Gender Intelligence – Implications in the Workplace

Mrs. Saundarya Rajesh, the founder – President of AVTAR Career Creators was invited to enlighten us on the topic of Gender Intelligence and its implications in the workplace. Mrs. Saundarya has completed her Masters in Management from the Central University, Pondicherry. A chevening Scholar 2005 from the University of Bradford, she has over 20 years of work experience which began with her tenure at Citibank. She founded AVTAR Career Creators in 2000 and AVTAR I-WIN in 2005.

She started with an introduction of Stereotyping in the workplace. Coming to the main point of discussion i.e. Gender Intelligence, she said it is important to take into view the full picture and not stereotype. She pointed out the fact that there is a difference between gender and sex – While sex is male and female, Gender refers to masculine and feminine.

She engaged the students in a small activity wherein they were to say whether the statements were facts or fiction. The nature of statements made the activity really interesting resulting into a healthy conflict between the girls and boys. Following the activity she discussed Lenses of Conditioning viz. Parental, Societal and Institutional. She also highlighted the effects of Gender Stereotyping on the work environment.

The lecture was concluded with career tips for both men and women on how to manage the opposite gender. The lecture helped all in learning about the importance of Gender Intelligence and the benefits of being “Gender Intelligent”. We were honoured to have Mrs. Saundarya Rajesh amongst us to share her views with us.