Recently I was reading an article on how 20 million women in India have quit the workforce in the past 5 years….some will return, many never will.
As per a research study done by LinkedIn, 77% of working women who took a break said it set them back in their careers due to the stigma associated with career breaks. Those that return to work often take on roles with lesser pay and responsibility than what they deserve.
Like the Great resignation, this is the “Quit work avalanche”. With India already at a low female workforce participation of 20% compared with the world average of 47%, we are already severely underrepresented in the workplace.
Why are so many women quitting?
What is forcing us to choose between our careers & our homes?
Is it the rigidly defined gender roles and unequal distribution of domestic responsibilities?
Is it the weight of expectations or the generations of conditioning which exerts an insidious influence on our psyche?
Why fit us into neat boxes with convenient labels and roles?
Mother or Manager?
Mother or Model?
Mother or Athlete?
And then judge us if we don’t fit neatly into the defined boxes.
She can either be a good mother or a committed working professional. She can’t be both!
When a man can be a father & a committed professional, why is it not possible for a woman?
When a woman becomes a mother, her partner becomes a parent too. Then, why not parenthood with joint responsibility?
Why not make a choice to “not quit’? Why not make a choice to “not give up’?
Don’t quit- using your voice
To ask, to negotiate, to lobby for support
Don’t quit- using your choice
To create a more equal world for our daughters
Don’t quit…
Find your eco system, your community, your tribe
Use every resource you have
To walk towards what you deserve
Don’t give up, your daughter is watching you
And tomorrow when she faces the same test
Tell her that you walked the same road
With your child & dreams both close to your heart
You didn’t give up on either…
You didn’t quit.
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