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  • Aug 31, 2021

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Diversity Dividend: Automotive Industry Edition

The fascination over cars and motorcycles among people has been unceasing for over a century. Many of us still get starry-eyed at the sight of a Harley Davidson riding past, and gets inspired by passion burning through the veins. What’s interesting, however, is that historically, whenever we think of people burning with passion for automobiles, our mind immediately conjures up a demographic which is often comprised of just men, and completely ignore the possibility of women being just as crazed over it. In fact, women around the world are increasingly finding their true passion in racing or customizing cars, and there are actually some amazing female drivers throughout history, as well as business owners, talented technicians, and more, and that is something that needs due acknowledgement.

The problem lies in the fact that, ever since its inception, almost every aspect of the automotive industry that matters, has been male dominated. We were simply not used to seeing much diversity in such fields, also popularly known as the men’s domain. And hence, even the mere idea of a female mechanic, technician, or a vehicle designer used to be unimaginable. It took us almost a century to somewhat alter this trend. However, we have finally witnessed many stereotypes break with women entering the automotive industry. In fact, they did not just enter. Women in the automotive industry today, are shouldering equal responsibilities like their male counterparts, and even assuming leadership roles in the automotive industry.

Statistics for Women in the Automotive Industry

While the things are changing for the better, especially in the higher levels of the industry, the change is not fast enough. According to a study by Deloitte, women accounted for only a little over a quarter of the automotive workforce. Although this study was based on the US automotive industry, the outcome very much stands true to any country’s automotive industry, and women participation in it, including India.

As per the report, women held only 27% of jobs in the US automotive industry. While this most certainly is a progress in the last few decades, but we still have a long way to go before women can take up more roles in the automotive industry. Hopefully, with the current wave of change, there will be better opportunities for women around the world to fill in more key roles in the industry. Let’s get a detailed account to know what makes us thinks so.

Technology Bridging the Gap for Women in the Industry: A Leap towards Diversity

In the last two to three decades, public perceptions and company attitudes have demonstrated tremendous changes, and are now actively in favor of a diverse and positive workforce. One’s gender has not much impact on their ability to get a job done, efficiently. Adding to that, technology has transformed workplaces across industries into a more equal ground for men and women alike. Earlier, many could not apply for certain roles due to physical injuries, disadvantages, or other illnesses, but now, with technology leveling up the field, these people are empowered with the ability to work remotely, operate machinery, or virtually consult projects.

Technology is indeed instrumental in making diversity, in its truest form, a possibility in many workplaces of the future. Even in terms of the significant skill gap in the automotive sector, women across the world are now able to bridge it, and grab these roles with the help of technology. In fact, through rapid adoption of latest technology, and advanced work approaches, women are now successfully climbing their career ladder, and becoming leaders, technical experts, and bringing significant changes to the industry.

The automotive industry is also one of the forerunners in adoption of new technologies, and is highly focused in incorporating virtual reality and augmented reality in the workplaces. Since these technologies are practically free from any gender-based stigma, this field is pretty popular among women, and there are, in fact, many instances where women have outshone their male counterparts in these jobs.

Today, women are as skilled as tech experts, or virtual reality designers as most men in this industry, and hence, now it all comes down to the ability of the recruiters to discern and leverage the best of skills and expertise that this demographic has to offer, for their companies’ best business interest. After all, diversity is a powerful force, when adopted and encouraged.

Transition to Efficiency-based Pay Structure is a Welcome Move towards Equality

Over the last years, the automotive industry is not only witnessing an increase in women workers, there is also a significant change in their payment structure. Unlike in the past, a lot of women now are getting equal pay as men, and some are even getting paid more.

This has more or less proven that a lot of company today, are putting efforts to dismiss gender-based discrimination in the workplaces. Instead, drive and skills are rewarded, as deserved. More often than not, women are highly driven to prove their ability in a male-dominated environment. This drive leads one to perform better, and churn out excellent results, leading to promotions and salary hikes.

Their performance alone has given rise to so many positions where women are rewarded for their skills and are paid significantly higher than men across this sector. And it is only fair, because the better worker gets a bigger paycheck. The employers’ focus need to be on striving towards equality. And while rewarding employees for their effort and ability is well justified, they should also stay vigilant on not starting more conflicts over job roles and salaries in the workplace.

Way Forward towards Desired Diversity

At this point, when the industry itself is going through a massive transformation, it is only right for companies to hire talent with the best skills in the market, without gender prejudices. Because, at the end of the day, it is only the competent employees that will benefit the businesses, and the companies failing to see the simple logic behind this, will ultimately be left behind in the race.

Like I have mentioned, women have come a long way in the automotive sector, and are in far better positions than they were in the past. The evolving industry, as well as the mentality of people towards female automotive workers, have paved the way for true diversity to be seen in the workforce. However, while their sheer diligence deserves all the appreciation, we also cannot oversee the influence of latest technologies in the sector, in achieving their current status.

Going forward, if more and more companies start giving preference to abilities and knowledge over prejudices and old stigmas, the auto industry will be able to witness far more diversity in terms of talent, as well as, grow up to the heights of its success, and there will be no stopping for women from becoming the brightest stars among the crowds.

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