Unmute Episode 3: Breaking The Glass Ceiling

Women working in male-dominated professions talk about breaking the glass ceiling.

How does it feel to be living as a woman, working as a woman in a male-dominated world?

(Photo: The Quint)

(This podcast was published on 30 January 2019 and has been republished on the occasion of International Women’s Day)

How does it feel to be living as a woman, working as a woman in a male-dominated world? There are still a number of restrictions on women. In fact, believe it or not, women aren’t allowed to apply for mining jobs in China, and in Russia, women can’t be truckers.

Closer to home in India, women have never occupied some of the top posts in the country such as that of the chief of army; director of CBI, RAW or IB; Chairman of ISRO – the list can go on.

The weirdest bit is how the female labour participation rate in India has been on a decline in the recent years, while simultaneously, we read about girls outperforming boys in board results every year. Do these capable women not want jobs? Do they not need it? How did nearly 20 million women in urban and rural areas quit work between 2004-05 and 2011-12? Three words: marriage; motherhood; patriarchy.

But women are fast moving into the male-dominated space. So, for the third episode of Unmute, I spoke to a few women in professions that are still largely male-dominated. Tune in to the podcast!