A recent report indicates that improved gender balance in employment, entrepreneurship and corporate leadership can contribute to enhanced annual GDP rates from 1.5 to 2 percent in countries as diverse as China, Turkey and Canada.

"Last year, two-thirds of new businesses in Canada were started by women…73% of these are already profitable. But these businesses have been dramatically underfinanced, under supported and under celebrated for decades…..Female entrepreneurs are the job creation strategy for Canada".

The above statement from a recent Editorial in the Canadian daily The Globe and Mail (September 18) could well be written for India. Women entrepreneurs are most active in the informal sector in this country; they are promoters of small businesses; they have the appetite for risk-taking. Yet, they remain underfinanced and under supported in India too.

Instead of focusing on promotion of women-headed businesses in the small and medium scale, the current government strategy for rapid economic development is over emphasising promotion of technology start-ups, with angel investors and venture capital chasing them. Government schemes for supporting innovations also privilege such tech start-ups, and subsidise the same. A few of these start-ups become valuable in the stock market, and make a few hundred people billionaires. The rest of the economy remains stagnant, and under-invested. And, these start-ups do not generate the kinds and scale of employment that the youth of India are waiting for.

Another arena of gender discrimination is inadequate representation of women in top leadership of companies. Corporate governing boards around the world lack adequate gender representation. Most have a token woman, if at all. Following the new Indian Companies Act 2013, many Indian companies struggle to find a woman to sit on their boards. Having a single woman on corporate boards is tantamount to mere tokenism; experiences around the world suggest a minimum standard of three women on corporate boards to make diversity matter.

Despite such evidence, and growing recognition by economists of the enhancement in value of contributions through female economic participation, female entrepreneurship, and women’s strong leadership in top management and governance of companies, Indian government and companies continue to be negligent. A recent contest on Corporate Excellence by a leading economic newspaper in India advertises a jury comprising of ten men. Neither media nor those on the jury thought it worthwhile to have even a token representation of women in selecting winners of corporate excellence in 2015!

While social and political empowerment of women has been promoted in countries like India, it has not effectively altered gender relations at home or at the workplace. Women’s economic empowerment is critical to accelerating efforts towards gender equality. While micro-finance initiatives have focused on this aspect, it is increasingly important that control over finances and assets is exercised in the hands of women entrepreneurs, managers and leaders. Promoting female entrepreneurship in small, medium and informal sectors can create conditions for transforming gender relations at home and the workplace. Likewise, improving gender balance in corporate governance can contribute to increased diversity of perspectives and choices in decision-making.

In order to move in the directions indicated above, countries like India have to ensure safety and security of girls and women in private and public spheres. Violence against girls and women at home and at the workplace must be stopped to be able to harvest the full potential of engendered economic development.

Dr Rajesh Tandon - Founder-President, PRIA, New Delhi
October 25, 2015
[email protected]