International Women’s Day 2022: Breaking the invisible boundaries

Almost all facets of our lives have been impacted since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Across geographies including dynamic centers of economic growth like India, women were drastically hit by the pandemic- the lines between their personal and professional roles and commitments were blurred. The International Women’s Day for 2022 thus has more significance than ever before. Never before was it more crucial for businesses to ensure diverse representation at the boardroom level, egalitarianism in public decision-making entities and elevated growth chances for women professionals.

As a theme, ‘Break The Bias’ opens up a wide horizon to encourage and facilitate individual and collective changes - not as a one-step approach, but through multiple steps which can be taken at an organizational and individual level. 

I believe that the concern with bias is that often individuals are not even aware of their own bias/biases at an unconscious level. When it comes to gender bias at the workplace, I have seen it taking shape at many levels- recruitment, leadership, wage disparity and an overall approach towards maternity. 

Let me share a personal example here. 

The arrival of my first son last year shook my world and became the biggest motivation in all aspects of my life. Becoming a mother made me realize not only how challenging parenthood is, but also the major role our business ecosystem plays in regards to supporting the balance in the entire parentage-work relationship. There is the need for an ongoing tactical conversation in which you and the company openly discuss and agree on the specifics of your schedule and workload from this point on, in direct relation with your passion for your career and your new family commitments. In my personal situation, I had a great support circle from my other co-founders, as well as colleagues who stepped in for me while I was on maternity leave. This has been a source of great encouragement and motivation for me to come back to work, and an inspiration as to how we can be better in the subject.

Amidst parenthood, it is important for the workplaces to take it as priority to support both the set of parents in their career development by encouraging and providing the means for fathers to take an active role in the upbringing of their children, and break the old bias regarding working mothers. 

2022 offers us an opportunity to act upon and create new avenues for remodeling post-pandemic workplaces without bias for the betterment of all defined or non defined gender.  It’s heartwarming to see businesses encouraging its employees to combat biases that women and minorities have been facing at work for decades and breaking this cycle. In my opinion, the very basis for this is through a new type of leadership from a female perspective, that considers and treats all these aspects from an equality and inclusion viewpoint.

I urge all those women who may be struggling with any of these biases to remember that they don’t have to choose between career and maternity. This is the generation that will break this cycle by starting an open conversation together with employers about how to approach professional and personal balance. We all need to take action - start the conversation, come up with solutions and most importantly, break the prejudices and stereotypes that discriminate unfairly. 

The article has been written by Orietta Mendez, Managing Partner and Chief Operations Officer of AVOW