It's a Woman's World Here

Today, world over, employers are starting to realise that women are naturally adept or atleast have a favourable disposition for certain job profiles. For instance, the communication and public relations sector is one such domain. Environmental science is another field where women are proving their mettle. And according to a recent data, healthcare services are among the main sectors employing women

It is a foregone conclusion that the 21st century has brought a paradigm shift in the overall dynamics of professional work. To say the least, the scope and demands of work have changed. We have all seen the evolution of jobs that require human skills and a profound capacity for kindness, empathy, adaptability and creativity- qualities that are considered natural female traits.

Given this context SATURDAY FARE spoke to a couple of career counselors and job consultants to understand how specifically the career landscape has changed/ evolved for women. "Although women are still terribly underrepresented in certain lucrative careers, however, as the world becomes more and more aware of gender parity and as we continue to press for equity in the job space, we will continue to see the glass ceiling being shattered," says Nivedita Kashyap a placement consultant from Guwahati and adds, "However even today, world over, employers are starting to realise that women are naturally adept or atleast have a favourable disposition for certain job profiles. For instance the communication and public relations sector is one such domain." Nivedita goes on to add that this disposition is not a fresh discovery. In her words, "For centuries it has been believed that women are better communicators. However until a few decades back, this proficiency was not acknowledged (atleast not so wholeheartedly) in the professional domain. Ofcourse this belief cannot be generalized and there are exceptions too."

According to Kashyap, event management is another field that is mushrooming with women as it requires a certain level of management skills and multi-tasking; qualities that are much more inherent in women.

Communication skills, people management skills, ability for overall and seamless organisation and meticulous planning and an eye for detail are required to excel in event management. "And over the years, women have been able to rise up to the occasion and have accomplished incredible feats in events management," she states.

Interestingly according to Seema Vohra another placement consultant the HR industry too is dominated by women, who leverage their expansive humane capacity for administration and communication skills to influence work-culture. "Somehow, for some inexplicable reason, research and surveys conducted across organisations have revealed that irrespective of one's gender, an overwhelming majority of employees prefer to confide in a female HR personnel. It is felt by many that women are better in resolving workplace and work related conflicts too."

Career counselling is another career where women are excelling. Career counselors, guide students and help them find a sense of direction for life. "Many women career counselors have openly pronounced that they find this role very fulfilling. Probably this has a lot to do with the fact that women are generally very nurturing," says Kashyap.

Similarly teaching that translates to an opportunity to shape people's lives has always been considered one of the best jobs for women. "Women generally have empathy and oodles of patience, which augur well for the teaching profession. Also many women love children," opines Kashyap.

The creative industry too is proliferating with proficient women professionals. Vohra explains, "The internet has created a global marketplace for ideas and products and there is a whole world of creative content online. Over the years, women have created brilliant, spectacular contents and they dominate in the top tier of the content creation spectrum. And as social media continues to grow, creative contents continue to be in great demand."

The media sector is yet another sector that is brimming with women professionals. Infact it is dominated by women. "This is not difficult to understand as media and journalism allows women to exercise their creative freedom considerably," states Kashyap.

It is ofcourse a no –brainer why women are making a beeline for the fashion design and merchandising sector. "Women are flourishing in this sector owing to their inherent sense of style and fashion and creativity. Within fashion designing and merchandising, women are primarily occupying these positions: fashion or apparel designer, fashion merchandiser, fashion technologist or textile technologist," observes Vohra,

Environmental science is one of the careers where women are clearly winning. An environmentalist essentially studies the composite factors that influence the environment and develops and implements policies and measures for the greater and long term good of the environment. They also advise the government and private organisations in relation to the management and protection of the environment.

According to a recent data, healthcare services are among the main sectors employing women. "Careers in healthcare are projected to be the occupations expected to have the largest numbers of new jobs over the next few years," says Vohra and ads, "This is not difficult to understand as women are natural care-givers."

Besides these conventional professions, there has been a proliferation of women chefs in recent years. There has been a surge of skilled women jewellery designers and interior designers too. Vohra concludes with an interesting observation. "Women usually have a heightened sense of intuition. In my experience and observation there are more women with psychic abilities compared to men. Consequently there are many women today who are making a name for themselves in the domains of astrology, numerology and tarot."

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