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Nilanjana Pal is the Executive Director for CASE Asia-Pacific. She has over 20 years’ experience in research and advisory services across the higher education, corporate, and public sectors alongside a wealth of knowledge of the Asia-Pacific region and extensive experience in establishing new businesses and collaborations in Asia.
Nilanjana shared with us her reflections around the progress she has seen with regards to gender equity, and the work that still needs to be done. “Progress in education (my sector of work) has been heartening – more women than men are attaining tertiary education, girls are staying in primary and secondary schools longer… all of these achievements in closing the gap in education between genders have led to profound, multiplicative, positive changes in families and communities around the world. As the African proverb goes, ‘you educate a girl, you educate a nation’!”
Despite meaningful progress, there are many areas where action is needed, including “gender-based violence, equal pay for equal work, and inadequate attention to women’s health issues. Financial independence for women remains a distant goal in many societies.”
“I think the structural barriers remain the same, regardless of sector or geography. That also tells you something about how difficult it is to dismantle these unequal systems. Women bear the brunt of caregiving responsibilities, household chores, they take a hit on their careers due to childbearing…the list of systemic barriers is long!”
However, Nilanjana noted that “progress exists in surprising pockets. For example, did you know that India has the highest percentage of female pilots globally? About 12.4 percent of Indian pilots are female, relative to 5.5% in the US and 4.7% in the UK. Somewhat counterintuitive given prevailing gender and cultural stereotypes about professions, but true! Some of the reasons behind this surprising trend are progressive government policies that have prioritised recruiting women in to specific roles, supportive families, and inclusive and flexible workplace policies that have eased the entry and retention of women. Imagine what would be possible if we replicated this support system (and dismantled barriers) for women in other professional fields?”
In her sector, Nilanjana has seen first-hand how momentum has created tangible change. “Several of the top universities in the world now have female academics leading these institutions. This would have been inconceivable even two decades ago.”
In the current climate, it’s important to ensure that women’s rights remain a priority. In thinking about how we can ensure this, Nilanjana noted that “each of us have a responsibility to speak up if we observe an injustice, to reach out to those in vulnerable positions and to support one another. We also have to involve men in this pursuit for equality. Without partnering with men, no change is sustainable.”
… to ensure that women’s rights are represented in legislative procedures. We should all donate (time, money or both!) to organisations that support our values. Be generous. Stay focused. We cannot drive positive impact if we are not willing to put our finances and time towards the initiatives that matter the most to us.”
Throughout her career, Nilanjana has been working to drive impactful, long-term change. “I have been championing the education of women my entire adult life. This has taken various forms.” As an alumna of a women’s college, she has focused on “advocating for the education and empowerment of women from diverse backgrounds, and ensuring they have a path to the kind of transformational education that I was so privileged to receive, helping in the admissions process, donating time and resources to these institutions, and offering career advice and mentorship to young women who are just starting out on their professional journeys.”
… Nilanjana reflected on the importance of visibility. “Ensure that your colleagues and senior leadership represent the diversity of lived experiences and capabilities that exist in our societies. Implement transparent recruitment measures that help overcome institutional or individual biases. Seemingly small actions matter and go a long way to building an inclusive workplace: respecting traditions, foods, work practices that are different from the dominant culture at the organisation and demonstrating a genuine willingness to learn more about these differences.”
Speaking on the accountability piece, Nilanjana noted some of the initiatives in place at CASE to promote gender equality. “We affirm their seat at the table, offer flexible working practices and access to mentorship and professional development opportunities.”
We would like to thank Nilanjana for taking the time to share her thoughts with us and we look forward to seeing her continued, impactful contributions at CASE and beyond.
Interview with Kate Hunter, Partner, UK Higher Education
Kate is a Partner, UK.
Her experience of senior level executive search includes Board, Chief Executive, Senior Academic and Administrative appointments globally within the Higher Education, Health and Social Care, and the Arts and Culture sector practices.
Kate began her career in the arts, working in communications roles, culminating as Head of Communications at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Kate has around 15 years’ experience of working in global higher education, both from within an institution and externally, as an advancement practitioner and an advisor to government, institutions and other stakeholders. Prior to joining Perrett Laver, Kate was Executive Director for CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) Europe. CASE is a global membership association with a focus on advocacy, training, research and data to support advancement – fundraising, marketing, communications, alumni relations. Kate worked closely with HEFCE, Universities UK and Arts & Business on sector-wide initiatives to build advancement capacity, including launching a fundraising graduate trainee programme. Kate holds a BA Hons in French with Spanish.
