Gender Diversity Management at Workplace: Time for a Paradigm Shift in Organisational Programs and Practices an Empirical Study on it Organizations in Navi Mumbai

Gender balance (or gender diversity) is by far the most high-profile of all inclusion and diversity topics in the corporate world. Diversity inclusion and managing diversity are becoming strategic issues for the multinational companies throughout the world. The technology sector is the second biggest employer of women in India, behind the pharmaceutical and care sector, according to a new report launched at the NASSCOM Diversity & Inclusion Summit 2017, held in Bangalore. India's IT-BPM (business process management) industry currently employs nearly 3.9 million people, of which over 34 percent are women (1.3 million). The ' Women and IT Scorecard - India report', generated by NASSCOM in partnership with The Open University in the UK, states that over 51 percent of entry level recruits in the IT sector are women. Over 25 percent of women hold managerial positions and 1 percent are senior executives. In 2017, the number of firms that have more than 20 percent women at senior level will increase to nearly 60 percent, and nearly 51 percent of firms will have more than 20 percent of women at senior executive level, the report authors estimate. Tina Vinod, a diversity and inclusivity, said that while some firms are progressive and invest heavily in increasing the pipeline of women leaders within their organizations by adopting exclusive policies and comeback programs for women who have taken a break, others fall short. "Unfortunately, the systemic patriarchy and unconscious bias in our culture continues to seep into the workforce," she added, "The leaking pipeline of potential women leaders is a huge concern. Women continue to be viewed as primary care-givers and homemakers and this is a problem that our society as a whole needs to address.". This paper examines influence of different obstacles while managing the gender diversity at workplace and impact of diversity management programs and practices in different IT companies.