youth and women's empowerment
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Women's Empowerment - A message for young women in college.TRANSCRIPT
Sandhya PentareddyExecutive Director, VIT University
March 7, 2011Youth Red Cross, VIT University
Women’s Empowerment – Youth Red Cross
Sandhya Pentareddy, Executive Director, VIT University
What is Empowerment?
Who empowers a woman?
Empowerment
Empowerment - “process by which individuals and groups gain power, access to resources and control over their own lives. In doing so, they gain the ability to achieve their highest personal and collective aspirations and goals” (Robbins, Chatterjee, & Canda, 1998, p.91)
Women's Empowerment:educates and empowers women with the skills and confidence necessary to get a job, create a healthy lifestyle, and provide for themselves and their families – adapted from http://www.womens-empowerment.org/
Empowerment – from DictionaryTo give power or authority to; To enable or permit
Who Empowers Women?
A Woman herself
Women helping each other
Family & Friends
Communities providing support
Conducive Policies
Older women playing role models
Growth in Five Dimensions
1 Social Standing
2 Education
3 Career & Impact
4 Political Participation
5 Decision Making and Control over Life
Agenda
Gender Biases
Tips for Empowering Women
Challenges young women face
Decision Making and Control over Life
What can you do to empower women?
Self Development & Career Growth
Empowering Women - Tips
1. Self respect & discovery of self-worth
2. As far as gender goes, You are an Equal
3. Voice your own opinions. Be assertive.
4. Make an effort to change language that communicates
gender-bias and gender-stereotyping.
5. Develop skills and education
Life skills – communication, financial management
Career and livelihood skills
6. Work towards career growth
7. Develop Emotional Intelligence and Social Skills
8. Be healthy. Respect your body and mental health.
1. Nourishment
2. Say no to physical abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence
3. Personal leisure
9. Choices in Life are yours too Career choices Reproduction choices Lifestyle / Financial choices
10. Have control over your environment Be an equal partner
Empowering Women - Tips
Gender Biases
• Language
• Pronouns
• Idioms, Euphemisms & Sayings
• Task Bias
• Role Expectation
• Inheritance Rights
• Family Ties
• Moral Standards
• Commitment to work
Professional Performance Gap in India
Challenges and Solutions …
Decision Making & Control over your life
What part do you play in decisions regarding your life?
• Education
• Career
• Marriage
• Family planning
• Lifestyle choices
• Financial planning
Professional Performance Gap in India
What do we do to helpWomen’s Empowerment …
Professional Performance Gap in India
Self Development & Career Growth
Why is performance important?
Performance
ImpactCareer Growth
Empowerment
Economic Freedom
Professional Performance
Formal Definition: Accomplishment of a given task measured against preset standards.
But it’s about• Not just doing to ‘the best of your abilities’ but doing
what it takes to get the task done, and done well!• Asking yourself constantly:
– Are we reaching our goals?– Are we meeting our commitments & expectations?– Can we exceed expectations and delight our
customers/partners/colleagues?– Can I go that extra mile?
Enable yourself by balancing work and life better!
If it’s worth doing, it is worth doing well !
Self Development
Dare to Dream. Have a Vision. What’s your passion? What are your capabilities?
Develop a roadmap – steps to achieve your vision SWOT analysis
Strengths Weaknesses & gaps Opportunities Threats
Self Development
External and internal opportunities Visibility Help from Experts Integrity, Professionalism & Excellence Network Life skills
Communication, Language skills, Social skills, Emotional intelligence
Negotiation & People skills. Facing challenges.
Career Growth
1. Excel at your work. Remember “If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well”!
2. Go the extra mile.
3. Understand the big picture and put yourself in it. Contribute to it.
4. Volunteer for special assignments or improvements.
5. Take Initiative.
6. Develop positive communication and social style.
7. Be critical and notice opportunities for improvements.
1. Cost savings
2. Product ideas
3. Efficiency, Process improvements
Career Growth
8. Be innovative. Create opportunities for the team & organization.
9. Develop your skills
10. Be loyal – your manager, team, organization.
11. Respect, Responsibility, Reliability & Responsiveness!
12. Never say “That’s not my job” – notable difference between USA and India.
13. Be a great team player. Share the credit. Play ethically.
14. Network and develop partnerships.
15. Visibility, visibility and visibility!
Professionalism – What’s working in/for India
Based on my observation:
Ambition / Achievement Personal growth and improvement in quality of life Need for recognition Change / Impact
Drive to improve skills and education Competitive spirit Capacity and willingness to work hard Commitment to Goals Breaking the regional / country barriers Openness to partnerships inside and outside the country
Professionalism – Critical view of the gap in India
Based on my observation:
“Not my job” attitude “Doing (only) my best” syndrome Focusing on self and self duties, rather than on team work
and big picture Lack of quality Customer (un) friendliness Not taking enough ‘pride’ in fruits of labor Less emphasis on impact that the work makes and more on
remuneration Less knowledge sharing / information sharing Corruption
There are many people and organizations that work with integrity and towards excellence. Above is an over-generalization and is not the case in whole, but nevertheless a gap we need to fill in order to excel as a country and civilization.
