are the cornerstone of cutting-edge corporate diversity curricula. On top of the unconscious biases that no doubt exist in workplaces the world over, professional women in the BRIC countries and the UAE face overt and explicit prejudice. In India and China, more than one-third of our respondents—both women and men—believe women are treated unfairly in the workplace owing to their gender. In India, the number is a whopping 45 percent for both sexes.
More than half of educated women in India, nearly half of their counterparts in China, and 40 percent of Brazilian women have encountered bias severe enough to make them consider scaling back their career goals or quitting altogether. Russia is the exception, in part owing to a Communist legacy that integrated women into the workplace better than elsewhere in emerging markets (see figure 2-3).
FIGURE 2-3
Percentage of women who say bias is strong enough to push them out of the workplace
Workplace biases in emerging markets appear in a range of “flavors” that vary by cultural context. In China, for example, business discussions and decisions are often negotiated in informal settings—over drinks after work, during cigarette breaks in the course of the day, or at extracurricular sports events—settings that are difficult for women to participate in as equals. An accounting professional based in Hong Kong laments, “It's hard for women to develop clients in China, because a lot of business involves drinking after hours,” something working mothers typically avoid in order to cherish their scant hours of family time.
Similarly, vodka is a time-honored business lubricant in Russia, a key ingredient in nurturing the trusted partnerships that were the only way to do business under Communism. Even in today's open market, business relationships in traditionally male-dominated industries like manufacturing, engineering, and mining are still built in the banya, or sauna, and sealed with vigorous drinking. “That's where the decisions are made, in that close male community,” says Galina, an executive whose multinational employer operates in those fields. She notes, “It's just not appropriate for a woman to go into the sauna with ten men.”
In India and the Middle East, where traditional gender boundaries remain entrenched, women also need to exercise caution to maintain their reputations. Participating in activities such as smoking or socializing in predominantly male environments, especially in the evening, is frowned upon. “I don't stay beyond 8:30 p.m. when the men go out,” says one female executive in India.
Beyond general gender bias rooted in cultural and social practices, our survey results also reveal specific workplace biases confronted by BRIC and UAE women. More than 40 percent of our participants have faced bias associated with executive presence and communication style. This can take a number of forms, from demeaning or personal comments from male colleagues and clients about their appearance to assumptions about women's ability to be effective in a business setting (see figure 2-4).
FIGURE 2-4
Most commonly experienced biases in the workplace
Women also contend with conflicting social and professional expectations of proper behavior. In India and China, for example, women are often expected to be submissive and reticent, attributes that penalize high-performing women at work. Many women in our research felt crippled by this cultural bind, struggling to achieve self-confidence and the ability to demonstrate authority in the face of societal opprobrium. “As a woman brought up in India, you have to be likeable, you have to be liked. You have to be soft, you have to be polite, you have to listen to other people, you have to hold back a little,” observed Padma, an Indian finance professional. “And none of this works in the corporate world.” Others in her focus group agreed, with one participant noting, “We may be a square peg, but we will have to fit into that round hole.”
This sense of not fitting in is pervasive among ambitious BRIC and UAE women. It's also pernicious. Several women in a focus group of Chinese managers felt a lack of confidence in their ability to be as convincing or have as much impact as their male colleagues.
Anjali Hazarika speaks for the majority of educated, ambitious BRIC and UAE women in our study when she describes her own experience in the push-me-pull-you quest to find a happy medium: “If I acted out of the stereotype, I was not a good woman, and if I colluded with the stereotype, I became invisible.” Between the constant challenging and critiquing, whether subtle or explicit, perceived or self-inflicted, women are trapped in a no-win situation.
Workplace biases across the BRIC countries and the UAE escalate with motherhood. Working mothers find their commitment and potential under constant scrutiny. In India, women told us of returning from maternity leave to less-challenging projects or roles, or being given a lower performance rating. A Brazilian woman recounted the case of a colleague who was fired upon returning from maternity leave when she was overheard mentioning that she planned to have another child. In the UAE, female candidates in job interviews may be asked questions that would be considered illegal in developed countries: are you single or married? Are you planning to have children? “I've heard some real horror stories about women who were asked to take a pregnancy test when they were applying for a job, and if they were pregnant, they would only get a temporary contract,” reports a woman in Dubai.
TRAVEL BARRIERS
Rana is a rising star in the fixed-income division of a multinational bank with offices located in the UAE. Her company regularly offers opportunities for professional development, but Rana had to decline an invitation to a recent training session in New York, because a single woman from the UAE can't board a plane or stay in a hotel unless a male relative is willing to tag along as her chaperone. Adding insult to injury, no video hookup was provided to allow Rana to participate from her home office.
There's an almost universal assumption that female professionals in emerging markets don't want to travel and are willing to curtail their prospects of advancement in order to stay home. However, more than 60 percent of the women in our sample express strong interest in an international assignment. Furthermore, when we asked married women whether their spouse would be willing to relocate, a majority said their spouses are open to such a move.
Although the BRIC and UAE women in our study are delighted that the economies they live and work in are becoming increasingly important to multinational organizations, they are keenly aware that professional advancement depends on gaining international experience. In China and India, in fact, nearly 80 percent of the women in our sample believe that international assignments are critical to their career progression, and there was no discernible difference in their preference for either short-term or long-term assignments.
However, the actual ability to land such assignments can be difficult for even the most highly credentialed women in emerging markets. Nationals of many developing countries are unable to travel outside their home countries without visas, especially to Europe or the United States, where post-9/11 visa applications require submitting reams of employment and personal documentation, paying hefty application fees, extended wait periods, and, even when the application is successful, limiting travel to specific durations. Sixty-two percent of respondents in India, 66 percent in China, and 54 percent in the UAE report difficulty in obtaining visas for international travel.
“We don't have the luxury of Western Europeans or Americans, who can get on a flight and go somewhere on short notice,” explains an Indian national working for a multinational consulting firm. For a recent two-day trip to Germany
