Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson, Biocon
How easy or hard was it to rise?
What applied 40 years ago should not constantly be the reference point. I would like the young educated women of today not to keep using a reference point of 40 years ago, which is when I started Biocon. I believe today's urban educated woman is far more aware of her rights and urban society is far accepting of career women. Even rural families support young girls to take up sports and higher education more than in the past.
What are the typical obstacles?
Women have to accept challenges. When you overcome challenges, you actually become very confident and self-assured. That is what gives you the courage to fight on. My challenge was not my family. They were extremely supportive. It was that society was not ready for women in business when I started. I wanted to succeed so I took it on as a challenge and overcame the same, which enabled me to succeed.
I am saying 40 years ago, the whole environment, the society and ecosystem for urban educated women was very different. That was because you did not have many women pursuing careers. The accepted norm was women should be housewives. Today, that is not the accepted norm. Today, the accepted norm is if you are educated, by all means, pursue a profession or a career. The support of the family is much higher than it ever was in the past. The only thing that we need to build on is that you need to see more women in leadership roles.
That to me is a big thing. That is where we have not done enough. There are very few women in leadership role across the board. Media is to be blamed for that because they constantly slot women into different kinds of category. In a leadership conference I participated, somebody made a comment that why is it that there are only two women in the entire leadership summit. It's a fact. There are many more women one can choose from. The problem is the media is not showcasing women in leadership role.
What tips would you give young women managers?
I want to say to young women today that if you consider yourself educated and intelligent, then you have no excuse to constantly be diffident. Today, an educated urban woman has no excuse to be diffident. You have to use your intelligence and your IQ to forge ahead. I do not think it is difficult for women. If you are really focused on your career, on your profession or entrepreneurship, you will not let all these things distract you. Women keep looking for excuses and reasons for why they won't succeed.
Today, the ecosystem has evolved for the urban educated women. I don't say it is the same for the rural ecosystem. The ecosystem in cities has evolved. You are seeing it everywhere. Whether it is in sports, in business or anything else. Today, if a woman is educated and even if the family is not educated, she will be able to actually move ahead. We are seeing many examples of it around us.
Most of the women who have come up are all strong-willed women. I would say to women, please stop making excuses. Fight societal prejudices if you have to. If you are uneducated, then you have a big problem because you are trapped in an age-old mindset.
If you are an educated woman, you have to fight the status quo. You have to fight the system. And whenever you fight the status quo and system, it is not easy. But if you want to move ahead, you will have to fight. Nothing comes easy.
