For women to be counted as leaders, a seat at the table isn't enough

Indian Express

08-05-2025

Written by Kinnari Gatare and Akriti Jayant
'If I had a rupee for every time I wasn't taken seriously, I'd be rich by now.' A woman colleague shares this as an example of the often invisible patterns that continue to hold women back. She had volunteered to lead a project, with a plan and team support. A colleague questioned her clarity, joking that she might get confused. She brushed it off, assuming fairness would prevail. Trusting his intentions, she handed him key responsibilities, expecting collaboration. But when the time came, he assumed leadership — without discussion or acknowledgment. More than hurt, she was struck by how quickly shared work can become invisible when authority isn't equally distributed. This experience taught her that fairness doesn't just happen — it must be actively safeguarded.
This isn't just one colleague's story. Across various sectors and spheres of life, a familiar pattern repeats. Even when included through quotas or nominations, they're often relegated to token roles or 'soft' committees. This isn't about competence — it's about power. Structural hierarchies persist even within movements for equality.
Masculinity and the fear of female authority
Prevailing models of masculinity tend to prize dominance over dialogue, confidence over competence — leaving competent women perceived not as peers, but as threats. A 2023 Harvard Business Review study found senior male executives were 50 per cent more likely to mentor younger, less assertive women — those less likely to challenge authority. Critique from a woman, especially when direct, often unsettles ingrained hierarchies, not because it lacks merit, but because it comes from an unexpected source.
Encouragingly, events like the 2025 Male Allyship Synergy Summit (MASS), reflect a cultural shift and aspirational change towards shared responsibility. At MASS, participants engaged in initiatives promoting male allyship, such as the launch of 'Allyship Clubs' and discussions on actionable steps toward gender inclusion. Institutions must redesign leadership pipelines to value empathy, collaboration, and reflection — not just representation. The problem is cultural, but the solutions must be institutional. Corporates and public institutions must develop gender-responsive performance indicators that reward inclusive decision-making as much as deliverables. Because culture follows structure — and structure must first make room.
Break the silence between women, too
One of the hardest truths about gendered power is that women aren't always allies. In some institutional settings, younger women report feeling undermined by older women who, having survived patriarchal systems, may unintentionally reinforce them to protect hard-won space. We're taught not to 'pit women against women,' so the harm goes unspoken. That silence preserves the status quo. A 2022 World Economic Forum report found that only 25 per cent of senior women mentor other women, compared to 48 per cent of men mentoring younger men. This isn't personal failure — it's structural conditioning in systems that reward individual survival over collective strength.
Rebuilding trust among women in power
Patriarchal systems often fracture potential solidarity among women, especially when power is scarce and competition becomes survival. A 2023 LinkedIn survey found that 43 per cent of working women in India have faced exclusion or lack of support from other women. These are not personal failures, but symptoms of institutional cultures that never taught women to collaborate as equals. Respect among women is political. It must be taught, practised, and built into leadership development, training, and incentives. Women should be encouraged to amplify each other's voices and challenge with care. Solidarity isn't optional — it's foundational. Policymakers must institutionalise cross-generational mentorship, especially in bureaucracy and politics. Initiatives like Mission Karmayogi can be powerful tools — if shaped by a strong gender lens.
Justice, not reversal: Teaching empathy across power lines
In dismantling patriarchy, we must avoid replacing one imbalance with another. Paulo Freire warned that 'the oppressed tend themselves to become oppressors' — a caution that resonates in the pursuit of gender justice. Empowerment must not come at the cost of empathy. As women rise into leadership, we must ensure they don't replicate the very dominance they once resisted. Women in power should be sensitised to the emotional experiences of male colleagues — not as a form of compromise, but as a commitment to inclusive leadership. True equality invites vulnerability and leadership across genders. Companies like Hindustan Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive are advancing this with gender-neutral parental leave, while SEWA's cooperative model shows how feminist leadership rooted in care and accountability can be transformative.
Representation without authority is hollow
We often celebrate representation as progress, but numbers alone don't dismantle entrenched bias. Without real authority, representation risks becoming symbolic. In India, where women make up just 13.6 per cent of the 18th Lok Sabha, and an average of only 10 per cent in state assemblies, there are great expectations from the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women's Reservation Act). The reservation will be implemented following the publication of a new Census and the completion of the delimitation exercise. The question, however, is whether representation will translate to true power.
A 2012 UNDP report found that higher women's participation in politics leads to better outcomes in health, education, and governance. Yet across sectors, women's authority is too often treated as optional — ignored, interrupted, or challenged more than their male counterparts. The right to equality under Article 15 means little if women's authority continues to be interrupted, ignored, or tokenised. The problem isn't the number of women in leadership; it's the systemic refusal to respect and follow them. Until that changes, more seats won't make us heard. As Indira Gandhi once reflected, 'To be liberated, a woman must feel free to be herself, not in rivalry to man but in the context of her own capacity and her personality.' Her words are a reminder that women don't need power handed to them — they need space where their power is honoured.
Gatare is a researcher in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Learning Analytics, currently working as a UX Design consultant at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Jayant leads Communications and Marketing at The Dialogue, a New Delhi-based tech policy think tank