It was in 1974 that Sudha Murthy, the now-famous philanthropist, author, and wife of Infosys founder Narayan Murthy, saw an advertisement on a billboard for a job opportunity, while she was a postgraduate student at Bangalore’s IISC campus(the only girl student in her class). It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors). It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.

At the bottom was a small line: “Lady candidates need not apply.”

All hell broke loose and the fuming young Sudha(then Sudha Kulkarni) wrote a letter on a postcard addressing it to none other than (The) JRD Tata himself that a company like TELCO was discriminating against women, and she deserved a chance. It was not an interest in the job, but her perceived discrimination that made her react. She did get a reply from the company with a ticket to travel to their office, and she ended up taking the job and meeting up with JRD later. When she attended the interview, she was explained that it was not because they found women any less, but it was a shop floor job that had never had women working there before!

Indra Nooyi is another accomplished woman of that generation who broke the glass ceiling and went on to become the CEO of a global conglomerate.

These women are trailblazers and credit also goes to their families for giving them wings to fly high and standing against societal stereotypes.

Fifty years hence, and a lot has changed. There are at least 50% female students in every college, and there are women in all armed forces. We have come a long way. But still we need more role models from all categories who exemplify what they stand for! Radhika Gupta, MD & CEO, Edelweiss Mutual Fund, said that while she worked up the finance sector, and reached where she did at a young age, there are not many role models for women at every stage to look up to.

Still, it is just around fifty years! Barely the second generation of women working outside the homes. Various sectors have opened their doors for women, but only for a few decades now. Hence the need for some more push and support for women for a bit more time(in case there are questions about the need for special treatment for women, around).

While we were still talking about including women in the workforce and treating them as equals, the world woke up to the need to bring in the other categories of people too who deserve their place in the corporate world.

Now every major corporation has included ‘Diversity & Inclusion’ into their policies, and commendable efforts are underway to put these into place, striving to give dignity and fairness of treatment to all sectors of society. Awareness campaigns and drives are conducted to draw attention to these matters and much is talked about. Many organizations are taking specific measures to walk the talk.

Well, the point is, while the organizations do what they must at the helm, who should take the responsibility for inclusiveness? While the policies can ensure equality, who should practice equity? Isn’t that the true meaning of ‘Inclusion’ in D&I?

Like in the case of women taking up roles in all fields of interest to them, it can safely be said that men are still coping up to it, even to the current generation. Even the now young married working women say the ‘help’ they get from their husbands is still a favour! A woman recently told me when she came to attend my training session, “ I have been working from home for the past two years, mostly. Today, I left my two-year-old with my husband and he agreed to watch her. Hope she’ll be okay!” I said,” Please remind yourself that it is her father whose responsibility it is!” Definitely, 50% of them have changed, but there is still a long way to go…

There is a great need for mindset shifts to bring in the attitude of inclusivity in our societies and communities. We should remember that if there are biases, for example, against women, it is not from men alone, women need to adjust their own mindsets too! There is a huge stereotyped outlook against communities of individuals, who are often downcast, ridiculed and bullied. While they continue to struggle to lead decent, normal lives like anybody else, it is everybody’s imperative to work on their assumptions, deep-rooted beliefs and taboos, question handed-over opinions which are not facts and bring in that fresh breath of air into societies and hence workplaces. There is only so much an organizational policy or HR department’s efforts can do, it is up to the people in the organization to develop an ‘inclusive’ mindset and allow change to happen. A change of perspective and an understanding of ground realities is the need of the hour.

We humans look for acceptance into our tribes. We look for our tribes and yearn for inclusion, acceptance and belonging. If the whole of humanity can be one large tribe, life becomes more colourful and expansive. Being narrow-minded shrinks the world and makes us sceptical and cynical, and does not work in the current world which is but one village!