"It is also important to remember that “gender” also includes other gender identities such as transgender (including gender fluid or non-binary), and men, and it is high time that the discourse on gender and DEI is broad-based to ensure all gender identities have the benefit of DEI programmes and initiatives, especially transgender persons."
With the recent rollback of DEI initiatives by major corporations in the US, what long-term effects, from your perspective, could this have on gender (women’s) representation in tech industry in India?
I don’t see a direct and significant impact of the DEI rollbacks in the US government departments / certain major corporations in the US on the DEI initiatives in India, specifically those that relate to women, as most of these were not directly funded by the US Government or its agencies. In fact, in the US as well, several leading corporations (and their shareholders) are stepping up, reiterating their commitment to DEI, and vetoing calls made by some conservative shareholders asking for such rollbacks at the company. As a recent example, the shareholders of Apple vetoed calls for such rollbacks of Apple’s DEI initiatives.
In so far as India is concerned, a lot of work on gender, specifically women’s participation in the tech industry/women in STEM, has been happening on account of the legal frameworks in India related to labour/employment and CSR, and on account of the international / Indian ESG norms.
Over the past few years, I have seen and significantly contributed to the evolution of the Indian market and businesses in this regard; many have now understood the critical business, legal, and social case for DEI at the workplace. Today, several Indian conglomerates and Indian-owned companies are spearheading DEI initiatives, both internally – aimed at employees and externally aimed at the larger ecosystem, with women being a key focus area. This work is not limited to the MNCs that were the initial flagbearers of DEI programmes.
Enhancing women’s participation in the workforce and focusing on women in STEM has also been a focus area of the Government of India, independent of what may be happening in the US, with several Indian Government programmes/ schemes focusing on education, skilling, employment and entrepreneurship of women in STEM, such as GATI (Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions) and KIRAN ( Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing) both set up by the Department of Science and Technology, to name a few.
The National Skill Development Corporation, both on its own and in partnership with the Indian government and private sector (CSR arms), has been doing excellent work towards skilling women in STEM and the bourgeoning number of Industrial Training Institutes (and women enrolments therein) are another example of the decent progress India has made in this area.
Despite anti-discrimination laws, gender disparities persist in the tech industry. What gaps exist, and how can law and policy be restructured to address them?
This is a layered question.
At the outset, several fundamental rights (equality, equity, anti-discrimination) provided in the Constitution of India are largely enforceable only against the State and state bodies and not directly against private bodies such as companies/organizations in the private (non-government) sector.
Secondly, the laws relating to actual working conditions of women employees, such as equal opportunity, equal pay, safety, working hours, night shifts, paternity leave (or gender-neutral parental leave), need to be revisited and made more comprehensive and robust, to enable more substantive and tenured participation by women in the workforce, including the tech industry, and to enhance a culture of high adherence to and enforceability of the law.
Lastly, legal frameworks are unable to address the larger stereotypes, unconscious biases, and social barriers that often come in the way of women choosing STEM, accessing high-quality education/ skilling opportunities, being hired for the job (and the right roles), being given the career path and growth they are deserving of, and returning to work post career breaks, – each in spite of high merit and qualifications. The solution lies in customized initiatives that can be devised and implemented at each company/organization to address the relevant gaps and issues, even beyond the minimum mandate of the law.
“It is also important to remember that “gender” also includes other gender identities such as transgender (including gender fluid or non-binary), and men, and it is high time that the discourse on gender and DEI is broad-based to ensure all gender identities have the benefit of DEI programmes and initiatives, especially transgender persons.” Specifically with respect to transgender inclusion at the workplace, I believe we, as a country and at India Inc., need to do a LOT more.
At Samāna, we have helped hundreds of companies in the past 7 years to address these issues in a comprehensive manner and strike at the underlying stereotypes and unconscious biases that work against women. We’ve conducted deep dive assessments based on our proprietary parameters across the employee life cycle (from pre-hire to retirement) and suggested detailed gender strategy plans for course correction, revamped companies’ hiring processes and protocols, coached and guided thousands of business leaders/management teams on how to prioritize DEI as a business mandate (and not charity/ check in the box), created SOPs to promote hiring and retention of high potential women employees, revamped and developed comprehensive legal /HR/DEI policies and charters basis our recommended best practices (over and above the legal requirements), trained thousands of hiring /talent acquisition team members on inclusive hiring practices, and conducted 2000+ DEI trainings (on a wide range of topics) for all employee cadres. The aim is to promote substantive compliance with the law and also go above and beyond the letter of the law to impact the larger ecosystem and make it understand, imbibe, and promote gender equality (and for other segments of diversity as well).
How should companies balance data privacy with the need for demographic data in DEI policies, and what legal safeguards are needed to protect privacy while promoting inclusivity?
Any and all DEI initiatives, especially those that relate to demographic analysis and/or data-driven approaches, must, in my view, adhere to the highest threshold of data privacy and data protection.
At the first stage, globally available public data (which is anonymized) can be used to assess the trends, and gaps and develop specific initiatives. For example, global public data indicates that 10-11% of any population sample may be from the LGBTQ community. So, a company can rely on this global data to break the proverbial “chicken and egg” conundrum and decide to develop and implement DEI initiatives at their workplace without running a pre facto self-disclosure /self id programme to decide whether such initiatives are relevant for the company or not.
Further on, while implementing these initiatives – whether it is membership in an employee resource group at the workplace, accessing a specific workplace policy/ benefit / reasonable accommodation, or even when responding to a casual query that comes in from an employee, the highest level of data privacy and protection protocols ought to be developed and followed.
In other words, data privacy and data protection principles and protocols must be prioritized both when developing and when implementing DEI programmes at all times to ensure no person faces any intended or unintended harm/discrimination/harassment from any potential disclosure of a person’s identity/diversity markers. These requirements not only emanate from the data privacy laws but also from other laws, such as those that relate to the rights of transgender persons or persons who may be HIV positive. We’ve helped our clients develop protocols that, as I said earlier, aim to go above and beyond the minimum requirements of the law and ensure robust and comprehensive protection.
Considering AI-induced gender bias, what specific legal frameworks or policy interventions are necessary to hold developers accountable for biased AI outcomes? For example, the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act addresses gender biases in AI systems. How should Indian policymakers approach similar regulations to ensure gender equality?
While the use of AI is critical for making giant strides in business / operational efficiency and innovation, it is critically important to develop robust laws and regulations that regulate AI – both at the design stage and at the implementation stage.
Global studies have already indicated the potential adverse impact of bias in AI and the compounding negative effect the use of such AI can have on people and the planet.
AI is largely developed by humans, and it is obvious that human biases, both conscious and unconscious, and associated stereotypes, that by default are pro-majority and anti-the minority/the marginalized, will creep in, unless express guardrails are proactively put in place.
It is the need of the hour to develop comprehensive legal and regulatory norms in India, at par with global best practices, with detailed guidelines interalia on fairness (and ethics), transparency and accountability in this regard. These should not be limited to gender bias only, but also address biases related to all other diverse entities such as religion, faith, ethnicity, race, age, disabilities, caste, language, socio- economic backgrounds, sexual orientation and more.
About Aparna Mittal:
Aparna Mittal, Founder of Samāna Centre for Gender, Policy and Law, is a corporate lawyer and DEI/ESG advisor with over 20 years of experience. Her work focuses on fostering workplace equality and safety, and through Samāna, she helps organizations navigate DEI, ESG, and anti-discrimination/anti harassment initiatives.
Before establishing Samāna in 2018, she was a Partner at India’s top-tier law firms, specializing in Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, and Joint Ventures for over 13 years. She is a B.A.LLB. (Hons) graduate from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore (2005).
She is a member of G20 EMPOWER- which is the G20 Alliance for Empowerment and Progression of Women’s Economic Representation, and of FICCI’s Task Force on Diversity & Inclusion since 2019.. Aparna’s work continues to drive meaningful change in creating inclusive, equitable and safe workplaces across industries and sectors.
