While Bangladesh has made remarkable strides in women empowerment with female work force seen at all layers of society, there’s still a glass ceiling which prevents women professionals from reaching the top to showcase their full potential. Of course, compared to the first two decades after independence, women in almost all middle class families are engaged in some earning capacity along with their male counterparts, and even housewives who oversee the formidable work of home management, are often seen to be involved in independent small businesses.

Despite such revolutionary changes, women often feel they are not given the liberty to choose what they want in their lives, becoming victims of social pressure plus outdated customs. Unfortunately, when the issue of women’s career is discussed, the options are deliberately limited due to society’s blinkered outlook. Even families which boast a liberal outlook try to minimise the work space for women, thus forcing their daughters or sisters to curb their actual desires.

The reason for this is simple: many of our concepts about women at the workplace are dictated by preconceived ideas. Consequently, the images of desk bound jobs pop up in mind, allowing that invisible glass ceiling to be reinforced. At the family level in career talks regarding women, sectors like defence, sports, journalism, aviation and film-making are viewed with ambivalence. Such contradictory feelings discourage many women from pursuing their dream careers.

Naturally, family seniors in their wisdom will try to give advice which in their view is the best, though the desire of the person in question has to be taken into consideration too. Today, many women who are sports, acting, theatre or media have found work they excel in and love by going against the wishes of the family. Once individuals are allowed to follow their heart, social harmony will be maintained plus a woman will have the chance to have a career they are passionate about.

At the same time, skill development, network building plus innovative ideas are essential to help women in the corporate world to thrive. Since many women work in international development and multinational companies, it’s the duty of the employing institution to create a transparent career progression path. In most development bodies in Bangladesh, the top posts are given to foreign women and hardly to local experts. This prejudiced system must be shattered. The government which comes to power after the election has to pass a legislation stating that local skilled women have to be put at leading posts of development agencies or face revocation of work permission.