Why Women Can’t Catch a Break?

Women are empowered with education but how many women make it to the Industry? In the 2k world still, marriage is considered the final destination for women born in any culture or caste. Indian society can not accept an independent woman and it still is a dream for many like Miya. 

An article from Business Line dated October 27, 2023, quotes the following statistics.

The 2022 World Bank gender data for India highlights a significant gender disparity in labor force participation. Among individuals aged 15 and older, only 24 percent of females are economically active, while 73.6 percent of males participate in the labor force. This data underscores a troubling trend as female labor force participation has consistently declined since 1990. In 2010, the participation rate for women was 28.8 percent, which decreased to 22.7 percent in 2020. While there was a slight improvement to 24 percent in the most recent year, it’s worth noting that female labor force participation in India has not surpassed 30 percent since 1990. 

When you see the results in 10th and 12th grades, women are often the top scorers. What happens to them afterward? Abilasha started her journey as an MTech graduate and was capable enough to become an Assistant Professor, but due to her family background, marriage commitments, motherhood, and her ill parents, she secured a job as an admissions counselor—a job she never cherished. At the same school, she wanted to shift to teaching but was never given the opportunity, being told she didn’t have a BEd. She quit her current job and is unhappy about the situation. Mentally, physically, and emotionally drained by the whole ordeal, she is now struggling to survive.

Let us see our Miya story.

Miya started her journey as a woman with simple expectations. When she graduated from college, her parents were not ready to let her live alone anymore, as she was already 22 years old and they wanted her to get married. She secured a job with underpay, whereas her peers were placed well in another city. She wanted to find a life of her own, but before she could explore, she was married and moved to another city. With no knowledge of the language and her new family being so different from her hometown, it wasn’t easy for her to live.

Soon she became pregnant, and the hormonal changes led her to depression. After childbirth, she became a housewife; for her duties and responsibilities, she had to sacrifice her independence.

It’s been 13 years of odd jobs, part-time work, and multidisciplinary knowledge, but she is still struggling to find a direction for her career and personal growth. Many might say Covid was a curse, but for Miya, it brought change. With the advent of online learning, she had the world at her fingertips. She had always wanted to be an IIM student since her studies in 2002, but her dream came true in 2020 when she was able to certify herself in a Women’s Entrepreneurship Program, a six-week intensive course by IIM Bangalore. She also became a Certified Career Counselor through the University of California, Los Angeles, which she never thought would be possible.

Her mental health has improved. Today, she is a mentor, coach, and guide. She is certified and has the authority to support women like her. She has gone back to a job that empowers her.

Currently, she is working at a school where she guides students, a workplace she has been away from for 15 years. It’s not easy, as her workplace is now dominated by young minds. She has been in a closed and independent culture where she trained and equipped herself to work on her own, but here, she is an employee.

It’s not easy to be in a workplace. She will face challenges wherever she is, but if she feels it’s right for her to be there, she can do wonders. Miya has worked both as an individual freelancer, where she couldn’t see any constant income and as an employee. She thought being a working woman was better, so she went back to a job. However, what she had learned as an independent woman doing odd jobs had to be unlearned, and she now has to work under schedules, deadlines, and targets to get her pay. She might have to deal with people who cannot make decisions in a centralized corporate world. Her dream of getting a job after a long break was good, but does that mean she is in the right working space with the right pay? She still feels she is underpaid compared to the job market, but she has to accept and evolve until she finds the right spot.

Every woman’s story is similar. We Indian women bond more with our families than with our jobs. The trend might be changing, but over the years I have seen women leave their prestigious positions to be with their families. I have friends who worked as reporters and now, at home, can’t decide what to do for their children. Everyone dreams of being like Indra Nooyi or Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, but they have their families to back and support them through their journeys. What is it like for the women from the villages of UP or Kerala? Education empowers every woman, but it doesn’t support her to the next level. Miya might have found her dream of being a working woman after 15 years, but that doesn’t mean her journey has found its end. Her lost corporate life is still lost.

-Aishwarya Magesh is a homemaker, part-time consultant, passionate writer, and blogger, inspiring others as a parent coach, career counselor, and financial advisor with a mission to support all the Mothers of Special Children.