THE UNTOLD STORIES
Description:... This book is a collection of short stories of fourteen women who have worked in the field of science and technology. This book narrates their professional journeys and celebrates their success, while also highlighting certain gender biases faced by them. I have often heard this remark inadvertently made by males, in general, while driving on the road, “No wonder it’s a woman driver.” This has always sparked a question in my mind – Are professions stereotyped? Are there professions marked as “Only for men.” Though we are living in the twenty-first century and see a plethora of women being successful and soaring to heights, yet I wonder if gender bias still exists in our society. A huge amount of importance is being placed on gender equality and inclusivity and things have drastically changed for the better as compared to my grandmother times. If both men and women are equal, then why do we need to highlight “Gender equality.” Does this mean that males regard females as less smart and less efficient? Maybe always not but in a few instances, it continues. While writing this book, I interviewed female research scholars, doctors, IT professionals, lecturers, and some homemakers to ask this question – if they faced incidents involving gender bias. To my surprise, some of them did, while others did not. Some of them went on to share these incidents, while some didn’t want to. The common pattern I observed among women in the field of Science and Technology was related to delayed promotion due to their prioritising their families or not being considered smart enough. The other issue was long hours or rather odd hours of working to complete a project deadline making it at times difficult for women to do it for obvious reasons of safety and security. Even with the same hours of education and hard work, female doctors continued to be addressed as “Sisters” and some female IT professionals weren’t considered competent at times, due to their gender.
Show description