Many of you reading this article have either been to a B-school or are in the last leg of your first year or preparing to get into one.
About a year back, I was on the other side of the wall, gearing up for and giving numerous stress interviews and GDs, all to pursue my dream of becoming an MBA graduate someday. And like most of you out there, I had had certain expectations; more on the terms of the kind of people I would be interacting with once I get in.
It goes without saying that I met some of the brightest and most talented minds of the country. It was even a bit overwhelming for me to be sharing the same college with them. But more than this, I expected to be in the company of open-minded, non-judgemental, liberal minds. However, I was sadly mistaken.
Having talked to many of my friends from different B-schools, I can say for sure that sexism lurks in every corridor of the hostels and ironically so, even more from the co-ed hostels. Here are some guidelines on how not to be a sexist in a B-school-
– Do not tell any of the girls you know that she will get placed in the very first day or that she will get a pre-placement offer just because she is a girl and the company is looking to aid its already toppled sex ratio. You may think that you are giving her assurance but trust me; you are underestimating her talent and all the hard work she has put into getting to where she is today.
– Do not take a girl in your project group just because you think it will help you get more marks for obvious reasons.
– The first year in a B-school spares no one. The endless assignments, innumerous quizzes, gruelling classes, CV sessions and of course,
"THE BAAP OF ALL", the summer internship placements takes a toll on each of us. However, male students are generally expected to deal with stress better than female students. Along with stereotyping, this is one of the worst spill-over I have expected of the highly sexist phrase "Men don't cry".
In the end, I would like to add that these and many more instances of casual sexism against men or women, seemingly harmless at first, turn into bigger matters afterwards. And, somewhere at some point, we all have been guilty as well as a victim of these.
It is high time that we, as future leaders, set an example for others and talk about this serious issue and make sure that no one is on either of the sides.