Why Do Women Have To Choose Between Motherhood And Ambition? Gender Equality At Workplace Still Remains Elusive

Hollywood movie Baby Mama that released in 2008 shows a very relatable character Tina Fey – a dynamic executive who struggles with infertility. She ends up hiring a surrogate and takes her into her home when she finds out she is homeless. The comedy film passed down a strong message amid humour that feels relevant: pregnancy and motherhood are still seen as career-ending liabilities for women who are in demanding jobs. Little less than two decades and that fictional subplot continues to reflect the harsh reality faced by countless working women across India and the world.

While many workplaces champion gender diversity and equality, mostly on paper, the treatment of women, especially expectant mothers and single women in their late 20s and 30s (socially appropriate age to 'settle down'), is completely different. India and the world are not ready to consider women as equal. They are still removed from projects once revealed that the woman is expecting, they are still asked inappropriate questions in interviews "Are you planning to get married?" and if recently married, "Are you planning a family?" Or if it has to be more subtle, "Are you single?" Indeed, these are some of the questions that only women have to answer, not a single instance, where a man is asked these derogatory and disrespectful questions.

The Legal Illusion of Protection

A case in point is Vandana Sreemedha from Kerala, whose maternity leaves were turned down and what was more shocking was that she was terminated from service, for being on unauthorised absence. She filed a complaint and the court ordered compensation for her from the company and reminded that "maternity leaves are constitutional right of a woman." It is surprising that companies fail to understand that and conveniently get away with it. Take for instance Priya Mehra, a mid-level manager at a leading outsourcing firm in Gurugram was removed from a project after she worked on it for three years. Reason? She was expecting and declared to her male boss that she is in her first trimester.

"I didn't even break the news in my extended family, but he announced it to my team. Now everyone is asking me when am I going on leaves. That's so embarrassing. I have worked on that project and now I am just not useful for the company because I am expecting and would require maternity leaves in next few months," says Mehra.

What is more shocking is that the senior executive who decided upon the movement was male, however, other leaderships including the HR roles are secured by women in the firm. Still, the decision was finalised against Mehra. "It's like patriarchal women. It's not only about men who are patriarchs, women also subtly and sometimes explicitly promote patriarchy. They don't offer support to another woman," says K Fernandes, a media professional.

Discrimination covered under carpet

In another instance, Neha Dhoopar, an account and mid-senior level executive in an IT firm in Chandigarh was abruptly removed from a high-stake project after she disclosed her pregnancy. The project required six months of work, and though Dhoopar had explicitly stated that she would go on maternity leaves only after her eighth month, the management decided to "pre-emptively" reassign her. Their justification? "Continuity and planning ahead." She was benched and eventually sidelined from all assignments.
"This wouldn't have happened with a man if he wanted to go on sabbatical or recovering from an injury. Motherhood is like a sin in corporate world," says Dhoopar.

It is high time that companies understand that woman getting pregnant is not a crime in India and asking for maternity leave is not a criminal offence. When the management decides to take these steps, they are not only setting a wrong example but also harming a will of a woman, putting her into a situation where she questions her decisions and identity. They are snatching away her financial independence, her confidence, and her trust in the system.

Regressing One Instance At a Time

According to a 2024 survey by the Women's Workplace Justice Collective, 47 per cent of Indian women reported facing some form of discrimination at work related to pregnancy or maternity. In fact, this discrimination doesn't start at the maternity ward but at the interview table. One of the most commonly asked illegal questions during an interview is: "Are you planning to get married soon?" or "Any plans to start a family?"

"A safe workplace is not a privilege; it is a fundamental right, anchored in the Indian Constitution through the right to privacy. Women are entitled to a working space where they can maintain their dignity and are heard. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 goes a long way in encouraging women to come forward and raise their voice against indecency. This is echoed by the Indian Penal Code, which prescribes punitive action against offenders, and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005," says Criminal Defence Lawyer Rhythm Aggarwal.

Another shocking instance the lawyer shares is that a female employee was fired on the account of her failure to correctly declare her last date of menstruation and existence of her pregnancy on her employment declaration form. "The Supreme Court set aside the dismissal of the employee calling the requirement to do so an infringement of privacy and dignity," says Aggarwal.
Male candidates, on the other hand, are rarely seen in such a situation. They are not seen as potential liabilities due to their personal lives. But for women, every life choice, from marriage to motherhood becomes a struggle to prove they are "worth" investing in professionally.

"There were times I lied during interviews and said I wasn't planning to get married. I didn't want to but I was taught to after being unemployed for almost six months. I resigned for my mother's cancer treatment and when I wanted to start working again, I was asked the same question by all the companies I applied, 'If I was planning to get married'. I told the truth but that didn't help. Eventually, I lied and it worked. I got the job. It was humiliating but my honesty was clearly not working out," says Archana Gaikwad, a banker by profession in Pune.

Many women delay their pregnancy due to this sidelining culture. In other cases, they return to work before they are physically or emotionally ready for it (Representational Image) (Getty Images)

A Lost Battle

In India, the Maternity Benefit Act, 2017 mandates 26 weeks of paid maternity leave. It also prohibits termination of the employee during pregnancy. However, the enforcement of this act is often not followed and retaliation too is not that common. "Most companies would use words like 'performance' or 'cost cutting' as their reason to lay off the employee but the real reason is the pregnancy. Unless a woman can prove it was direct discrimination, which is usually difficult since most of them are wrapped in internal records and emails, legal recourse is tough," says Advocate Renu Singh.

Unfortunately, many women fear speaking up and take legal battles which stretch for years. Moreover, there are professional fallouts and companies don't want to hire those candidates. They are blacklisted, or deemed as 'troublemaker'.

The Unseen Emotional Toll

While there's legal and financial damage, the entire episode takes an emotional toll on a woman's health. It is like being punished for a biological process. This can put woman into questioning her self-worth and identity. Deepa Sundaran shares that her manager joked in a meeting saying, "It's better we don't assign it to her. She may not be seen in office for nine months." "I was holding back my tears and cried in the washroom. I was not even pregnant but just because I had then recently got married he said that. It felt so humiliating," recalls the communications professional in Chennai.
Many women delay their pregnancy due to this sidelining culture. In other cases, they return to work before they are physically or emotionally ready for it. Or worst, they resign! In a country already struggling with low female labour force participation – only 28.7 per cent as of 2024 of the total workforce – this systematic discouragement will only lead to decline in one way or the other.

Outside India, several countries are taking constructive steps to reverse this trend. In Sweden and Norway, for example, parental leave is gender-neutral and mandatory for fathers. It is to help and balance the caregiving burden of the mother and reduce the bias. Countries like Japan and South Korea even offer financial aid to mothers upon childbirth, irrespective of their employment status. For instance, the childbirth Lump-Sum Grant provide an amount of JPY 500,000 for each baby. The amount was raised from 420,000 yen in 2023. In South Korea parents receive a monthly cash allowance of 700,000 Won (approximately 42,000). In China, the national maternity leave is 98 days for normal childbirth as part of Female Labor Protection. Under the new policy China announced 100,000 yuan (approximately 11 lakh) for having a third child after March 1, 2025. In India, some startups like Zerodha, Paytm, and Freshworks have introduced liberal maternity and paternity leave policies. These companies also offer reintegration programs for mothers who are returning to work after the sabbatical. But these are exceptions and we don't know if these too are only on paper.

Policies on Paper

For real change to happen, it's a long road to travel. Gender sensitisation, policy enforcement, and legal reforms must go hand-in-hand. The mindset of seeing women as 'temporary employees' at any level must be changed. "Outside of the law, organisations need to work on building a culture that actively respects and protects women's rights. Clear anti-harassment policies establish expectations and eliminate ambiguity, which allow women to report misconduct more confidently. Having a zero-tolerance policy regarding harassment, reinforced with robust support mechanisms within, provides women the security of being safeguarded and valued. Building on privacy at workplaces and the supportive policies concerning work-life harmony brings about greater respect within the setup," says Advocate Aggarwal.
While there may be laws to protect women at workplaces, the respect, fairness, and empathy are still missing. It is about dismantling the structures that punish women for their biological process. It is also about ensuring that the workplace becomes her support system when she chooses to become a mother and not a place that killed her ambitions. Until the companies continue to discriminate and terminate women for their pregnancy covering it up as 'business decisions', their dreams will continue to shatter and it is alarming.

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