Increasing presence of women in workforce is need of the hour

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Recent studies world over have shown that female entrepreneurs have been found to be 15% more trustworthy than their male counterparts. Yet we see very few women in positions of power making integral decisions in boardrooms, especially in historically male dominated industries like real estate.

I’ve often found myself being let down by the rampant sexism that exists in this space that happens to be extremely sacred to me as a second-generation developer. I’m asked questions like ‘Are you working full time?’, ‘Are you taking care of marketing?’, ‘Are you serious about working?’, ‘Will you work after marriage?’ – the kind of questions that would never be asked to my brother or any other male counterpart given that watching them operate as promoters is an obvious kind of understanding. For me on the other hand, the assumption is that I’ll stick around till I get married.

I then had a choice. I could either sit and complain about how uninspired I felt given the biased perspective the industry had about women in real estate, or I could do something about it. I chose the latter.

I realised that one form of the solution could be women leaders working towards ensuring that talented women feel encouraged to want to be a part of an industry that happens to contribute very significantly to the country’s GDP. The more women we have in real estate, the more inclusive the industry will eventually become. CREDAI Women’s Wing exists and operates for the very same reason. We are tirelessly working in hope that someday the civil engineering batch at renowned universities will have more than 2 women in a class size of 100.

Women professionals across the world face issues of gender inequality, unfavourable business environment, unequal pay, office favouritism and exclusion from the ‘Boys Club’. In the real estate industry, which is primarily male dominated, the sex ratio is greatly skewed. Men aren’t accustomed to seeing women at the workplace.

Offering women leadership positions, empowering them to shape company culture, building awareness for gender imbalances in the company and being vigilant about rampant sexism and penalising it, could help in hiring worthy talent.

There is more than enough for the organisations to gain as well. Involving women in activities like sales, CRM and Finance can definitely help overcome the issue of trust deficit in the real estate sector. The more women we have in important positions such as CSOs, CFOs and as board members, the more the companies would seem ethical and worthy of trust.

Since I have been fortunate enough to get this opportunity, I want to encourage more women to be fearless and pursue their dreams no matter how unconventional they might be. I want women to believe that there is no such thing as a ‘glass ceiling’. Only the sky is the limit.

(The writer is Director, ATS Infrastructure and National Convenor, CREDAI Women’s Wing. Views expressed are personal)