New Delhi, March 7 (IANS): Working women, especially those in the private sector, desire to quit their jobs for a number of reasons, including gender bias and workplace harassment, according to a latest survey.

"About 40 percent of working mothers want to quit jobs to raise their kids. Gender bias together with workplace harassment and inconvenient working hours remained top reasons as to why majority of respondents wanted to quit their jobs," said a survey conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) under the aegis of its Social Development Foundation.

The survey was conducted ahead of International Women’s Day that is celebrated globally every year on March 8.

The association had interacted with a total of about 500 working women, including 200 working mothers in 10 cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune during the course of past fortnight to gauge their career related goals.

About 25 percent of the total respondents said they wanted to quit their jobs and cited various reasons ranging from inconvenient working hours or late sitting, pay gap, gender bias, workplace harassment, lack of safety, poor working conditions, pursuit of higher education, family related issues and others, the survey said.

Motherhood and lack of quality time with family were the primary reasons to quit for 80 out of 200 working mothers interviewed by the association.

Regarding harassment, about 30 percent of the total women interviewed by ASSOCHAM said they had been harassed at work, were denied promotion and plum assignments.

Besides, many of them also said they did not get much support from their authorities if they complained and as a result felt bogged down further due to guilt and shame.

Most of the respondents said their organisations did not have redressal mechanisms in place and did not comply with legal requirements to provide a safe workplace for women and display a very casual approach to such issues.