My thoughts: Why we still celebrate Women’s Day?

With a father like the one that I had, with a husband, Sumit Makhija , who is my biggest champion, a son Namit Makhija ,for whom I am an idol, a loving family who are my biggest supporters, and my amazing male colleagues who respect me, treat me as an equal and value my contribution, I often ask my self this question, “with so much of change and so much of progress, with women breaking the glass ceiling in all spheres, do we need a woman’s day?”

And then I look outside of my small world, and despite the progress we have made over the 100+ years on from the original Women’s Day, there’s still so much that needs to be changed and these are changes that we need now more than ever. Some facts:

1. 28 girls a minute are being forced to marry against their will

2. 1 in 3 women will experience violence

3. It will take nearly 140 years to bridge the gender gap. Did you know the gender gap has only been worsened by the pandemic, with women facing higher redundancy rates and greater job instability as a result of economic shock.

4. The character of the Joker has won the same number of Oscars as the whole of womankind ever has for directing

5. 181 million girls and young women are not in education, employment or training and this is despite knowing that when we educate girls we enrich both individuals and communities.

......And so many more of such facts that establishes that there is much more to do to reach the desired level of gender equality/ parity.

A few days after the International Women’s Day, I want to share some of my personal thoughts about why this day is so important, so relevant, and how, as a woman leader, gender equality issues have impacted my life both personally and professionally.

First, I love the fact that IWD is a global day that celebrates women’s impact on the world, AND that it marks a call to action to accelerate gender parity everywhere. In spite of cynics who may ask “why do women need a special day?” (and, yes – I have been asked that question far too many times), IWD helps refocus us on something many people already know: simply put, 100 +years after the first IWD was celebrated, the playing field is still not level for women. In our workplaces and homes, obstacles that primarily impact women still are widespread. And, I want to be a part of the global effort that changes that reality for every single girl and woman.

I want to tell you a personal story and will take an author’s liberty in going pretty far back in time. I really didn’t internalize the gap in gender parity until I was in high school. I was raised in a home where my father was an equal and sometimes a great contributor than my mom. Long story short, he was my idol and always inspired me to push boundaries and follow my dreams. when I wanted to become a Chartered Accountant, the number of nay-sayers were far greater than those who agreed with my plan. The conversation all-around was, "it is difficult course, finance is not a field for girls, why doesn’t she become a teacher and so on….". But I loved any and all things maths-related.. I was crushed by the conversations around me. Thankfully, my Dad, my rock, my voice of reason, told me, "shut the noise and do what I wanted you want to do". He then looked me in the eye and told me, " I believe in you my girl and will always standby me". This was a pivotal moment for my life’s trajectory. My dad was pretty forward thinking for his time. Many parents, particularly when I was growing up, might have gone with the flow and deferred to the common patriarchal thinking – to their daughter’s detriment. But my dad had this message and ingrained it in me, "believe in yourself- you can be anything you want to be, if you put your heart and are willing to work hard and apply yourself". He was also the biggest believer in education. The day he put a firm hand on my back and said, "you go girl", was the day that his words turned into action, and also the day when I began believing that anything was possible. To say this left a lasting mark on me diminishes how vital this was to my life; that gave a 18-year old “maths buff” an extraordinary dose of confidence, and, I deeply believe, changed the trajectory of my life.

I have made it my mission as a women leader to pay it forward. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a fantastic father or mother to stand up for them. I mentor and sponsor females and make it my mission with education, professional work or entrepreneurship. I’m extremely proud of this and don’t ever apologize for trying to correct a pervasive gender imbalance in Finance! It doesn’t mean that I don’t mentor and sponsor others. But I have a unique perspective as it relates to women, and I intend to use it towards a cause I deeply believe in. I am very proud that the organisation I work for, Genesis BCW , Six Degree BCW, and other organisations and brands as part of the BCW India Group, has many inspiring women leaders and we embraced inclusion and diversity beyond the gender diaspora. I’m particularly chuffed about being in Advisor with STEPSTARTUPS and work with Reinu Shah and her passionate team whose primary agenda is to drive entrepreneurship opportunities for women from all sectors of society. Then with Rotary as a member I working on various health, education, skilling and entrepreneurship opportunities for girls and women.

Ultimately, I am blessed with one of the coolest family, the awesomest job on the planet, leading the best team in the world, fabulous opportunities with nasscom Insights , Rotary and STEP to be part of the change, and I want others have the same type of opportunities.

I want to end this post with a couple of questions and a challenge.

-What are you doing to help drive gender parity and helping to truly create equal opportunity?

-What more could you do to help move the needle on gender parity and opportunity?

My challenge to everyone is pretty easy to meet - find more ways to engage on gender parity and make sure those around you hear your message. The more leaders we have working on this every day, the faster we will get to the finish line. Together, lets make sure that all girls- my daughter, your daughter(s) and our future female leaders have the level playing field that each of them deserves – and that our global community deserves – to reach their potential!

While we celebrate Women's day, Let’s remember there is miles to go on gender equality/ gender parity.

Kriti Makhija

Chief Financial and Compliance Officer, BCW India

(The ideas expressed are personal and have no bearing on any organisation I am part of)