Battle 5 - IIM Calcutta v/s XLRI Jamshedpur - There should be 1/3rd reservation for women in Business Schools in India (AGAINST)

(Read here for Battle 3: IIM Indore vs IIM Kozhikode)

(Read here for Battle 4 : JBIMS Mumbai vs MDI Gurgaon)

Please note that the arguments put forward below cannot be ascribed as the participants’ individual opinions. All arguments put forward are only for the purpose of this debate competition.

There should be 1/3rd reservation for women in Business Schools in India

AGAINST the motion: XLRI Jamshedpur                                       (Read IIM C's argument FOR the motion)

Our arguments lie against the motion and we will be looking at this topic from two fronts-the impact on B-Schools due to reservation for women and need for women to have reservations.

If there is one attribute that distinguishes the premier B schools all over the world from the rest is the quality of students admitted. The main reason for this is the extremely rigorous selection criteria followed in the academic institutions. Selecting the right type of students is more than half the job done in the processes of grooming them to be exceptional managers and leaders as the institutes only have to facilitate a conducive atmosphere for learning. Hence any measure on the institute’s part to tamper with the rigour of their selection procedure would adversely impact the quality of their finished products. Since world over the potential of free market economy has been realised this would eventually lead to the private businesses partaking the lion’s share in the world’s economic growth, B schools which churn out managers who would drive the private sector machines need to have the required aptitude and attitude to drive the modern world economy.

Diversity in classrooms has been shown to positively influence the learning but in the process of forcefully increasing the gender diversity the B schools in India will ultimately end up selecting people from the same background among the fairer sex, e.g. Engineers and essentially destroying the diversity that was intended in the first place. The top notch B schools in the world like Harvard, Stanford, Wharton etc have more than 33% female students but it’s a natural outcome of their selection criteria solely based on merit.

These B schools have resisted the temptation to provide any reservation to females as they believe any effort to tamper with the admission criteria would sound the death knell for these institutes which have consistently topped the global rankings.

The companies that come to the premier B schools for recruitment mainly focuses on the attitude of the candidates during the selection processes in the hope that the aptitude wise filtering has already been done by the B schools themselves during admission, hence any dilution in the quality of students admitted would make the companies sceptical and they would increasingly resort to measures that may be partisan to protect their interests. The corporate houses are a very critical stake holders for the B schools as they not only provide astronomical salaries to the graduates and boost the brand value of these institutions but also through case studies, consulting tie ups with faculty and providing the students an opportunity to intern and do live projects with them increase the core competence of these institutes. Hence any move on the part of the B schools that such a vital stakeholder perceives as antithetical to its interests would prove to be an existential threat to the institutes.

If we draw parallels and generalize there are certain professions like human surgery, defence forces etc where no form of reservations can be entertained as the benefits accruing to the marginalized sections of the society from reservations are paltry when compared to the negative effects on the economy and society due to the dilution of the quality of the inputs. The table below shows that presently there is only 50% merit being considered in many premier Indian B schools and another 33% for women would kill merit based selection process entirely.

The second argument for reserving seats for women in B schools is that in general it would lead to their empowerment. Let’s examine the merit of this argument in detail.

Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well-being of backward and under-represented communities, according to Wikipedia. The logic of the constitution framers in providing reservation to some sections of the society was they were marginalised for generations and needed a social support system in the form of affirmative action to bring them to the forefront of society and polity. Hence the recipient of reservation should benefit from the favourable climate created for him or her.

SC and SC Converts to Buddhism	13.0%
STs	7.0%
Vimukta Jati	3.0%
Nomadic Tribes (NTI)	2.5%
Nomadic Tribes (NT2)	3.5%
Nomadic Tribes (NT3)	2.0%
OBC	19.0%
Total	50.0%

Source: http://examcrazy.com/Education-System/India/Indian-Education-Reservation-Quota-System.asp           

This brings us to the inherent question whether reservation for women enables them to claim the benefits? In today’s society some of the social evils perpetrated against women that eventually lead to their disempowerment are female foeticide, child marriage, sexual abuse etc. In all these cases women irrespective of their caste and creed are discriminated against pre empting them from claiming any social benefits. However providing reservation in premier B-Schools to women wouldn’t per se empower them as they are forcefully prevented (by their own family mostly) from playing a greater role in the society. Strict law enforcement, creating awareness among the population and providing social support systems to women showing the courage to break free from the shackles are better ways to empower women than providing reservation.

In the case of marginalised communities it’s the historical bias which acts as a deterrent thereby making reservation a powerful tool for their advancement. Modern educated women are no longer second class citizens. They can fend for themselves and possess the intellect to do so. Women today have proven that they can excel in all fields be it academics, sports and in professions which requires extremely high skill and dexterity. Hence won’t it be an insult to women folk in general to have reservation when they have the potential to display exemplary performance.

Hence providing reservation to women neither empowers them nor aids the learning in classrooms. We would like to end with an analogy, in a 100 m race all the participants should be given an equal opportunity – training, kits, diet etc- reservation can be provided here. However, to compete and reducing the distance to be run for some participants would make it a mockery of a race.

- Bimal and Madhumita

Counterpunch

IIM Calcutta's counterpunch to XLRI's opening arguments

We read the points that XLRI gave and here goes our counterpunch:

“If there is one attribute that distinguishes the premier B schools all over the world from the rest is the quality of students admitted. The main reason for this is the extremely rigorous selection criteria followed in the academic institutions. Selecting the right type of students is more than half the job done in the processes of grooming them to be exceptional managers and leaders as the institutes only have to facilitate a conducive atmosphere for learning. ”

The basic assumption seems to be that if one clears the CAT/XAT with excellent mathematical and English language skills, the latter of which will have to be displayed during the interview/group discussion process, one is already half a manager. If Indira Noooyi, Azim Premji and Ratan Tata write the CAT today, the results will be very interesting. Also the statement belittles the effort put in by the staff and professors into designing the course and the support given by the alums. It is also a common observation that some students fail courses, so the process cannot be as foolproof as it seems.

“ Since world over the potential of free market economy has been realised this would eventually lead to the private businesses partaking the lion’s share in the world’s economic growth, B schools which churn out managers who would drive the private sector machines need to have the required aptitude and attitude to drive the modern world economy.”

“The companies that come to the premier B schools for recruitment mainly focuses on the attitude of the candidates during the selection processes in the hope that the aptitude wise filtering has already been done by the B schools themselves during admission, hence any dilution in the quality of students admitted would make the companies sceptical and they would increasingly resort to measures that may be partisan to protect their interests.”

Please read what I wrote about what Yashwant Mahadik and Ram Kumar said about what the corporate sector wants.

“The top notch B schools in the world like Harvard, Stanford, Wharton etc have more than 33% female students but it’s a natural outcome of their selection criteria solely based on merit.”

Please read about what I wrote about positive discrimination.

“"These B schools have resisted the temptation to provide any reservation to females as they believe any effort to tamper with the admission criteria would sound the death knell for these "

Please quote an IIM representative objecting to reservation.

‎"In the process of forcefully increasing the gender diversity the B schools in India will ultimately end up selecting people from the same background among the fairer sex"

In IIM Calcutta alone, there are about 400 engineers out of a batch of 460. Engineers form 88.86% of the batch in IIM Bangalore.[1]. Also, as I mentioned earlier, girls are few in number in engineering colleges when compared to men. If you need proof, ask an IITian. There are plenty of women who crack the CAT and come from other backgrounds. We do not see enough of them in our b-schools.

“SC and SC Converts to Buddhism 13.0%
STs 7.0%
Vimukta Jati 3.0%
Nomadic Tribes (NTI) 2.5%”

The debate is not about community. It is about women. If, in spite of the current reservation system, we are seeing few women in IIMs and other top b-schools, then the system simply needs to be changed. This is where positive discrimination comes into play.

“ Modern educated women are no longer second class citizens. They can fend for themselves and possess the intellect to do so. Women today have proven that they can excel in all fields be it academics, sports and in professions which requires extremely high skill and dexterity. Hence won’t it be an insult to women folk in general to have reservation when they have the potential to display exemplary performance.”

There is  a strong glass ceiling at the work place that hinders the progress of women. Women represent just 10% of corporate boards.[3] [4]

“ in a 100 m race all the participants should be given an equal opportunity – training, kits, diet etc- reservation can be provided here. However, to compete and reducing the distance to be run for some participants would make it a mockery of a race.”

The rate was never equal. Please read what we wrote about the expectations of society from women and also our old school textbooks that explicitly showed women doing household work and men returning from work in the evening to enjoy tea/coffee and television.

 

 

Participant Profiles (XLRI Jamshedpur)

Bimal Viswam: I am an Electrical & Electronics Engineer from College of Engineering, Trivandrum. I have worked for four years with ITC LTD and I am pursuing PGDHRM at XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Madhumita Bhattacharya : I am a Computer Science Engineer from NIT, Surat. I have worked for 20 months with Avaya Telecom, Pune, currently pursuing PGDHRM at XLRI Jamshedpur

Read everything about XLRI Jamshedpur here