Ever wondered who is updating the CSR Facebook page, searching for the latest statistics on crimes against women, or assisting our core team in envisioning, coordinating and facilitating our projects and programs?

We are always very proud of our enthusiastic young interns in the CSR office. Over the years we’ve had interns join us from both across the country and across the world – from Punjab, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra in India to Scotland, Germany, Canada and Georgia. They’ve worked on a variety of projects such as Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, the I Stand for Safe Delhi campaign, Human Rights Defenders training workshops and numerous research projects. We’d like to introduce you to some of our current hard working interns!

Meet Deboshmita Chattopadhyay, Development Intern at Centre for Social Research, from Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India.

Development Intern Deboshmita Chattopadhyay at her desk in the CSR office

How did you become interested in joining the Centre for Social Research team?

I had just completed my Diploma in Industrial Relations & Personnel Management at Bharti Vidya Bhawan in Delhi before joining CSR. I think every research student like me would love to work at a well-respected organisation like CSR.  In particular, I liked the idea of gaining first hand experience via the research I’d be able to do and the interaction with people, as well as the prospect of analysing primary data.

What do you remember about your first day at CSR? And what is a day at the office like for you now?

My first day was a little bit daunting but soon, with the help of  new friends and guidance from my seniors, I came to understand and enjoy my role. My main project is a study on the Maternity Benefit Act 1961, which includes developing a questionnaire, collecting data, conducting interviews and preparing the research proposals.

What is the most interesting thing you have learned about women in India during your internship?

In this country we grow up with an awareness of the difficult reality that women and men are not treated equally. While on one hand a goddess may be worshiped by all, on the other, so many Indian women are the victims of cruelty, violence and exploitation. Coming to CSR has opened my eyes to the many interesting dimensions of this reality, and I’ve learned more about all that is being done to make my country a safer place for women.

What is your favourite thing to do in Delhi?

I’ve lived in Delhi for more than 6 years now, and my favourite thing to do has always been to take a stroll around the Delhi University campus and relish the spicy chole kulche and coffee from the road-side stalls.

This is part two of a two-part series. Read part one here.

Last week, we looked at the women who are stepping into the limelight within the Indian corporate sector to become managers, against all the odds. Sadly, a recent Centre for Social Research study on Women Managers in India highlighted several major factors still inhibiting their goals and aspirations.

In other words, representation of women at the top level of management is proportionately low compared to men in India. A solid glass ceiling prevents women from moving upwards in their careers and if companies are serious about striving toward greater diversity in their management, systematic changes are needed. In response to its findings, the CSR Research Division has outlined the following key recommendations for change:

The major barrier for the promotion of women managers in India is insensitivity towards women’s social roles and responsibilities. Active changes to the recruitment system, company policies, legislation and increased opportunities and training for women employees are needed in order to reach more proportionate gender representation in Indian corporate management.

This is part one of a two-part series. Read part two here.

“Women are fragile.” “Women are indecisive.” “Women are too emotional.” “Women are inexperienced.”

These are some of the stereotypes with which many still view women in the workplace in India today. Such pre-conceptions consequently stand in the way of success for even the most capable and talented women in their professional lives. Centre for Social Research’s recent study, Women Managers in India, has revealed unsettling explanations for the distinct lack of power and authority which remains a reality for the majority of professional women in management positions in three of India’s most rapidly developing cities. During 2009-2011 our Research team surveyed 264 women managers in Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore in order to examine the underlying factors which impede women’s professional success, as well as uncover how and why women continue to struggle to prove their worth in what is often described as ‘a man’s world’.

Women managers–those that supervise 13 or more members of staff–face a variety of gender-based challenges in different corporate sectors such as health, media, finance and hospitality in India. However, views on what these challenges are differ widely between corporate levels and sectors.

The resounding opinion is that while many women are confronted with male ego, which eventually results in a loss of opportunities, they are also subjected to other factors which make the workplace an uncomfortable environment for women and constitute serious obstacles to gender equality. For one, 72% of the companies audited did not have any gender-specific policies to encourage female staff into leadership positions, suggesting that there is no intention of moving towards greater representation of women in management in the private sector. Women-specific forums for reporting grievances or gaining support on how to further one’s career do not exist either, sustaining an unwelcoming atmosphere for women in a male-dominated workplace.

In addition to the lack of institutionalised support for existing and aspiring women managers in Indian firms, gender inequality is clearly visible in the workplace. Special facilities such as flexible working hours and medical benefits are usually only available to men and not women. Given the traditional views surrounding family and marriage and the perceived importance of a woman’s role in the home in Indian society, young married women especially struggle to balance their careers and family lives. This is due to an insensitive approach toward women’s family obligations and related disagreements over maternity benefits and leave. According to our survey, 18% of study participants complained of conflicting roles, responsibilities and complaining in-laws who wanted the daughter-in law to quit her job.

But why is there a lack of understanding about the responsibilities and needs of a young working mother? In India, when women attempt to maintain a balance between time spent at home and at the office, their efforts are often misinterpreted as a lack of commitment to their job.

However, for many women starting out in their career or already working their way up the ladder, the real problem does not lie in commitment to their job but in the individual challenge of finding sufficient drive to reach the upper management level. As a result, women become complacent with the position they are holding at work, and their zeal for more responsibility and success begins to fade. While 63% of women in entry-level positions in Delhi expressed their aspiration to reach the top, only 48% of mid-career women expressed the same. Many women with such goals admitted that they were unaware of how to fulfill their ambitions or lacked confidence. While not expressly addressed in the study, there’s likely a direct link between these figures and the lack of support and encouragement for women in the workplace in corporate Indian organisations.

The 2011 National Indian Census revealed what many of us already knew: Pre-natal sex selection still exists, and may be getting worse. But even those girl children that are not aborted, one health-related phenomena continues to claim more lives in India than HIV/AIDS and Malaria combined: stillbirths.

Stillbirths disproportionately affect the poor worldwide, with 98 percent of stillbirths occurring in low- to middle-income countries. More than two-thirds of stillbirths occur in rural families with little or no access to decent maternal care. While there are many causes of stillbirth, including maternal infections and maternal health problems such as hypertension, many deaths could be prevented if women had access to adequate health care.

A recent 18-country study from the medical journal The Lancet revealed that stillbirth losses affect 2.6 million families worldwide. This means that every day around 7,200 babies are stillborn.  Around 1.2 million babies die each year during labour, with such deaths often being associated with lack of adequate obstetric care. Unfortunately in India, 40 percent of women do not have access to skilled care during childbirth.

Out of all estimated stillbirths worldwide, 23.2 per cent occur in India, which means an average of 1,680 every day. In addition, the rate of stillbirths here has remained relatively steady throughout the 1990s and 2000s. The true extent of the tragedy is hard to estimate: Most stillbirths go unreported and their causes unrecorded.

Centre for Social Research’s press conference at the Indian Women’s Press Corps today saw a high turnout of journalists eager to find out about our latest piece of research: Gender Dimensions of International Migration, India and Bangladesh. Dr. Ranjana Kumari, Director of CSR, and Dr. Manasi Mishra, Head of Research at CSR, presented a summary of the report, which looked at over 1,000 case studies in 2009 and found trends in the problems faced by female migrants.

The study focused on the socio-economic consequences that come from the migration of the breadwinner, generally the male, of labour families. The study also evaluated the roles adopted by males and females of families left back and how the increasing responsibilities lead to an emergence of gender traditionalism. According to this study, 77% of migrant women as opposed to 34% of migrant men faced resistance. Though women empowerment was reported, 73% of migrant women reported loneliness and had significant difficulties with childcare.

We’re calling for Indian Embassies abroad to set up cells for female migrants to go to for help, regardless of the legal status of their migration. Indian women need to be protected from exploitation, and it’s our government’s responsibility to make sure that they are, irrespective of which country they are sent to work in.