Gender and Diversity in India

Abstract

The Problem Diversity and gender are contested topics in India. Although diversity means many things to many people, the meanings associated with diversity and the approaches to diversity management in India influence and are influenced by power structures and sociocultural values. Similarly, the intersection of gender with other diversity factors, such as caste, religion, or age, makes gender inequality a complex challenge in India. In the wake of globalization and changing nature of work, human resource development (HRD) professionals are faced with an ambitious task of unraveling these complexities and identifying effective ways to manage diversity and promote gender equality in organizations and in the Indian society at large. The Solution This issue is a significant step forward toward advancing gender and diversity theories and conceptual models and frameworks within the underlying sociocultural assumptions and beliefs in India. In doing so, the articles in this issue guide HRD professionals to undertake a multipronged (i.e., organizational, societal, national) and a critical inquiry into the challenges posed by gender and diversity in India. The Stakeholders HRD scholars and practitioners interested in research on global or international HRD would benefit from the theoretical and empirical work presented in this issue. Particularly, those who are interested in understanding the complex challenges posed by gender and diversity in India would learn how HRD models and theories apply to the unique sociocultural context of India. Also, the scholars from other social science disciplines who work on topics of diversity and gender would get a glimpse of how these topics manifest in an emerging economy like India.