It is very sad to see European men not as open minded as they claim. Even in this day and age, many of them still think that women don’t need to be acknowledged or paid the same as men in the same position. Continue Reading

I have worked in three European countries other than my own and been offered jobs at lower than required minimum payment. The local companies think of foreigners as stupid and not knowing the law. On the contrary, I found my two American employers in the same countries; I must say these are the companies that have actually followed the laws of equal opportunities and equality in the best way possible. Continue Reading

Elaborating the question further he said: “A male friend of mine invited a female subordinate to his hotel room during a work conference. Purely innocent situation, she went to his room, they worked and finished some needed discussions and a project. When done, they had a cocktail (still in his room) together. The female subordinate’s husband called her on her cell phone. She answered and innocently told her husband the facts as above. The husband was very upset citing that professional judgment required opposite-sex associates to meet in a public place, never in a hotel room alone and certainly not with alcohol involved.

Was the husband justified? Is the husband wrong to be critical (is he just old-fashioned)?”

Here are some answers he received – add your comments to these. You may also read all the other answers here: Continue to read the answers

Having worked in four European countries, including my country of birth, I can say European companies are all discriminatory in varying degrees going up to extreme high. Employers don’t seem to want you unless you speak the language of the country to perfection, have the ‘correct’ sounding name and even the ‘correct’ skin colour. Qualifications does not always matter so much. It seems to have less to do with racism and more with a fear of the new: new ways of thinking, a different culture than their own etc. I would actually call these countries arrogant.

In contrast, American companies in Europe are much more fair and law abiding - more on this in another post.

It is not easy getting a job either in Europe; but I must say if you are lucky and do get a job, you are actually almost guaranteed payment of salaries, equal rights and help from unions etc.

I worked in a law firm that is considered the best in it’s field. It was a firm in which women were largely under-represented and, at the time that I was there, there were only two women partners out of 27 partners.

Most of the junior and mid-level associates were women, but they could not envision realistic prospects for advancement, and there was a lot of frustration among them. Women, particularly women in the corporate law section, were constantly given work below their skill levels and qualifications, while less experienced men were placed on more substantial files with little effort.

The worse thing is that the two women in positions of power were not supportive of the younger women coming up through the ranks. In fact, they felt threatened by them. Continue Reading…

“One of the main problem areas of the last 10 years has been the way political correctness has attempted to undermine the differences between men and women. Men and women are fundamentally different. The way they see things is different, the way they work is different - how they manage challenge is different.

It isn’t a matter of right or wrong - it’s just a matter of difference.

I am saying this because, from experience, if a manager is to manage both sexes equally well (or equally badly?) then that manager has to understand the differences in behaviour and perception. This is where many problems arise in corporate life.

Also, going against the grain of what others have to say, I can state categorically that women DO get away with more things at work than a man does, especially in the area of corporate politics. Read on, there’s lots more

One of the perks of working in organizations like HSBC is it is not always work as usual – I was recently selected as a volunteer to work on an environmental project in the rainforests of Northern Australia. And the experience of being in mostly women dominated team was something to be remembered for life. Here’s the story: [If you have any adventurous stories to share, share those at ajay@ajayjain.com]

I was absolutely ecstatic when I was selected to be a volunteer of an environmental project sponsored by the Earthwatch Institute (my company sponsors volunteers to Earthwatch projects as a part of their CSR initiatives). The Earthwatch Institute engages people world wide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment. Read on, there’s more

I would like a day care centre for working mothers within office premises. By the way, this is mandatory for all companies in India according to the labour laws, but no one seems to be adhering to it. - Shweta Kapoor, Sapient, South Korea

DAYCARE!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the one things needs changing in companies. In the US it is ridiculously expensive and not always available. - Soledad Quiroz, Graduate Student at Michigan State University, USA There’s more - Continue Reading

In my view, women are their own worst enemy when it comes to work. Part of that can be traced to ’social programming’ and culture, but you can break through that.

A (female) ex-colleague of mine once worded it like this: “When men interview for a job and are asked whether they qualify and the job is above their level of experience they will say ‘I can’ while women will say ‘I can learn.’ We need to learn to swallow the ‘learn’ bit.”

So, in short: men are just better at selling themselves. Women all too often underplay their own skills and by doing that place themselves in a worse negotiating position on all levels.

Teachers tend to be mostly women in India, not just in schools but even in other training institutes covering languages, soft skills, voice accent training etc.

Gourmet Talk: Having taught in a language institute myself, I can reflect upon my own experiences of working in an almost all-female work environment. Women get together and you have a potpourri ready. Literally so! Forever wanting to show off their culinary skills women get the most delicious of dishes to work. I got to eat things I had never eaten before. Wait, there’s more. Read on…