International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8, honours the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women worldwide. This day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. The theme for 2024 is ‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress.’ In recognition of this important occasion, Brainfeed will be highlighting diverse perspectives and insights from women leaders in education.
In this context, we are pleased to present an article below by Nikita Tomar Mann, Principal, Indraprastha Global School, Noida.
“It is time that men and boys recognize the part they must play in gender equality and join with the voices and actions of the women and girls who are trying to re-shape society in the interests of us all.”- Jimmy Carter.
According to UNICEF, gender equality means that “women and men, and girls and boys, enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and protections. It does not require that girls and boys, or women and men, be the same, or that they be treated exactly alike”. Gender equality espouses that people of all genders must have equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities.
The debate on ‘Gender Equality’ that ensues from time to time, when we witness variance in the rights or opportunities encountered by a female vis-a-vis her male counterpart, signifies that we are still a long way off from achieving gender parity. However, the silver lining is that now, there is a conscious and earnest attempt to discuss and deliberate upon policies and methods to introduce course correction, which is long overdue.
Gender equality, in the true sense of the word, is still a far-fetched dream. It is a socially-embedded fundamental human rights issue, which requires a daunting and long-drawn process of addressing cultural mindsets and stereotypes. Gender gap surfaces by curbing women’s access to resources and decision-making opportunities. Diversity and Inclusion are seen as key essentials for achieving sustainable economic development in society, yet, I feel that gender justice cannot be achieved till such time that such a significant population of the society remains marginalized. India has been ranked 127 out of 146 countries in the latest Global Gender Gap Report 2023, released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Personally, I view achieving a gender-just society as a collective responsibility, and to inch closer to it, each one of us must work at multiple levels simultaneously; individual, society and the government. As a society, there are innumerable ways in which we can take giant strides towards achieving gender parity. To list a few, the parents and the significant adults must abstain from socialization of boys and girls into traditional gender roles, opposite gender stereotyping by the media, challenge gender discrimination in appointments and promotions at workplace, pay-parity for the same job profiles, qualification and potential based opportunities for women to access jobs considered as male bastions, facilitating working women in unorganized sectors to get their due.
It is pertinent to remember that although we are educators, yet, we too have been raised in the same society where gender inequality is seen all around us. At an individual level, we can make a prodigious difference by practising and embodying gender equality in our everyday routine at school. When we choose students to participate in events or for any role in the student councillor to represent the school in any forum, we must be sagacious to ensure gender equality. In circulars that we share with parents or the home-work that we assign or during story-telling sessions, we must be watchful of any inadvertent stereotyping of roles. My thoughts resonate with those of the 19th century historian, Henry Adams, that a teacher affects eternity and one can never tell where a teacher’s influence stops. Therefore, we play a pivotal role in promoting gender equality in our classrooms and schools. We are the catalysts and it’s time that we set the wheels of gender equality in motion!
“Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.”- Kofi Annan
