Edelweiss MF CEO Radhika Gupta Says 'Work-Life Debate A Little Unfair'; Outlines Gender Role Biases
In a podcast, Radhika Gupta spoke about the challenges working women face, highlighting how most public views on long work hours often overlook their everyday realities.
Edelweiss Mutual Fund Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Radhika Gupta shared her views on work-life balance and hustle culture during a recent podcast. These conversations are often shaped by male experiences and might not fully reflect the challenges faced by working women, she said.
Speaking on The BarberShop with Shantanu podcast, hosted by Bombay Shaving Company CEO Shantanu Deshpande, Gupta shared her thoughts on how discussions around work-life balance often overlook the day-to-day responsibilities that women, especially mothers, manage alongside their professional roles.
Gupta remarked during the conversation that working women who have children "work for 100-120 hours a week, without anyone having debates." "We are not a subject of national debate," she said, underlining the often invisible labour many working women manage alongside demanding careers.
"One of the reasons I find some of this work-life debate a little unfair is because a lot of it comes from men. I may get trolled for saying this, but the reality of hustle culture for women is very different," she said, outlining gender biases.
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Gupta offered a glimpse into her own experience juggling the dual roles of CEO and mother. "Before I go into a board meeting, the nanny will tell me that she’s run out of diapers, so I’ll order them online and then get cranky waiting for an OTP and then someone will be calling me. This is reality," she said.
She also reflected on recent public comments about long working hours, many of which have sparked widespread discussion. Referencing Infosys Co-founder Narayana Murthy's suggestion that young Indians should work 70 hours a week, and L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan's call for weekend work, Gupta said, "All the comments about 'let's work weekends', 'let's work 70 hours a week', '90 hours a week'... I've never seen one of these comments made by a woman, because we know it’s not possible."
Despite her high-ranking position and access to resources, Gupta said that finding time for herself remains a struggle. "Someone asked me in a previous interview, ‘What do you do to be fit?’ I don't have time! I have a child, but I don't have time. So, all the anti-work-life balance comments come from men. Now, troll me for it," she added.
Gupta's remarks highlight how workplace expectations can differ based on gender, particularly for women who juggle both professional and caregiving responsibilities. Her perspective adds to the discussion around how hustle culture impacts individuals differently.
This disparity is also reflected in workforce data. According to Goldman Sachs’ India Womenomics Report, women's participation in the Indian workforce is significantly lower than that of men, particularly when compared to other developed or emerging economies.
This gap is largely attributed to their disproportionate share of caregiving duties. Citing the Time Use Survey 2024, the report stated that Indian women spend an average of five hours per day on domestic and caregiving responsibilities, eight times more than just 37 minutes spent on the same by men.
In 2023, women accounted for only 16% of the workforce across MSCI India companies, with representation dropping to 8% at the executive level and reaching 18% on company boards.
