women managers challenges

8/13/2019 Women Managers Challenges

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\ 93

Though women workforce has risen to a

greater extent, the old attitudes of men still exist

in organizations. For example: a woman was

not introduced while sharing a stage with men

when everone else was. !nother woman wasasked repeatedl " his "oss whether she can

work in shifts even though she happened to

"e a #ualified engineer holding senior manager

position. ! senior man in the organization

denied concession in work timings to a pregnant

lad who re#uested so. $o these instances

indicate that men lack sensitivit on women

specific issues%

&omen in offices #uite often have to travel

along with men as part of their duties or sta

together during conferences. 'en would readilagree to travel with a woman whereas a woman

would face several #uestions from various

fronts. (he herself is in dilemma sometimes,

whether should she accept this% )ow the famil

would react to it% )ow would organization

address such gender issues% &hether this is

an issue for oung women working in '*+s%

&omen 'anagers in ndian -rganizations

).. /aila

(.*.$.T. &omen0s 1niversit, 'um"ai

This is a #ualitative stud of 24 female managers interviewed in 52 organizations in

order to review trend of pro"lems faced " women managers, the was in which the

pro"lems affect them, and the coping strategies used " them to overcome their

pro"lems. n6depth personal interviews were conducted with the help of a structured

#uestionnaire using open6ended #uestions. The narratives of managers have provided

a "road"ase in understanding managerial life and profession of women. The

implications are underlined for "etter organizational health and performance. This

paper is an extract from a larger stud.

/e words: ndian, women managers, pro"lems, coping, narratives

n a stud on stress coping stles among

7erman managers 8/irkcald Furnham,2999, the a""reviated 7erman version of

-ccupational (tress ndicator0s +oping (cale

was completed anonmousl " over 2;4

managers. *o difference in coping profiles of

men and women was found, "ut different levels

of management and educational status did

influence preference for coping stles. 'ore

specificall, it was seen that at the most senior

levels of management, delegation and

maintaining sta"le relationships are

considered the most useful forms of copingwith stress.


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! comparative stud on managerial stress

in )ong /ong and Taiwan " -i6ling, uo,

+ar 82999 investigated occupational stress

in managers in )ong /ong and Taiwan using

the -ccupational (tress ndicator6< 8-(6


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work6famil6tension: career as su"Cect of social

fascination, famil as a factual task, the

tradition of two worlds, dou"le "urden and the

pressure of tasks. -ne outstanding result was

that if "oth partners were professionall active,

the famil was increasingl dominated "merel functional re#uirements.

!rmstron6(tassen 8


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ou personall or professionall%

&omen 'anagers in -rganizations 9

H +ould ou give a title or heading to this

pro"lem a"ove and how did ou overcome this

pro"lem% @lease explain.

The managers were asked to narrate their experiences. The women managers took time

out of their reall "us and hectic schedule to

share their pro"lems and issues in

organizations. Though managerial pro"lems

and coping have "een researched using

#uantitative research techni#ues, the depth of

understanding on managerial issues is lacking.

)ence a narrative approach was attempted in

this stud in order to enrich the managerial

research.

(ampleThe sample consisted of 24 female

managers "etween


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Time Crisis - The greatest pro"lem have

faced during the last 2< months is Time

+onstraints to meet deadlines. !t a managerial

level, am assigned with a lot of responsi"ilities

and the expectation of the superiors from me

is also high. (ince have a famil to look after

it is even more difficult to attend to m work

responsi"ilities. 'an a time it leads to an

inCustice on m part towards either the home

responsi"ilities or work responsi"ilities.

' pro"lem has affected me positivel and

negativel. n a negative manner it "rought

a"out a lot of work pressure as was fallingshort of time and could not spend appropriate

time on the assignments given to me " m

superiors. Secondly, I found it difficult to

maintain a balance between my home and work

responsibilities also. Iut in a positive manner

"ecause of m constant efforts as well as

correct planning have "ecome Dimmune to

stressE. overcame the pro"lem " planning and

prioritizing the tasks "ased on urgenc,

discussion with m colleagues and collectivel

resolving issues leading to lesser "urden of

work. (ince, cannot take long holidas take

short "reaks of


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ver little time and less help had to manuall

).. /aila9;

fill the "oxes and arrange them in the new

location.

'anuall shifting archives affected me

personall and professionall. @ersonall, it

caused phsical discomfort and muscle pull

due to manual shifting of archives.

@rofessionall it affected "ecause "eing a

#ualified professional did not find it a pleasing

task to do the work of shifting files and cartons

" mself.

overcame the first pro"lem of shifting "doing what was re#uired i.e. shifted all the

cartons manuall with colleagues help and

took proper medications for the muscle pull.

Time constraints to meet deadlines 6 The

greatest pro"lem have faced is the time

constraint to cope up with multiple activities.

(ince am a famil woman have to manage

"oth the home as well as office. 'responsi"ilities in office are also tremendous

and have to do multitasking "ut the time is so

little that sometime have difficult in

completing m assignments on time.

The pro"lem of coping with multiple activities

in a limited time has affected me personall

"ecause have to complete man assignments

together have to sta late in office whichamounts to a lot of phsical strain as well as

neglect in m home responsi"ilities. also tend

to miss important events in m personal life. t

affected me professionall as find it difficult

to finish proCects on the given deadline

"ecause of the limited time availa"le to me thus

causing stress. t also leads to crashed

expectation from m superiors as the expect


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a lot out of me. Therefore am constantl under

pressure to prove mself in front of them.

have managed to overcome m pro"lem

" prioritizing m work "ased on urgenc of

the tasks. plan and organize m time so that

multiple activities can lead to their goals.

(ometimes take a da or two off after hectic

work schedules and go to resorts. &hen return

from there, feel recharged and like a new

person altogether.

7lass +eilingJ+ompetition 6 The greatest

pro"lem was related to m up6gradation.

$espite performing well ear after ear, wasnot promoted to the higher cadre. neglected

a lot of areas of m life in the "id to get

promoted "ut unfortunatel was never noticed

when it came to promotion. $espite achieving

all the goals on time, saw that a higher num"er

of males had risen to good posts and were the

preferred candidates for promotion, resulting

in humiliation.The pro"lem affected me ver "adl

personall. started neglecting m personal life

in the "argain to do well so that at least in the

next appraisal could get promoted. (imilarl,

endured a lot of mental trauma and phsical

strain as used to work till long hours in office

and remain tensed a"out m promotion.

+ommunication with m famil decreased. 'self6esteem took a huge "low as started

dou"ting mself. @rofessionall did not let if

affect m work= in fact started working more

so that could do m "est.

have not completel got over the pro"lem

as am still struggling to understand wh there

was a "ias towards the males and wh

hardworking deserving women like me were left


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out. Iut off late have stopped thinking a"out

it anmore, as it does not lead me anwhere.

constantl take support or spend time with m

friends " going out for movies or dinner. am

doing m "est "ut do not har"or the hopes of

promotion an more. Bolunteering or "uing

things for m nieces and nephews also helpsn

me divert m attention from core pro"lems.

?o" nsecuritJ1ncertaint 6 $uring the

recent times have faced the pro"lem of

insecurit and uncertaint in m Co". This is

due to the recent merger that took place

"etween the two pharmaceutical companies.The merger changed the whole structure of

our organization. 'an posts were declared

&omen 'anagers in -rganizations 9A

unnecessar leading to ouster of man

emploees from the organization. was

constantl living under the fear of "eing asked

to leave from the organization. &ith man new

colleagues Coining in there was uncertaint inwhat was supposed to do and whether was

re#uired " the organization or not.

@ersonall felt lost. felt stressed as was

constantl thinking a"out m work. For a short

while "egan to avoid pleasura"le events.

@rofessionall, was ver unclear as to where

m Co" was leading me. For a while was also

contemplating to leave m current Co" and look for a new one. was confused, as m role in

the organization was not defined.

have tried to overcome m pro"lem with

the support of m colleagues at work and

seniors. (econdl, started spending more time

with m child and "eing with her itself was

extremel de6stressing as for some time would

forget a"out m own pro"lems. t0s "een nine


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months since the merger so am now getting

ac#uainted with the new structure and "egun

to understand m Co" responsi"ilities "etter.

There have "een constant talks with the

'anagement and "een assured that m Co"

is secure hence have stopped worring a"out

that aspect also.

+lash with (uperior 6 The pro"lem

suffered recentl is altercation with m "oss.

)e wasn0t particularl happ with the wa one

of our core team mem"ers was performing. Iut

instead of reprimanding him, m "oss started

to "lame all the core team mem"ers. (ince am the proCect leader of the team had a few

altercations with m "oss. was aware of the

performance deficienc of m teammate and

the remaining team was compensating for that

person. nstead of appreciating the good

contacts and trust we were "uilding with the

customersJclients, he was getting upset a"out

it. (o in order to overcome this he started tomentall harass a few of us. )e started to "ad

mouth a"out the team mem"ers against each

other.

This affected m social as well as

professional life. (ince m manager could not

find an faults with m work he started criticizing

me for m "ehavior. This made me lose

interest in m work and as a result was nota"le to give m 244K to m Co". t also

increased m stress level and was not a"le

to concentrate on m social life.

This pro"lem can "e solved if m "oss

handles this situation in a more mature and

intelligent manner. nstead of harassing us to

gain an upper hand he can make use of the

good connections and trust that we have "uilt


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up to get more "usiness. (econdl, he can

speak to our team mem"er a"out his

performance deficienc and guide him to

perform "etter. n this wa not onl will our

organization "enefit "ut also all the team

mem"ers will feel secured " having a good

"oss around us. haven0t "een a"le to

overcome the pro"lem "ut whenever feel

stressed out go with m friends for a movie or

have a good meal somewhere and then feel

"etter for sometime.

)onest is the "est polic in case of

Fraud 6 $ue to "ogus stamp papers distri"utedin the workplace and stolen *ational (avings

+ertificate issued through authorized vendors,

m emploees and faced serious pro"lems.

&e were accused of creating a fraud in the

organization. The customers of m "ank could

not repa the amount within the stipulated

period of time.

Though there was no mistake on our partwe as emploees underwent serious pro"lems.

&e were taken to court where en#uiries were

made. @rofessionall, it affected me "ecause

as a 'anager was under pressure to save

the reputation of m organization. (econdl, it

was m dut to support m su"ordinates and

participate honestl in the en#uiries made "

legal authorities. @ersonall, was under tremendous pressure and stress. suffered

from a mild heart attack "ecause of the

).. /aila95

pressure underwent. ' famil also underwent

massive worries.

f people were honest and did not commit

such a crime then we would not have

undergone such stress. Ieing an honest


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person, participated in all the en#uiries made

on the organization and me, as had nothing

to fear. full supported m su"ordinates and

stood " them. was constantl in discussion

with the top management regarding this scam.

&e won the court case and the culprits were

arrested. Thus, we all stuck together like one

famil at the time of crisis. $uring stressful times

would either read "ooks so that could divert

m attention from pro"lematic issues or involve

mself in making painting and handicrafts to

get awa from the pro"lems.

1n6cooperative (u"ordinates 6 Thegreatest pro"lem faced in the past 2< months

was un6cooperative attitude of m workers due

to the interference " the internal union. (ome

of m workers were a part of the internal union.

For sill reasons the used to "e instigated "

their core mem"ers to suspend work at the

drop of a hat.

The a"ove pro"lem affected me personalland professionall. @ersonall "ecause used

to "e under constant stress "ecause was

una"le to understand wh the workers were

"ehaving so erraticall and wh the were not

working. @rofessionall, it affected me "ecause

our dail production was affected "ecause the

were suspending work. (econdl, m superiors

were under the impression that was una"leto handle the workers under m department.

called the workers under m department

in groups of and advised them a"out the

losses incurred "ecause of suspending the

work for some sill reason. asked them the

reason for suspending work and 4K said that

the didn0t know the reason and the were

doing it "ecause their fellow workers were


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doing it, 4K said that the were doing it

"ecause their union head had asked them to

do so. &hereas the remaining 24K were

among the ones who were laz and liked to

drop work at the slightest reason. looked into

the matter with the help of our top management

and as far as m workers were concerned

"rought in an ndustrialJ-ccupational

+ounselor who gave them appropriate

counseling regarding the disadvantages of

"eing instigated " others to suspend work

and generall made them aware of their

contri"ution towards their organization so thatthe could work sincerel in the future. !s far

as m personal coping was concerned

spending time with m "a" was itself #uite a

stress "uster and secondl since am religious

" nature, would sa m praers and keep

full faith in 7od.

oss of +ommunication 6 The greatest

pro"lem faced was loss of communication withcolleagues in m prior organization. The

merger "rought a"out a whole lot of changes.

-ne of them "eing shifting the heads of all

departments to the )ead -ffice. This relocation

led to loss of communication with m colleagues

"ecause a lot man of them were not at higher

posts so the remained in the old office.

oss of communication affected me personall " the wa of setting in monoton

and "oredom. was not in touch with man of

m colleagues due to the merger so was not

aware of what was happening with them. n a

wa m social support sstem has "roken down

"ecause with m Co" rarel got the time to

give them a call or keep in touch with them. n

a professional wa, less communication means


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was not clearl aware of what was happening

in different "usiness areas "ecause of the

merger. (ince was new in the current

organization and not well ac#uainted with m

new colleague there was am"iguit on the

professional front.

haven0t "een a"le to overcome the second

pro"lem "ecause have completel lost touch

with m old colleagues due to m hectic

routine. feel as if have lost a "ack"one, as


now have no one to share m pro"lems with.

n the current organization there is still loss of communication as am new here and not well

ac#uainted with m new colleagues. (o there

is still am"iguit with respect to m Co" role also.

n order to get awa with tension spend some

time on m own Dme timeE so that feel much

"etter and relaxed.

(hift &ork @ro"lem 6 The greatest

pro"lem face is working *ight (hifts. (ince am in a call center, night shifts are inevita"le.

&orking night shifts affected me personall

and professionall. @ersonall, it "ecomes ver

difficult to manage m home and work together

"ecause at home have to attend to m < rs

old "a" and responsi"ilities in office are

e#uall pressurizing. felt guilt since do not

get time to spend with m famil. *ight shiftsdisrupt the whole schedule due to which

encountered a lot of health pro"lems such as

fatigue, headaches and a lot of stress. There

is often a spillover of tensions from home to

work and work to home. @rofessionall, m

health pro"lems decreased m productivit at

work. Though was una"le to handle m team,

m appraisal rating from m superiors took a


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"low.

have "een a"le to over come the pro"lem

with the support of m famil. &hen am not

around m hus"and takes care of our "a".

(econdl, spend some of m times with m

friends who are not from call centers, which

takes some load off. am a mem"er of an

*.7.- named !akansha and there is no other

"igger pleasure than "uing gifts for the need

children and seeing a smile on their face. plan

and organize m schedule during night shifts

so that can spend ade#uate time with m child

too.The a"ove responses revealed that maCorit

of the women managers faced the pro"lem of

meeting deadlines due to time constraints.

'an women managers com"ine their full time

paid work with parenthood or household

responsi"ilities. The tend to remain the

primar caretakers on the home turf inspite of

"eing assigned with a Co" which re#uires longhours of phsicall and mentall demanding

work. -ther main pro"lems included getting

work done from su"ordinates, relocation

pro"lems as well as feelings of Co" insecurit

and uncertainit. t was also found that women

managers find internal politics "etween their

colleaguesJsu"ordinates as well as

altercations, lack of communication withcolleaguesJfriends and clashes with their

superiors extremel stressful. The D7lass

ceiling effectE was also reported " one woman

manager who said, D(he felt that there was a

"ias against women who wanted to move up

the ladder.E astl, night shifts too posed a

maCor hindrance for a woman manager who

reported D*ights shifts are inevita"le in call


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centers, "ut feel guilt for not spending time

with m familE. !ccording to a woman manager

DThe glass6ceiling effect and not "eing a"le to

handle ones su"ordinate are pro"lems that are

ver gender specific. n man organizations,

in spite of working so hard, man women still

face discriminationE. &omen managers

reported that their pro"lems affected them

personall as well as professionall.

&omen managers who faced the pro"lems

of meeting deadlines due to time constraints,

working night shifts and insecurit and

uncertaint regarding ones Co" reported that personall overwork was causing a strain on

their families and relationships as it ro""ed

them of time, energ and attention needed to

maintain health relationships with partners

and children. The also reported missing out

on important social events such as weddings

or outings with families. !ccording to one

female manager D have to complete manassignments together so have to sta late in

office which amounts neglect in m home

responsi"ilitiesE. Feelings of insecurit and

uncertaint regarding ones Co" created a lot

of anxiousness and stress in women managers

"ecause the were constantl "om"arded with

).. /aila244

thoughts a"out their future in the organization.The also remained tensed, as the were

unclear regarding their Co" function in the

organization. 'an of these women also

reported a spill over of tensions a"out ones

work to home and from home to work. This

spill6over resulted in conflicts "etween them

and their spouses. Their pro"lems are further

compounded "ecause the also tended to


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suffer from health pro"lems due to long

working hours or disruptions in shift hours.

The complained of headaches, "ack pain,

fatigue, weakness and other phsical ailments.

Their pro"lems also "rought along

professional hazards for them in the form of

dissatisfaction of superiors regarding their

#ualit of work and low productivit in their

performance in the organization.

&omen managers who were concerned of

interpersonal conflicts at work felt de6motivated

and stressed out seeing the conflicts "etween

their colleagues. !ccording to a womanmanager Dit0s a challenge to remain neutral and

listen to "oth sides of the storE. !s far clashes

with "osses were concerned managers felt demotivated to work

especiall when the clash

was a result of misunderstandings or feelings

of insecurit har"ored " the superiors. !

woman manager reported D+onstant clash with

m "oss made me lose interest in m work andas a result was not a"le to give m 244K to

m Co"E. 1ncooperative su"ordinates posed a

pro"lem for women managers "ecause the

attitude of the su"ordinates gave an impression

to their superiors that the manager was una"le

to handle the su"ordinates. This pro"lem also

affected the productivit of the organization as

the su"ordinates used to suspend work.&omen managers reported a lot of confusion

as the were una"le to understand the real

reason "ehind their su"ordinates erratic

"ehaviors. The also reported "eing under

constant work pressure as the felt a need to

prove themselves in front of their superiors.

&omen managers who faced the pro"lem

of discrimination in the workplace reported


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Dfeeling humiliatedE and left out "ecause of

unfair appraisals. $ecrease in their self esteem

was another apparent effect due to the

discrimination in the workplace. The also

reported of neglecting their famil life in a "id

to do well resulting in less communication with

their famil. (tress, feelings of anxiousness and

work pressure were their chief pro"lems.

+omplaints of monoton, "oredom and lack

of social support were stated " women

managers who reported the pro"lem of

communication. The also complained of

feelings of am"iguit as the were unware of the ongoings in different "ussiness areas due

to restrictive communication. )ealth pro"lems

such as muscle pulls were the chief complaints

of women managers who suffered from the

pro"lem of relocating from one office to

another.

(o far we saw the negative effects of

pro"lems faced " the women manager. Iutthe results of this surve also revealed a

welcome change. !ccording to a few women

managers, the stress, tension and anxiet

caused to them "ecause of work pressure and

deadlines had made them Dimmune to stressE

as a result of which the reported handling work

pressure much "etter than "efore. This effect

is called as eustress as it connotes a positivechange in the "ehaviors with respect to

handling of stressful situations.

Thus, it can "e seen that the pro"lems faced

" women managers affected them personall

and professionall and the effects of the

pro"lems the faced were positive as well as

negative.

!s far as coping with pro"lems among


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women managers is concerend, it was seen

that onl a few managers were not a"le to

overcome their pro"lems. Iut overall, the

responses towards coping with pro"lems were

positive. $ifferent individuals have different

stles of coping with their pro"lems. t was

seen that man women managers worked

activel towards eliminating their pro"lems "


meditating, going on holidas, taking short

"reaks and having appropriate medications.

-ther common coping strategies reported "

women managers included, discussing pro"lems with colleagues and seeking advise

from superiors, spending time with friends "

going for movies and holidas, planning and

organizing ones schedule.

'an women managers were sprituall

inclined as a result of which the participated

in different kinds of religoius activities to relax

their minds such as singing "haCans, visitingtemples or saing praers. !ccording to a

woman manager Dwhenever face a pro"lem

send a small praer up there so that things go

well with meE. -ther interesting was of coping

with pro"lems included pampering oneself "

going for shopping or having a good meal.

'an women managers Coined *.7.-s where

the generousl donated gifts. -ne suchmanager exclaimed DThere is no other

pleasure than seeing a smile on children0s face.

ts ver destressingE. 'an of them indulged

in giving gifts to relatives and friends in order

to feel "etter. Iut the unanimous votes went in

the favour of spending time with ones famil

especiall ones children. !ccording to one

manager Dts extremel destressing to spend


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time with m child "ecause for sometime forget

that have a pro"lem. -ther indulged in

activities like painting or watching plas in a

theatre to keep their minds off work pressure.

+onclusion

&hen we o"serve nternational &omen0s

$a on 5

th

'arch ever ear, we need to ponder

over the gender issues in organizations. 'ale

attitude is an issue to "e addressed, attitudinal

"arriers from men trou"le women. Though

male dominance in organizations is changinga "it, still an issue remains to "e addressed.

(ome suggestions can "e considered to deal

with these pro"lems:

(uccessful women or women at higher

positions should act as mentors to other women

and make women friendl organizations.

&omen0 leadership training need to "e

emphasized so that the can tackle their issuesmore effectivel. The perspectives of

international women0s da need to go "eond

gender and look at relationship "uilding.

nclude men in women0s seminars and other

programmes. 7ender sensitivit programmes

at schools and organizations must "e

conducted on regular "asis as a part of )uman

Gesource $evelopment. -rganizations needto develop women development cell for soft

skills training and personalit development

programmes. t is sexual harassment for some

women and romance at work for others

especiall oung people. These different sets

of responses of women to the opposite gender

need to "e understood and addressed

accordingl.


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Lssentiall organizations have to take up

work6famil "alance mechanisms such as pickup facilit, !T'

machines, flextime,

compressed week etc. &omen must come

united, raise their voices on issues that haunt

them, don0t leave an single case of

harassment un6attended. ntroduce Lmploee

!ssistance @rogramme and counselling in

organizations.@schosomatic ill6health of

women working on computers is an issue to

tackle. Moga and health check6ups are

necessar. nternational women0s da should

"e called as nternational 7ender $a.Though men and women are socialized

differentl, women are more rigorousl trained

for famil and social roles= whereas men remain

weak in these roles or opposite gender related

responsi"ilities. $o men need to "e resocialized at the

organizations for "ecoming

gender6friendl or gender6Cust people% '*+s

toda are "ecoming inclusive organizationsand open to people0s issues 8"oth male and

female emploees as e#ual partners.

! few common solutions are suggested to

make a woman0s life easier in organizations

such as compressed working week, crNches

at the workplace, emploee counseling at

).. /aila24<

workplaces, flexitime, compulsor periodicalmedical examinations, providing the facilit of

working from home, oga for improved phsical

and mental health 8/aila,


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/aila ).. 8


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Lducational (ervices

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women managers challenges

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