This Sunday, For all the aspirants out there, we are publishing this book review and it can give you a wholesome perspective on the India’s security issues, the wars India fought, what we did right and where we went wrong. This a good book and especially an Insider’s account of India’s wars.
Buy and read this this book only if you have the time and it is 400+ pages, so make it a bed-side book and finish it in installments. A good read and we do recommend it. One thing must be said though, after a full read on this book, your take on India’s security matters is going to be changed, broadened and strengthened.
More often than not, this will help not only in your general studies papers but also in interview. We added a small summary and few events that may help you.
Happy Reading. Do let us know, if you would like this kind of efforts from us in future.
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Full Spectrum: India’s Wars, 1972-2020. Arjun Subramaniam
Full spectrum is a reservoir of analyses, narratives and warrior reflections from the post-1972 conflict landscape involving the Indian Armed Forces as they upheld national interests in the face of varied contingencies. Written with professional insight, the book brings out the historical connect, doctrinal interface, planning and execution of each of these operations.
The most significant part of this professionally authentic narration is the factually correct and dispassionate analysis of matters military as they unfolded in South Asia and impacted the Indian strategic turf.
Having served in some capacity or the other in most of these military engagements that the author writes about, it has been a nostalgic journey for me to revisit the operational nuances and their professional perspectives from the tactical to the strategic levels.
The story begins in the early 1970s and rapidly moves past all the major operations involving India’s armed forces – Operation Meghdoot (Siachen), Operation Blue Star (storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar), Operation Pawan (intervention in Sri Lanka), Operation Falcon (the Sumdorong Chu faceoff with China), Operation Cactus (foiling the coup in Maldives), and Operation Vijay (Kargil). Running alongside in the narrative are the insurgencies in the Northeast and the ongoing proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir.
The author has dovetailed the recorded military history with a personal recall of the events by accomplished commanders who have orchestrated and fought in these campaigns, adding an authenticity to the narrative.
Interestingly, the book also dwells into a few operations that were planned but not executed, a unique aspect that is rarely found in conventional military history literature.
Another distinct feature of the book is the detailed joint perspective offered by the author. His commentaries on the lesser known participation of air power as an instrument of strategic import and its decisive impact on joint operations are revealing.
How air power was woven into unplanned operational contingencies in less-than-war situations and how leadership and frontline pilots coped with several high-risk situations make for an interesting read. The author deftly introduces the human element of military aviation when writing about the air operations conducted in the Northeast, Siachen, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Kargil and Jammu and Kashmir theatres.
Similarly, the author has tracked the build-up of naval power over the last few decades and how it has facilitated the projection of national power beyond Indian shores and facilitated the extension of influence in its areas of concern.
The employment of the Indian Navy in support of operations in Sri Lanka and Maldives has been covered well, besides its coercive employment during the Kargil conflict with the potential of strategic dislocation of the enemy, should a wider conflict have erupted.
The book is an appropriate reference point for concepts and applications of air as well naval power in conventional as well as low-intensity conflicts in a grey zone, insurgency environment.
It is laid out in 19 chapters spanning not more than 15 to 20 pages each, making it reader-friendly and catering to short reading spans. Each of the chapters is exclusive in its content and is generally dedicated to operations in a largely chronological sequence, thereby making it possible to read the book in parts at the convenience of the reader.
The chapter on ‘Chameleon wars’ provides a backdrop to the concept and design of contemporary warfare and its hybrid variants as they have emerged in Indian context.
‘India’s Military Renaissance’ goes on to discuss the revolution in military affairs (RMA) in terms of acquisition of weaponry, systems and structures, building up technology-driven combat edge and development of tactics at the executive end. These two chapters are necessary for readers who are new to military parlance to grasp the doctrinal aspects behind the military engagements that follow in the subsequent chapters.
The ‘Naga Rebellion’ is an account of the oldest insurgency and its trail of violence that has afflicted large parts of north-eastern India. The complicity of China in supporting the Naga cause, alongside the lack of seriousness by New Delhi to grasp the several opportunities to resolve the issue have been highlighted.
The role of the IAF in breaking the cordon of security forces has been highlighted to bring home the utility of air power even in internal security contingencies. Subsequently, how the emerging synergy between the military and political dispensations has made it possible to draw the rebels into joining the mainstream is well worth a read.
‘Operation Blue Star’ is discussed as a case study of the systematic subversion of society and its inimical impact on national security. The author has brought out as to how political neglect and manipulation gave space to external forces to intrude and encourage a separatist narrative. The military response to the situation is the mainstay of this chapter with a critical analysis of the entire episode which could have been handled better.
The chapters on Siachen offer a deep insight into one of the most strategically significant operations ever launched to correct cartographic ambiguity. The daredevil feat of the pioneers in establishing footholds on the frozen heights in super high altitude has been described with nail-biting details. The herculean tasks to capture tactically important features, most of them located above 20,000 ft altitude, highlight the unparalleled grit and determination of the Indian troops.
Reading about maintaining combat effectiveness of the troops in the face of hostile enemy action and inclement weather offers the lay reader an idea of the environmental difficulties in super-high altitude battlefields. The role of the flyboys of IAF and Army Aviation, conducting sorties and operating beyond the call of duty, gives credence to the phrase, ‘those magnificent men in their flying machines.’
The China factor with its periodic coercive forays across the LAC/McMahon line is the main theme of the chapter titled ‘Standing up to the Dragon’. The setback to China during 1967 Nathu La skirmish followed by the Sumdorong Chu episode of June 1986 has been discussed in the backdrop of Indian resolve to resist Chinese moves after the disastrous defeat in 1962.
The doctrinal shift by India as it initiated a forward posture as part of Operation Falcon has been discussed in detail through the lens of a principal commander on the ground. The role of air power in sustaining the troops in remote regions has been included as a prompt for military planners to recognise the potential of the air force in such joint operations.
The peace keeping mission in Sri Lanka and intervention in Maldives are interesting reads of Indian forays in out-of-area contingencies. It was the first time that India chose to showcase its military capabilities of power projection beyond its territorial boundaries. It served to signal India’s stature as a regional power and its political will to assert dominance, if the situation so warranted.
The author has covered the Indian political compulsions and a hurried launch of military operations in Sri Lanka in the first part of this section of the book. He has subsequently concentrated on the military campaign in detail.
It is interesting to read the dispassionate and candid analysis of this mission which saw ‘peace keeping converting to peace enforcement’ at a short notice.
Similarly, the intervention in Maldives has been discussed, further reinforcing the efficacy of the armed forces even when they have been pushed into an operation with almost no prior notice.
The Kargil conflict of 1999 is a landmark military triumph of Indian armed forces in the face of overwhelming odds. This has been discussed in the backdrop of likely Pakistani objectives of, and strategies for, undermining India’s territorial sovereignty.
The delayed Indian response to the territorial intrusion in the absence of intelligence and the inadequacy of forces to push back the well-entrenched regulars has been covered in a candid manner. The subsequent Indian offensive, raw courage of the young officers and men and innovative employment of air power occupies the main part of the narration.
This is followed by the lessons learnt and a commentary on force restructuring to neutralise the emerging collusive threats from India’s hostile neighbours.
The genesis of Pakistan-sponsored insurgency and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and the consequent disturbed public order due to subverted politico-religious narratives is covered through narratives from practitioners who have spent a lifetime in the state.
The Indian response with its initial graduated cautiousness giving way to the employment of the security forces in strength to deal with the deteriorating situation has been analysed from a socio-political and military perspectives.
The anti-India narrative of Pakistan and its manifestations in frequent violations of ceasefire on the line of control and acts of terrorism provide an insight into challenges in J&K.
India’s participation in several UN missions has been touched upon in fair detail to highlight its role in contributing towards international peace. Several major military deployments, short of war, namely Exercise Brass tacks, Operation Trident and Operation Parakram have been covered based on open source information and recollections from practitioners. These were all part of coercive military posturing to attempt to force Pakistan to mend its ways and stop subverting Indian democracy.
The political shift from a dissuasive strategy to a punitive one, as reflected in the surgical strike by the Indian Army in 2016 and in the Balakot air strike in 2019 by the IAF, has also been adequately covered .
The book stands out on three counts from other Indian military history narratives.
First, it is a ringside view of a professional in uniform who has been a witness to decision-making and execution; a privilege not available to academic historians who depend on secondary sources.
Secondly, it is focused on tri-service perspectives unlike the primacy of an army discourse in most available books.
Thirdly, the candidly critical analysis of each of the operations has high doctrinal and structural content, which can only be given by an insider providing inputs for future planners.
Overall, it is a one-stop read for those seeking a professional perspective on contemporary Indian military history sans the usual verbosity and non-essential peripheral details. It is a compendium of military campaigns and engagements arranged in an abridged format for easy reading.
It is a must-read for all officers of the armed forces, for citizens who aspire to know more about India’s armed forces, and the strategic community of policy-makers in the realm of national security.
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Steve Ovett, the famous British middle-distance athlete, won the 800-metres gold medal at the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Just a few days later, he was about to win a 5,000-metres race at London’s Crystal Palace. Known for his burst of acceleration on the home stretch, he had supreme confidence in his ability to out-sprint rivals. With the final 100 metres remaining,
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Ovett waved to the crowd and raised a hand in triumph. But he had celebrated a bit too early. At the finishing line, Ireland’s John Treacy edged past Ovett. For those few moments, Ovett had lost his sense of reality and ignored the possibility of a negative event.
This analogy works well for the India story and our policy failures , including during the ongoing covid pandemic. While we have never been as well prepared or had significant successes in terms of growth stability as Ovett did in his illustrious running career, we tend to celebrate too early. Indeed, we have done so many times before.
It is as if we’re convinced that India is destined for greater heights, come what may, and so we never run through the finish line. Do we and our policymakers suffer from a collective optimism bias, which, as the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman once wrote, “may well be the most significant of the cognitive biases”? The optimism bias arises from mistaken beliefs which form expectations that are better than the reality. It makes us underestimate chances of a negative outcome and ignore warnings repeatedly.
The Indian economy had a dream run for five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, with an average annual growth rate of around 9%. Many believed that India was on its way to clocking consistent double-digit growth and comparisons with China were rife. It was conveniently overlooked that this output expansion had come mainly came from a few sectors: automobiles, telecom and business services.
Indians were made to believe that we could sprint without high-quality education, healthcare, infrastructure or banking sectors, which form the backbone of any stable economy. The plan was to build them as we went along, but then in the euphoria of short-term success, it got lost.
India’s exports of goods grew from $20 billion in 1990-91 to over $310 billion in 2019-20. Looking at these absolute figures it would seem as if India has arrived on the world stage. However, India’s share of global trade has moved up only marginally. Even now, the country accounts for less than 2% of the world’s goods exports.
More importantly, hidden behind this performance was the role played by one sector that should have never made it to India’s list of exports—refined petroleum. The share of refined petroleum exports in India’s goods exports increased from 1.4% in 1996-97 to over 18% in 2011-12.
An import-intensive sector with low labour intensity, exports of refined petroleum zoomed because of the then policy regime of a retail price ceiling on petroleum products in the domestic market. While we have done well in the export of services, our share is still less than 4% of world exports.
India seemed to emerge from the 2008 global financial crisis relatively unscathed. But, a temporary demand push had played a role in the revival—the incomes of many households, both rural and urban, had shot up. Fiscal stimulus to the rural economy and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission scales had led to the salaries of around 20% of organized-sector employees jumping up. We celebrated, but once again, neither did we resolve the crisis brewing elsewhere in India’s banking sector, nor did we improve our capacity for healthcare or quality education.
Employment saw little economy-wide growth in our boom years. Manufacturing jobs, if anything, shrank. But we continued to celebrate. Youth flocked to low-productivity service-sector jobs, such as those in hotels and restaurants, security and other services. The dependence on such jobs on one hand and high-skilled services on the other was bound to make Indian society more unequal.
And then, there is agriculture, an elephant in the room. If and when farm-sector reforms get implemented, celebrations would once again be premature. The vast majority of India’s farmers have small plots of land, and though these farms are at least as productive as larger ones, net absolute incomes from small plots can only be meagre.
A further rise in farm productivity and consequent increase in supply, if not matched by a demand rise, especially with access to export markets, would result in downward pressure on market prices for farm produce and a further decline in the net incomes of small farmers.
We should learn from what John Treacy did right. He didn’t give up, and pushed for the finish line like it was his only chance at winning. Treacy had years of long-distance practice. The same goes for our economy. A long grind is required to build up its base before we can win and celebrate. And Ovett did not blame anyone for his loss. We play the blame game. Everyone else, right from China and the US to ‘greedy corporates’, seems to be responsible for our failures.
We have lowered absolute poverty levels and had technology-based successes like Aadhaar and digital access to public services. But there are no short cuts to good quality and adequate healthcare and education services. We must remain optimistic but stay firmly away from the optimism bias.
In the end, it is not about how we start, but how we finish. The disastrous second wave of covid and our inability to manage it is a ghastly reminder of this fact.
On March 31, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its annual Gender Gap Report 2021. The Global Gender Gap report is an annual report released by the WEF. The gender gap is the difference between women and men as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, or economic attainments or attitudes. The gap between men and women across health, education, politics, and economics widened for the first time since records began in 2006.
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The Global gender gap index aims to measure this gap in four key areas : health, education, economics, and politics. It surveys economies to measure gender disparity by collating and analyzing data that fall under four indices : economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
The 2021 Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks 156 countries on their progress towards gender parity. The index aims to serve as a compass to track progress on relative gaps between women and men in health, education, economy, and politics.
Although no country has achieved full gender parity, the top two countries (Iceland and Finland) have closed at least 85% of their gap, and the remaining seven countries (Lithuania, Namibia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Rwanda, and Ireland) have closed at least 80% of their gap. Geographically, the global top 10 continues to be dominated by Nordic countries, with —Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden—in the top five.
The top 10 is completed by one country from Asia Pacific (New Zealand 4th), two Sub-Saharan countries (Namibia, 6th and Rwanda, 7th, one country from Eastern Europe (the new entrant to the top 10, Lithuania, 8th), and another two Western European countries (Ireland, 9th, and Switzerland, 10th, another country in the top-10 for the first time).There is a relatively equitable distribution of available income, resources, and opportunities for men and women in these countries. The tremendous gender gaps are identified primarily in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.
Here, we can discuss the overall global gender gap scores across the index’s four main components : Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.
The indicators of the four main components are
(1) Economic Participation and Opportunity:
o Labour force participation rate,
o wage equality for similar work,
o estimated earned income,
o Legislators, senior officials, and managers,
o Professional and technical workers.
(2) Educational Attainment:
o Literacy rate (%)
o Enrollment in primary education (%)
o Enrollment in secondary education (%)
o Enrollment in tertiary education (%).
(3) Health and Survival:
o Sex ratio at birth (%)
o Healthy life expectancy (years).
(4) Political Empowerment:
o Women in Parliament (%)
o Women in Ministerial positions (%)
o Years with a female head of State (last 50 years)
o The share of tenure years.
The objective is to shed light on which factors are driving the overall average decline in the global gender gap score. The analysis results show that this year’s decline is mainly caused by a reversal in performance on the Political Empowerment gap.
Global Trends and Outcomes:
– Globally, this year, i.e., 2021, the average distance completed to gender parity gap is 68% (This means that the remaining gender gap to close stands at 32%) a step back compared to 2020 (-0.6 percentage points). These figures are mainly driven by a decline in the performance of large countries. On its current trajectory, it will now take 135.6 years to close the gender gap worldwide.
– The gender gap in Political Empowerment remains the largest of the four gaps tracked, with only 22% closed to date, having further widened since the 2020 edition of the report by 2.4 percentage points. Across the 156 countries covered by the index, women represent only 26.1% of some 35,500 Parliament seats and 22.6% of over 3,400 Ministers worldwide. In 81 countries, there has never been a woman head of State as of January 15, 2021. At the current rate of progress, the World Economic Forum estimates that it will take 145.5 years to attain gender parity in politics.
– The gender gap in Economic Participation and Opportunity remains the second-largest of the four key gaps tracked by the index. According to this year’s index results, 58% of this gap has been closed so far. The gap has seen marginal improvement since the 2020 edition of the report, and as a result, we estimate that it will take another 267.6 years to close.
– Gender gaps in Educational Attainment and Health and Survival are nearly closed. In Educational Attainment, 95% of this gender gap has been closed globally, with 37 countries already attaining gender parity. However, the ‘last mile’ of progress is proceeding slowly. The index estimates that it will take another 14.2 years to close this gap on its current trajectory completely.
In Health and Survival, 96% of this gender gap has been closed, registering a marginal decline since last year (not due to COVID-19), and the time to close this gap remains undefined. For both education and health, while progress is higher than economy and politics in the global data, there are important future implications of disruptions due to the pandemic and continued variations in quality across income, geography, race, and ethnicity.
India-Specific Findings:
India had slipped 28 spots to rank 140 out of the 156 countries covered. The pandemic causing a disproportionate impact on women jeopardizes rolling back the little progress made in the last decades-forcing more women to drop off the workforce and leaving them vulnerable to domestic violence.
India’s poor performance on the Global Gender Gap report card hints at a serious wake-up call and learning lessons from the Nordic region for the Government and policy makers.
Within the 156 countries covered, women hold only 26 percent of Parliamentary seats and 22 percent of Ministerial positions. India, in some ways, reflects this widening gap, where the number of Ministers declined from 23.1 percent in 2019 to 9.1 percent in 2021. The number of women in Parliament stands low at 14.4 percent. In India, the gender gap has widened to 62.5 %, down from 66.8% the previous year.
It is mainly due to women’s inadequate representation in politics, technical and leadership roles, a decrease in women’s labor force participation rate, poor healthcare, lagging female to male literacy ratio, and income inequality.
The gap is the widest on the political empowerment dimension, with economic participation and opportunity being next in line. However, the gap on educational attainment and health and survival has been practically bridged.
India is the third-worst performer among South Asian countries, with Pakistan and Afghanistan trailing and Bangladesh being at the top. The report states that the country fared the worst in political empowerment, regressing from 23.9% to 9.1%.
Its ranking on the health and survival dimension is among the five worst performers. The economic participation and opportunity gap saw a decline of 3% compared to 2020, while India’s educational attainment front is in the 114th position.
India has deteriorated to 51st place from 18th place in 2020 on political empowerment. Still, it has slipped to 155th position from 150th position in 2020 on health and survival, 151st place in economic participation and opportunity from 149th place, and 114th place for educational attainment from 112th.
In 2020 reports, among the 153 countries studied, India is the only country where the economic gender gap of 64.6% is larger than the political gender gap of 58.9%. In 2021 report, among the 156 countries, the economic gender gap of India is 67.4%, 3.8% gender gap in education, 6.3% gap in health and survival, and 72.4% gender gap in political empowerment. In health and survival, the gender gap of the sex ratio at birth is above 9.1%, and healthy life expectancy is almost the same.
Discrimination against women has also been reflected in Health and Survival subindex statistics. With 93.7% of this gap closed to date, India ranks among the bottom five countries in this subindex. The wide sex ratio at birth gaps is due to the high incidence of gender-based sex-selective practices. Besides, more than one in four women has faced intimate violence in her lifetime.The gender gap in the literacy rate is above 20.1%.
Yet, gender gaps persist in literacy : one-third of women are illiterate (34.2%) than 17.6% of men. In political empowerment, globally, women in Parliament is at 128th position and gender gap of 83.2%, and 90% gap in a Ministerial position. The gap in wages equality for similar work is above 51.8%. On health and survival, four large countries Pakistan, India, Vietnam, and China, fare poorly, with millions of women there not getting the same access to health as men.
The pandemic has only slowed down in its tracks the progress India was making towards achieving gender parity. The country urgently needs to focus on “health and survival,” which points towards a skewed sex ratio because of the high incidence of gender-based sex-selective practices and women’s economic participation. Women’s labour force participation rate and the share of women in technical roles declined in 2020, reducing the estimated earned income of women, one-fifth of men.
Learning from the Nordic region, noteworthy participation of women in politics, institutions, and public life is the catalyst for transformational change. Women need to be equal participants in the labour force to pioneer the societal changes the world needs in this integral period of transition.
Every effort must be directed towards achieving gender parallelism by facilitating women in leadership and decision-making positions. Social protection programmes should be gender-responsive and account for the differential needs of women and girls. Research and scientific literature also provide unequivocal evidence that countries led by women are dealing with the pandemic more effectively than many others.
Gendered inequality, thereby, is a global concern. India should focus on targeted policies and earmarked public and private investments in care and equalized access. Women are not ready to wait for another century for equality. It’s time India accelerates its efforts and fight for an inclusive, equal, global recovery.
India will not fully develop unless both women and men are equally supported to reach their full potential. There are risks, violations, and vulnerabilities women face just because they are women. Most of these risks are directly linked to women’s economic, political, social, and cultural disadvantages in their daily lives. It becomes acute during crises and disasters.
With the prevalence of gender discrimination, and social norms and practices, women become exposed to the possibility of child marriage, teenage pregnancy, child domestic work, poor education and health, sexual abuse, exploitation, and violence. Many of these manifestations will not change unless women are valued more.
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.