Sushmita Sen talks about women empowerment in a TaskUs web series

Sushmita Sen has been a cultural icon and a paragon for women across the globe since winning the Miss Universe crown in 1994. Today, she remains firm in her advocacy as she joins global business leaders in speaking about their experiences as women in leadership roles in a web series entitled TaskUs 121: Women on Spotlight.
Through the years, the Indian actress, poet, and philanthropist broke barriers and lived a life not weighed down by dated societal expectations on women.They are proud to have broken through the glass ceiling, a proverbial metaphor for the barrier that prevents women from reaching their full socio-economic potential and encourages other women to follow suit. Sen, famous for her winning answer to the question, “What is the essence of being a woman?” is thrilled to be part of the web series and determined to use her influence to amplify women’s voices on pressing issues.
“In the twenty-six years that I have spent after that moment, I still stick to my answer: A woman is a precious gift of God, and we should all appreciate her. At 18, I answered that question, and it has taken me twenty-six years to understand its true meaning, and I’ve lived it,” said Sen.

The online talk show features women leaders from different fields coming together to discuss the advantages of having more women in leadership positions. It looks into how a diverse and inclusive workplace culture creates sustainable communities.
TaskUs is the leading outsourcing provider for high-growth organisations. The company has massive global operations with key delivery centres in India, the Philippines, Taiwan, Greece, Ireland, Mexico, and the United States. The term “121” is a play on words referring to TaskUs’s one-on-one coaching sessions between leaders and their reports.
“TaskUs is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment that respects everyone’s unique abilities and cultures. We aim to achieve a gender-balanced workforce that is free from discrimination and enables women to succeed and participate in leadership. Our company is built on global diversity, and we see our strong culture of inclusion as one of our key indicators of success,” said TaskUs CEO Bryce Maddock.
Maddock has been recognised by HR tech company Comparably as one of the Best CEOs for Women, and TaskUs as one of the Best Companies for Women. TaskUs is mainly focused on achieving gender parity in India, a region where 53% of top businesses have a male to female employee ratio of 10:1.

“In India, women continue to fall behind men in terms of access to economic opportunities. We want to change that narrative, and we are starting within our own workplaces. We are proud to say that we are ahead of the industry standard of the share of women in office leadership in India and close to the global standard of 28 percent. As we continue to grow, we are committed to a workforce equally balanced between men and women,” said TaskUs Vice President of Operations and India Country Lead, Sapna Bhambani.
The web series brings out insights of leaders who act as the company’s cultural heralds and gatekeepers. Its mission is to inspire women to take space, advance in positions of leadership, and pave the way for others to succeed. These are some of the few values that set TaskUs apart from its competitors and contribute to the company’s “ridiculously good” culture.
Similar to how TaskUs sees its women talent as key to its success, Sushmita Sen believes it is time for society to be aware of female strength. “Male dominance is a perception. That perception is fueled by the fact that women have accepted it because our conditioning has taught us that,” she said.
“Human beings have tremendous potential. If you were to put a man and woman together, faceless, without knowing their gender, to sit down in an exam to get into an organisation, you’d be very impressed to see how many women actually make it. To get over our biases is one of the most important ways to be better and thrive as a society,” added Sen.
Weekly episodes of TaskUs 121: Women on Spotlight will be exclusively featured on TaskUs’s LinkedIn account starting November 12. To know more, follow TaskUs’s social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Disclaimer: This article has been produced on behalf of TaskUs by Times Internet's Spotlight team.