Months ago, I stood on a national stage to receive a prestigious award on behalf of my company. The applause echoed through the hall. Cameras flashed. Industry leaders congratulated me.
But in that moment, I was not just a corporate professional. I was a small-town girl again, the one who once stood on a school stage clutching a certificate, searching for her mother’s proud smile in the crowd. She had always believed her daughter could do something meaningful. What neither of us knew then was how many battles would come before that moment under the spotlight.
For many women in Bangladesh, the journey toward leadership does not begin in the boardroom. It begins at home.
The first barrier
In many households, daughters are raised with care, but not always with courage. Ambition is often moderated. Dreams are filtered through social expectations. Safe professions are recommended. Predictable careers are encouraged. Stability is prioritised over scale.
Being a school teacher? Respectable. Working in a bank? Acceptable. Climbing telecom towers, negotiating infrastructure contracts, or leading strategy in a technical industry? That still feels unconventional. Yet, women are choosing those paths.
According to the World Bank, Bangladesh’s female labour force participation stands at roughly 36 per cent. In fields such as STEM, infrastructure and technology, representation is significantly lower. Leadership positions remain even rarer. But numbers never tell the full story. Because behind every percentage is a woman who had to negotiate for her education, justify her ambitions and repeatedly prove that her aspirations were serious.
Competing in rooms not designed for you
Telecom infrastructure is not traditionally seen as a “comfortable” industry for women. It is operationally demanding, technically complex, and commercially competitive. Like many technical sectors, it remains largely male-dominated.
Yet I have witnessed female engineers standing confidently at remote tower sites during extreme weather, ensuring network uptime and compliance with safety standards. I have seen women lead regulatory discussions, manage crisis communications, close commercial deals and safeguard brand reputation.
But there is a quiet reality many professional women understand. Competence alone is rarely enough. Women often must prove and re-prove their capability. An opinionated man is decisive, while an opinionated woman is arrogant. A successful man is driven, but a successful woman is questioned. Even after success, scrutiny follows.
Society often reduces women’s achievements to appearance, morality, or personal choices. Economic independence is still debated. Leadership is still contested, yet women persist.
The invisible second shift
Globally, women perform nearly three times more unpaid care work than men. In Bangladesh, this imbalance is deeply embedded.
For many professional women, the workday does not end when the office closes. It simply transitions into another shift. Caring for children, managing households, supporting extended family and maintaining emotional labour that often goes unrecognised.
Still, business targets are met. Deadlines are delivered. Strategies are executed. Millions of Bangladeshi women contribute both economically and socially to their families and communities. Yet empowerment is sometimes framed as a luxury rather than a necessity.
Economic research tells a different story. When women participate in the workforce, household incomes become more stable. Investments in children’s education increase. Health outcomes improve. National productivity rises.
Gender equality is not simply a moral argument. It is an economic one.
When organisations truly believe
Over the past eight years in telecom infrastructure, I have had the privilege of working in an organisation that actively challenges the conventional narrative.
At EDOTCO Bangladesh, inclusion is not a decorative policy; it is operational. Women are not placed in ornamental roles. They are engineers, decision-makers, strategists, commercial leaders and governance guardians.
I have seen female colleagues visit remote tower sites, lead safety audits, drive commercial negotiations, influence regulatory alignment and shape sustainability strategies. Most importantly, their voices are heard.
EDOTCO has intentionally created an environment where women are trusted with responsibility. Where leadership pipelines include female talent. That trust changes orientation.
The role of male allyship
My own journey was not walked alone. Throughout my career, I have had male colleagues and leaders who took me seriously. Who gave me space and challenged me constructively. Who evaluated performance, not gender. That support mattered more than any policy document.
Women’s progress cannot exist in isolation. It requires allies. It requires men who understand that equality does not diminish their leadership; it strengthens the collective.
In male-dominated industries, allyship is not symbolic. It is structural. When men share knowledge, endorse competence, and amplify female voices in meetings, real change happens. Give women the microphone, and listen.
Give to gain
This year’s International Women’s Day theme, “Give To Gain,” resonates deeply in infrastructure and business contexts.
If we give women:
- Safe workplaces
- Equal access to growth
- Leadership exposure
- Technical training
- Respect in decision-making forums
What do we gain?
We gain stronger businesses, more resilient teams and sustainable national progress.
Bangladesh’s economic growth story over the last few decades, including sectors heavily powered by women, proves this. Women’s participation has shaped socio-economic development. But participation must evolve into leadership.
Choosing challenge
The small-town girl who once stood nervously on that school stage did not know that some of her earliest battles would be fought within familiar surroundings. She did not know ambition would sometimes be questioned or that success might occasionally be minimised.
But she learned something powerful: Resilience, when combined with opportunity, creates transformation.
Today, thousands of women in Bangladesh are choosing challenge over comfort. They are entering industries that were never designed with them in mind, and they are redesigning them. They are not asking for privilege. They are asking for fairness.
It is time we stop viewing women as women first, and start recognising them as individuals with equal dreams, equal intellect, and equal right to lead.
Bangladesh is progressing. Its women are progressing. The two stories are inseparable. If we truly want sustainable growth, the strategy is simple: Give women the platform and watch the nation gain.
The writer is the Head of Corporate Affairs, Communications & Sustainability (CACS) at EDOTCO Bangladesh
