Glass Ceiling-Gender Equality

1)Do you think reservation for women serves the purpose of gender equality?
Gender equality means that all people irrespective of sex should be given equal
treatments and there should not be any discrimination. Gender discrimination is still
prevalent in certain parts of our country.To eliminate those discriminations steps
should be taken care at the ground level. Steps to eliminate female
infanticide,increasing sex ratio and providing formal education to girls should be
taken.
Reservation for women will serve the purpose of gender equality in some cases like
in education .This will motivate them to work hard in life and be successful rather
than considering themselves for household works.But reservation shouldnt be
given upto that level that women start taking things casually and stop working
hard.As for the corporate sector I feel there should not be any reservation for
women.Every individual should compete after he/she gets into the organization.All
are presented the same common platform and its upto each one to take initiative
work hard and succeed in life.My sister has been a perfect example of how hard
work and dedication can pave way for excellence even in a male dominated
society.She fought against all odds,proved herself time and again.As in the political
scenario I guess reservations should be present as it will encourage women to come
up on the national scene and show their leadership qualities.Even Mahatma Gandhi
realised the importance of women,and so had asked them to join in the freedom
struggle.Presence of women in the political scenario will help to solve and tackle
women related issues, present in our country, more efficiently .
2)What do you think is the core reason for gender discrimination in Indian
organizations?
The core reason for gender discriminations in Indian organizations simply depends
on the mindset and notion of people.Talking about the corporate world,I have seen
gender discrimination in my organisation.When an individual joins an
organization,he/she is presented with same opportunities but only a few of them
are able to grab it. In most of the organization there are only few male and female
workers who actually perform their duties efficiently.Presently the steel industry is a

male dominated industry,because of which there is a general philosophy that male

counterparts work better than their female ones,but there are exceptions as
well.Female workers who are actually better than their male counterparts generally
have to face this discrimination in this sector.This situation arises because the
percentage of women(only 1 in 20women),working efficiently, is very less in
comparison to the percentage of men( 5 in 20 men ). Because of these 5 working
male the other 15 gain an edge over the 1 working women.This actually leads to
discrimination in promotion decisions.Education is also one of the major reason for
gender discrimination in India .It is a belief that women are asked to play a second
fiddle to their male counterparts and hence are considered to do household works in
our country .A mentality which arises because of lack of education.This is the
reason why representation of women in the Indian Political system is less as most
of them are unaware of the rights given to them by the Constitution of India.
3)If black is the opposite of white, according to you what is the opposite of glass
ceiling? Please explain
Glass ceiling is used as a metaphor, a barrier which prevents a women to grow in an
organization and makes them feel discriminated. It is what stops them when they
want to go up in managerial roles.This phenomenon was brought to light by Powell
and Butterfield in 1994.Organization in which it is followed are at a loss as they are
unable to retain good talent pool.It is important for organization to be fair and just
with its employees.Even in my organization there was no women in the higher
management, which demotivated all women employees.
Black represents those organizations where discrimination for women takes place
and which are not able to retain a good talent pool where as white represents those
organization where there is fair way of promoting its employees. Women will feel no
discrimination in those organizations and will be able to reach higher in the
managerial hierarchy, as per their merit.
The opposite of glass ceiling would be a ladder to success, which will not limit the
pool of talent for promotion into managerial ranks on the basis of sex but will give
emphasis to their merits. Hard work and dedication will be the criteria for
promotions. Presently there are companies where promotions do not depend on a
persons qualifications or sex but depends on the merit of a person.Even an

engineer can become a manager in due course of time. This in turn will motivate all
the employees and even push them to attain success.