Growing up, while we’re all taught to focus on academics, get into a good college and eventually, make our own success story at work, somehow, when women grow up, the rules automatically change. Instead of focusing on work, they’re expected to get married and focus on running their home. Even though men are encouraged to follow their dreams and chase success! 

Thankfully, not all women choose to succumb to society’s pressure and let go of their dreams. But even for those women, life isn’t all smooth and simple! 

As a society, we’re all guilty of discriminating against women who’ve chosen to slog it out at work. From calling them ‘selfish’ for following their dreams to making sexist remarks every time they get a promotion, we’ve made sure that breaking the glass ceiling remains a distant dream. However, women have time and again proved that no matter how tough the journey, they’re totally capable of reaching their destination. 

But still, the path to success for women remains one with a bunch of unnecessary roadblocks. 

Here are the struggles every ambitious woman in India faces on the road to her success:

1. All her life, she’s told to study hard and when she finally land a good job, she is urged to get married.

2. People judge her for prioritizing her job over everything else. 

3. She may be excellent at what she does but people will still question her intelligence because she’s a woman.

4. She’s either ‘too emotional’ or ‘too aggressive’ at work.

5. Working late is another problem because she is expected to reach home on time.

6. Her family, boyfriend and/or husband find it difficult to adjust with her work schedule.

7. “One day, you will have to leave work for your family” is something she has to listen, over and over again. 

8. It is difficult for her to find a man who can understand her dreams.

9. According to most people, she gets promoted only because she is pretty.

10. She is always perceived as a ‘bitch’ because she has an opinion and makes logical arguments.

11. After motherhood, she is expected to just focus on her child and nothing else.