There’s a quote that reads, behind every successful man there’s a woman at play. Decades ago, that woman was behind the man because she couldn’t be in front. Military forces and weapon industries were funded way more heavily than science during those years. Guts, bravery, and a revolutionary approach to life were essential for any scientists and entrepreneurs back then. This was especially true for women in these fields.
However, recent decades have witnessed a growing movement of women breaking down barriers and making significant contributions in these traditionally male-dominated areas.
Wonder Women of Science and Businesses
Women entrepreneurs are rising to the top and have embraced the idea of being one’s own boss. More women are running Fortune 500 businesses today than at any point in the 63-year history of the magazine. The increasing presence of women as entrepreneurs has led to significant business and economic growth.
Falguni Sanjay Nayar, the founder of Nykaa; Ghazal Alagh, the founder of MamaEarth; and Shradha Sharma, the founder of YourStory, are some examples of inspirational female entrepreneurs. These women have successfully started their own companies from scratch and achieved inspirational milestones.
In STEM fields, also names like Edith Clarke, the first woman to be professionally employed as an electrical engineer; Hedy Lamarr, the living example of beauty with brains who worked as a Hollywood actress and an inventor; and Anuradha T.K., the retired Indian scientist and project director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), are only a few of many that come to mind.
Biggest Concerns
Yet it cannot be denied that women are still undermined in these fields to a larger extent. Gender inequality in wages, position in the company, and working hours are some of the primary concerns of every woman. There are still more cases seen than none, where females face discrimination in different forms. Limited funding for their business startups, gender biases resulting in the inability to secure clients and investors, and the threat of managing their personal and professional lives effectively are some of the major problems faced by them.
Fortunately, the Indian government has taken some beneficial and innovative measures to remedy this situation. The Mahila Samriddhi Yojana, a scheme initiated by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Women Entrepreneur platform, by Niti Aayog and Mudra Yojana to fund women-owned businesses, are some of them.
Conclusion
Despite coming a long way from the initial conditions of women in science and business, the reality remains that the percentage of females in these fields is relatively low and for good reasons. Women have walked a long way to freedom and still have miles to go. Despite being dominated and repressed for decades, women have managed to earn their respect in the society. We must celebrate females in these male-dominant jobs and appreciate their hard and consistent work to make their enterprises successful. Women in male-dominated fields is not just a trend but the upcoming reality of our future.
~Image Credit: Freepik
