If the first thoughts of the India-born head of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, were right and valid, women in India, and indeed much of the world, suffer from an unusual disability — they just have bad “karma”, or they would be earning the same level of salaries as their male counterparts in any field. Mr Nadella offered the view at a conference in Arizona on Thursday while taking part in a conference on earning disparities between talented women engineers and men in the same area.
To paraphrase him, the head of one of the world’s most iconic companies was trying to argue that women need not ask for raises and should wait on their “karma”, as their work would, finally, speak for itself. Alas, this has never been the case — anywhere in the world. It is surprising to see how Mr Nadella could have got it all so wrong. Under capitalism, the value of women’s labour has been less than that of men around the world.
The pretty obvious reason for Mr Nadella’s articulation is that the Microsoft chief turns out, like most men, to be a male chauvinist. This cannot be a great advertisement for the company he leads. But thankfully, he has had second thoughts, which followed a blast he received on social media. Mr Nadella says he has seen the error and has argued for wage parity. That’s a decent start.
