Nineteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

There is growing awareness as well as legislative action as well as organizational policies to eliminate work place discrimination and harassment. The impact of these however, remains limited unless it is supported by changes in people’s awareness, attitudes, and values. Even in the midst of widespread changes in the emerging roles of women in most societies, there is a coexistence of traditional images amongst men and women about themselves about the other gender. These images have considerable impact on their own choices for themselves as well as they relate to each other in organisations. Rooted in these images, both men and women end up supporting status quo perhaps unconsciously and the systemic dynamics then does not promote equity and empowerment for all. Based on the experiences and data generated in developmental workshops, this paper brings out some of the prevailing images and the blocks they create in bringing out the best potential of both men and women. The paper also discusses how one can break out of these blocks. While the proposer recognises that in the current world gender categories include more than only men and women, since the available experiences and data relate to men and women, the author focuses on those.