Morphogenesis becomes one of the world’s first gender-positive architectural firms
Morphogenesis is incredibly proud to report a gender pay gap of 2.05 percent in the favour of women, based on the median of our staff’s salaries. This statistic, commonly used as a representation of a company’s gender balance, is calculated by identifying the middle earner within the workforce. In a country where women earn just 62 percent of what men earn (The Economist, 2018), our analysis for the current fiscal year revealed a median hourly wage of INR 248 for women against INR 243 for men. These numbers assume immense significance in light of the results of the UK-government-mandated revelation of gender pay gap figures in 2018. The country’s average figure was an abysmal 9.5 percent in favour of men, with some architectural firms reporting a pay gap of as much as 31 percent. (Dezeen, 2018) The reason most commonly cited for this disparity was a lack of female representation in senior high-paid roles. (Dezeen, 2018) The existence of the positive pay gap at Morphogenesis, therefore, is a reflection of continued efforts at supporting long-term career progression for women. “Since inception, we’ve worked hard to put a range of policies and processes in place to enable our women workforce to continue their professional careers,” explains SonaliRastogi, Founding Partner. Recruitment and promotion policies create a level playing field for all candidates, irrespective of gender, with merit being the sole review criterion. FLEX, a company initiative for women empowerment, ensures safety for women working long hours, flexibility in working arrangements for new mothers, extended maternity leaves, and financial assistance. One of the many ways that Morphogenesis helps employees uphold their familial and societal commitments is by supporting them to spend their time at work in camaraderie versus that which would be spent running errands. Enabling grocery deliveries, facilitating day-care services, and bring your pet to work days are just some of the measures taken to help them in their careers and uphold community obligations. As a result, figures of gender diversity are exemplary across all levels of Morphogenesis’ 190-people strong organisational hierarchy – from support services to leadership roles. Additionally, women currently head 4 internal departments out of a total of 5. While these metrics definitely deserve celebration, there is an inherent understanding that there are several socio-cultural issues that still plague the architecture and construction industries. With an approximate 40:60 ratio of women to men in architecture schools, it is a huge loss when at the workplace the percentage falls to 25. (Architect Magazine, 2014) Morphogenesis is committed to working proactively to break these barriers and to ensure an inclusive and equitable working environment for all our employees. “Through our work, we challenge every day, the traditional stereotypes of what women can do,” says Rastogi.
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