HIDA Journal 2015 SPRING No.6

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21No. 6 SPRING 2015of Indian women in the Confederation of Indian Industry. The network serves the function of offering advice and policy recommendations on skill development and healthcare for women. When I was nominated for the chairperson I didn’t have any confidence in myself and I was somewhat hesitant. But now, after putting all of my energy into it, I’ve become accustomed to my duties and feel that I’m able to make progress. It is said that boosting the participation of women in the economy will raise GDP. Women hold the key to future economic development in both Japan and India.Panel Discussion Ms. Yumiko Noda, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers Co., Ltd. was brought in as the moderator for the panel discussion. Professor Emeritus Yoko Ishikura and Ms. Vanitha Datla, who were the keynote speakers, as well as Ms. Yoshie Motohiro, Deputy General Manager, Asia and Oceania business management department, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., two panelists from training program participants, Ms. Shilpa Pophale, Managing Director at Electronica Finance Ltd. (a non-bank financial institution) and Ms. Vinita Shaw, Deputy General Manager at Sandhar Technologies Ltd. (a car parts manufacturer) joined her on stage as panelists. Outline of the statement by Ms. Shilpa Pophale I am Managing Director of a group company of the company my father launched. Our business primarily consists of raising financing for SMEs to install machinery and equipment. Through my job I have a lot of opportunities to meet women working at SMEs in India. The challenges I sense here are a lack of support for balancing housework and childrearing with their jobs, as well as women’s own individual way of thinking. Many women, even those that are educated, are afraid of risks and think it is easier to become a homemaker, so they abandon their careers. I would like to tell women, especially those that aspire to be entrepreneurs, to have confidence in themselves, to have the ambition to pursue a career, and not to try to do everything perfectly but have the leeway to pace themselves. We can achieve better results in a company where women are in management positions. Outline of the statement by Ms. Vinita ShawI work with an auto component manufacturing company. My company Sandhar gives equal opportunity to both men and women; we have adopted a number of measures to support working women; like assistance with tuition fees, support for working from home following childbirth, setting up a crèche and more. Whenever, I reflect back upon my own approach to work I have not looked for role models around me, as there are very few women I could find around me. Every day in the morning I have got up with the idea of being better than what I was yesterday; looking for motivation within, rather than around me. To support the social advancement of women in India we must offer them equal opportunities of education; a change in the mindsets of both men and women is also required. In India it is legally stipulated that women must account for 1% of the Board of Directors. We can achieve these figures only when there is a change in people’s thinking. Women make good managers at home, where they handle the housework and do parenting; they can exhibit the same management abilities in their work places as well. Outline of the statement by Ms. Yoshie MotohiroI was appointed the first president of Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd. in 2005. Nissan is promoting internal diversification due to the influence of its business partner Renault. We have lots of female managers, and are also promoting diversity via the Nissan Way, our company’s guidelines. Our measures for encouraging women to succeed include offering interviews with career advisors, training, providing information via our intranet, establishing a nursery and encouraging them to work from home. Challenges include assigning women to even higher-level positions and supporting younger generations to ensure that the next round of female managers are created. I have been able to make it to this point largely through the achievements of my superiors. When we were launching this company in India all of the hiring of local employees was left up to me, but while my superiors were constantly keeping an eye on me as I did my work. Japanese society and structures are still changing when it comes to the social advancement of women, but the changes in attitudes in both women and men have not gone far enough. Women tend to shy away when they are given opportunities such as promotions, and men are still hung up on assigning traditional gender roles. Nothing is possible solely on one’s own, and so mutual understanding and communication are important. The ultimate goal is to create a society in which we don’t have to consciously think about diversity. Following the speeches by the three women, the panelists discussed the reasons leading to their current success. While the opinions varied slightly between each of the panelists, there were some points in common. These were that they have constantly questioned what they themselves are capable of and how they can contribute to society and then have pursued this without being afraid of risk or failure. Another commonality was that they received support from their families, especially their husbands, in continuing with their work. The panelists discussed creating companies with a broader outlook, which Professor Ishikura talked about in her keynote address. On this point they offered opinions to the effect that structures should be set in place where men and women can be promoted equally, and that measures should be handled in a top-down manner. They also said that since it will be difficult to change attitudes, people should start by encouraging behavioral changes, such as modifying evaluation systems. Ms. Yumika Noda, the moderatorMs. Yoshie Motohiro Ms. Vanitha DatlaMs. Vinita ShawMs. Shilpa Pophale

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