MANILA, Philippines – While women have made gains in representation in the workplace, discrimination may still hold them back.

What will it take for industries to level the playing field for women?

In an interview on Business Sense, Sanofi Vaccines’ new general manager for the Philippines Kashmira Prabhu said it all starts with the hiring process.

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“When we hire, are we very clear that our hiring processes are ensuring that there is no bias during the selection? So that’s the first question,” Prabhu said.

She said companies must ensure diversity in the panel interviewing potential hires, in order to reduce, if not eliminate, unconscious biases.

Vaccine disinformation

Prabhu is set to move from India to the Philippines for her new role. The issues she will face include vaccine disinformation and encouraging more Filipinos to get jabbed.

Prabhu said a clear communication plan is needed to explain medical issues better. She is banking on Filipinos’ high usage of social media to help them relay the message.

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“It can be a boon and bane. I say a boon because that’s one way that we can really instill…the right messages, the correct information…in the system so that people can take a right decision. And I say a bane because sometimes it can also be a source of misinformation. At the end, it also means that the public at large would need to really work towards validating the information they have,” Prabhu said. – Rappler.com