Discriminating against women at work is not only immoral, it does not make economic sense either. It is like shooting your own foot. Not both the feet, but still quite harmful. It works like this. When young women cannot find role models to follow, many might give up studying or working hard to “get there”; particularly where the social pressure on young women is to marry and have babies. The result is that, as a society, the discriminating society enters the world war for talent walking on one foot. That is quite bad for any society, but it also works poorly for any company. Where discrimination against women is at play, women will find other ways of fulfillment and corporations will end up being commanded by lesser men. Discrimination against women comes in all sizes — from the most brutal, to the so called subtle ones — rape and harassing rank among the first, while innuendos rank among the latter. But calling innuendos subtle is a misnomer. There is nothing subtle about looking down the blouses of women, or having them to hear comments about their bodies. Such comments are simply gross, though of course they are less brutal than rape. But why should any woman have to choose between rape and innuendos to keep their job or to advance in it? “At work men are expected to be ambitious and women to be caring.” The real trouble with an environment of so called “subtle” discrimination is that it undermines self-confidence. Women are left at a disadvantage because the cause of discrimination is not clear, there are always alternative explanations, and in any case, little is usually done about it. This was well brought up by the Nigerian intellectual Ali Mazrui in his Reith lectures almost four decades ago. Was he denied a room at a hotel because it was fully-booked or was it because he was black? How to know when one has experienced similar slights so many times? Similarly, was a woman been passed on in a promotion because she was not yet up to the role, because she took maternity leave, or was it because she was a woman? — a condition which, like race, one cannot rub-off? At work, discrimination against women is expressed in a continuum of inconspicuous attitudes, all of which undermine the productivity of the targeted individual “Women do more housekeeping work at the office, which leads to slower career paths.” Discrimination is not about ejaculating on a woman in a bus, as recently happened in São Paulo, or about gang raping a woman as she left a bus, as it happened in Gurgaon. Those are obvious criminal offenses better left for the police and mental health authorities. At work, discrimination against women is expressed in a continuum of inconspicuous attitudes, all of which undermine the productivity of the targeted individual. If for nothing else, such attitudes should be stamped out from work. Ending gender discrimination of women at work does not mean disrespecting traditional values which may render most women housebound. But it does mean providing a level ground and respectful work environment for those that choose to work away from their homes. Human resources staff negligent of their duty in providing a fair work environment for all should be the first to be shown the door. Once they are out, the corporation will learn how many lives were being wasted and the corporation will also have fulfilled its social responsibility in contributing to a fairer and a more competitive society. ======================================================================