International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. Each year for International Women’s Day, the United Nations selects a theme. This years is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”
Textile Focus: More than 80% of women are working for the Bangladesh textile & apparel industry but at the top/decision-making level the presence of women is still very less. How you evaluate this how more women can come upon such top/decision-making positions in the T&A sector?
Mayeesha Mahmud, Director of Cotton Group
Women are the backbone of our motherland – Bangladesh. We nurture families, companies, and economies. Though more than a majority of our nation’s women are working in the Bangladesh Textile & Apparel industry, we are oftentimes faced with the concept of a “glass-ceiling.” According to the Journal of Economic Literature, in emerging nations, gender equality, and socio-economic development are intertwined: gender equity creates the conditions to catalyze economic development, while more development leads to more gender diversity (2012). Discrimination, frequently in relation to sexism, hygiene, cultural nuances, and menstrual health, is, in my opinion, one of the main factors that inhibits women’s advancement in Bangladesh.
I envision my RMG factories mostly being run by women – workers, supervisors and executives. According to Ibarra, Ely, and Kolb (2013) on Harvard Business Review, people become leaders by internalizing a leadership identity and developing a sense of purpose. Thus, to empower, and elevate our women, we must work in unity through public-private partnerships to engage, and involve our women. I personally am committed to creating focus groups that involve under-represented genders, to discover their pain points, and seek solutions with them. I want to welcome education institutions, and non-profit partners to help us in up-skilling and up-lifting the future change-makers of Bangladesh – amader nari.
