London, UK