WOMEN’S DAY SPECIAL ISSUE IN MANY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, FEWER WOMEN ARE GOING INTO SCIENCE & TECH

IN MANY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, FEWER WOMEN ARE GOING INTO SCIENCE & TECH EDUCATION. IN INDIA, IT’S EXACTLY
THE OPPOSITE. WITH TECH COMPANIES FOCUSING ON DIVERSITY, INDIA HAS BECOME A VERY ATTRACTIVE DESTINATION

IT SCIENCE ENGINEERING WOMEN IN IT/TECHNOLOGY WORKFORCE

In India, about 30% of employees
are women
WOMEN CANADA
In the US, it’s 26%, in Australia 23%, and
in Canada 22%
NA
IN STEM EUROPE
JAPAN 15
27
* Includes natural science, math & statistics
19
EDUCATION - UNITED
STATES 20
39^^ INDIA
** Includes engineering, manufacturing
& construction
^ Includes entire STEM

UNDERGRADUATE ^^ Includes physical sciences & science technologies;

figures are higher for biological & biomedical sciences
(in %) 52
(60%) and math & statistics (43%)
NA
51
34^ 32 Source: Catalyst, a global nonprofit working with
19 some of the world’s most powerful CEOs and
NA 53* leading companies to build workplaces that work
28** for women Figures for 2016 or 2017

INSPIRATION

Sonali’s team at Flipkart Girls are 50% of science students,

created robotic vehicles
Ardra.Shankar @timesgroup.com
For women, not
among the highest in the world
S
being heard at

As mentors step in,

onali Thite distinctly re-
calls being the only woman work is a widespread But many do not go
in the supply management
class during the second year of
problem. It’s important to
speak up and take charge.
into STEM careers;
and many do
more women are
her MBA course. Close to a dec- Over the years,
ade later, she again finds herself
in a room full of men.
I’ve learned to not pursue
find my voice
‘It’s impossible not to feel
post-grad, research
becoming leaders
like an outlier in this industry, and make
especially when there are only myself Swati Rathor & Arpita Misra | TNN
a handful of female role models heard in a

to look up to,” she says.
But despite that, this Mum-
baikar has made her mark not
I
room full n 1933, Kamala Sohonie was de-
nied admission to the prestigious Shilpa.Phadnis @timesgroup.com
of men Indian Institute of Science (IISc) While I was mentored,

only in her company, but also in
the industry. As the group prod-
uct manager at Indian e-com-
merce giant Flipkart’s Bengalu-
ru office, Sonali leads the prod-
uct team for automation and ro-
botics for the company’s supply
chain vertical.
Sonali’s team was instrumen-
tal in developing the robot-based
Automated Guided Vehicles
(AVGs) that were deployed at Flip-
kart’s sortation centre here last
year. These AI-powered bots work
in conjunction with the facility
staff in processing packages and
ensuring faster delivery.
“These bots are capable of
handling upto 10,000 shipments
an hour, scaling supply chain
operations,” she says. The effi-
cacy of this innovation was such
that within a year of its roll-out,
its number was increased to 450
from the initial 100, increasing
the company’s sorting capabili-
ties manifold. “Even in the team
of nearly 40 engineers that led
this project, I was the only female
INDIA: REGION-WISE UNDERGRADUATE ENROLMENT
EAST
2,400 111,250
– Sonali
Thite
member,” she quips.
An engineering graduate
from Mumbai University, Sonali
h o l d s a n M BA f ro m I I M
Ahmedabad. Prior to joining
Flipkart in 2014, she had brief
stints with companies like Ama-
zon and IBM Global Services. A
tech enthusiast since college,
Sonali says she has always been
interested in supply chain man-
agement and ventured into prod-
uct management along the path.
“By combining both tech and
management, I believe I’ve been
able to add more value to the
company,” she says.
A working supermom, Son-
ali juggles her work and family,
playing the doting mother to
two boys, a 5-year-old and a
9-month-old. “I’m fortunate to
have a dedicated support sys-
tem both at home and at work,
that has helped me strike the
perfect balance.”
WEST
67,150 227,150
in Bengaluru by then director and
Nobel Laureate, CV Raman, because
she was a woman. Sohonie was un-
deterred. She refused to accept the
diktat and insisted that she be al-
lowed to study at the institute. She
was eventually let in but with many
terms and conditions. Sohonie later
went on to earn a PhD at Cambridge
University.
Eight-seven years later, India
has one of the highest percentages
of women entering STEM (science,
technology, engineering & mathe-
matics) education. The country has
32% women in engineering educa-
tion, compared to just 20% in the
US and 28% in the European Union,
according to Catalyst, a global non-
profit working with leading com-
panies to build workplaces that
work for women. In IT education,
the difference is even more stark
– it’s 52% in India, compared to 19%
in the US and EU. In science it is
51%, compared to 39% in the US.
“In India, maths and science are
regarded very high in terms of
choice of subjects. But if we look
at western countries, the number
of women enrolling in STEM is
declining,” says Maggie Inbamuth-
iah, MD at AnitaB.org India, a non-
profit focused on the advancement
of women in technology.
Kaushik Banerjee, VP at man-
power solutions company Team-
E
ight years ago, when Nivruti I became such a visible
Rai was senior director at In- face that it helped build
tel, she participated in a lead- my network
ership programme at the San Diego within
office. She was part of Diane Bry- Intel and
ant’s team, working on a simulation outside
project. Bryant was then CIO and
one of Intel’s most storied execu- – Nivruti
ENJOYING THE RIDE: Gojek, the Indonesian on-demand services firm that’s valued at tives. “She got me talking and asked Rai |
nearly $10-billion, has over 400 technologists in India, many of them women. Meet if I have a sponsor.” A sponsor is a COUNTRY
five (from left): Ishrat Jahan, she codes in Java & Golang to integrate payment senior executive who mentors some- HEAD -
methods into the payment widgets of the GoPay App; Susan Theresa Davis, graphic one junior to them. Rai then was not INDIA, INTEL
designer looking at bringing all Gojek’s visual communication under one roof; even aware of what a sponsor
Aayushi Agrawal, she provides solutions to bring together designers and developers meant. “Diane signed me up for the Women leaders
in the development stage to make the process faster; Jacintha Vundi, she works on Senior Women Network within In- can be powerful
the Chat product used in Gojek bookings; and Anisha Raj, she sieves through tel. I got invited to speak at a TEDx agents of change,
qualitative and quantitative data to give Gojek customers the best app experience event. After that, I became such a inspiring others as
visible face that it helped build my role models
enters higher education (post-grad- network within Intel and outside,”
According to Mastercard – Rekha M Menon |
uation followed by PhD) is typi- recollects Rai, who is now country
research, 93% of girls CHAIRMAN, ACCENTURE
cally when she is expected to get head of Intel India and VP of Intel’s
surveyed in India between INDIA
married and have children. “If a data centre group.
woman chooses to be a researcher, 12 and 14 years consider Rai in turn is today a sponsor to Our programme called
she would have to balance her ca- STEM-related careers early four women executives in Intel. “I
Ace provides customised
reer with social expectations, on. However, 38% believe that want to help them avoid the pitfalls
development opportunities for
which requires a lot of commit- they are ‘less likely’ to take up women generally go through,” Rai
ment. Institutions have to support says. Intel today has a large pool of women who want to be experts
STEM because the industry is
them not just financially but also women in senior roles thanks to the in their technology
male-dominated. Such disparity
offer flexibility in terms of work mentorship programme. area and has had
further leads to lack of
schedule and infrastructure like Despite women constituting a big impact
women leadership
creche/day care. Institutions still more than 30% of junior-level em- in grooming
have a lot of work to do in this
in the technology
ployees at many tech companies, the them into tech
industry
area,” she says. IIITH has set up a numbers at the top are abysmal. leaders
diversity channel to improve wom- – Sukanyya Misra Nasscom estimates that 80% of its
en numbers. | SENIOR VP, INDIA member companies have less than – Sindhu
Deepthi Ravula, CEO of WE TECH HUB, 10% women in senior management Gangadharan |
Hub, the Telangana government MASTERCARD positions, and 65% have less than MD, SAP LABS INDIA

1 : 46 lease, says education is sacrosanct
1 :3.5 in India and irrespective of the
child being a boy or a girl, parents
NORTH SOUTH want them to excel in it. “STEM
education ranks high, especially in
southern and western India, and is
69,150 380,250 380,250 somewhat affordable, with govern-
ments even offering incentives for
231,900 567,250 girls. In board exams, you will al-
ways find girls have a better pass
1:5 percentage. And meritorious girls
pick up the STEM seats in top col-
leges and universities,” he says.
Girls 1 :2.5 At the research level though, the
Boys numbers are disappointing, and it
Source: Zinnov impacts women’s progress in their
* Figures are for engineering & management
careers. About 29% of the world’s
Ratio (G:B) courses, but the bulk is engineering
researchers are women, but only
around 14% in India are women,
sponsored incubation hub for wom-
en entrepreneurs, says the organisa-
tion encourages women researchers
by ensuring they have all the sup-
port they need as they go from re-
search to ideation to market.
Major companies are also step-
ping in to encourage girls in STEM
– partly with the recognition that
STEM will be crucial to future jobs
and partly because they are keen
to increase their women employee
numbers. Many women, even after
a STEM education, often do not go
into a STEM career. Last year, IBM
announced collaborations with
state governments for a STEM for
Girls programme. “Since the
launch of the programme, over
10% women in middle management.
When it’s about pursuing But across major tech companies
a career in science, the today, mentorship programmes are
entrenched patriarchy in society playing a big role in increasing
women numbers in leadership.
holds women back. As a first
Since 2016, more than 500 wom-
step, schools need to break the
‘gendered notions of intelligence’
en executives in Accenture India
have been part of its Grow Women
and encourage in Leadership programme that pro-
girls not only to vides personalised coaching and
take science at networking opportunities. Rekha M
secondary and Menon, chairman and senior MD at
higher secondary Accenture India, says to build a cul-
level, but also to ture of equality, organisations need
pursue careers in bold leadership, and the commit-
STEM ment must be reflected in clear goals
and comprehensive action. “Women
– Manoj Balachandran
leaders can be powerful agents of
| CSR LEADER, IBM INDIA change, inspiring others as role
women in leadership globally in
Google has increased over the past
five years from 20.8% to 26.1%.
NetApp India’s women’s mentor-
ship programme launched in Octo-
ber 2018 has seen over 30 successful
partnerships – with mentees seeing
increased performance ratings and
even promotions. Of the 10 mentees
last year, two were promoted to the
next level.
Shweta Rajpal Kohli, director of
government affairs in Salesforce
India, says the Women’s Network is
Salesforce’s oldest and largest
Equality Group and now has over
6,000 global members working to-
ward gender equality in the work-

From linguistics prof to according to UNESCO Institute for

Statistics (UIS) data for 2018.
“When we organise workshops
69,000 girls have been on-boarded
in six states. The target is to cover
200,000,” says Manoj Balachandran,
We must celebrate
female icons in STEM to
inspire girls. India has had top-
models, and driving transforma-
tion,” she says.
Google’s sponsorship pro-
place. The Lean In circles, provide
opportunities for employees to net-
work and learn from experienced

researcher at Microsoft at IISc and send invitations out to

Arpita.Misra@timesgroup.com
and see what you bring to the
table,” says Kalika, who later
colleges, we find that if we don’t
take an effort to explicitly attract
or reach out to female students, our
seminar halls may not have a single
CSR leader in IBM India.
Mastercard’s global Girls4Tech
programme is into its 5th year. In
notch female computer science
teachers. However, to
the outside observer,
gramme pairs high-potential wom-
en directors with VPs. Jayashri
Ramamurti, people partner – tech
employees.
Paypal India’s Emerging Lead-
ers Programme for middle manage-
India last year, the programme’s in Google India, says it’s a long-term ment saw six women graduate from
the IITs and IISc
reach more than doubled from 2018. engagement that goes beyond the it last year, says HR head Jayanthi

I
n 1994, Kalika Bali, who had
just graduated in chemistry
from Delhi University, hap-
pened to step into Jawaharlal
Nehru University (JNU) to pick
up a form for her younger sister.
A casual glance at the courses
on offer soon turned into a long
worked with a startup spun out
of IISc called PicoPeta Simput-
ers, followed by HP Labs. She’s
now at the Microsoft Research
Lab in Bengaluru as a principal
researcher.
Kalika’s currently working
on Microsoft’s Project Melange,
female attendee,” says Bhavana
Kanukurthi, assistant professor in
the department of computer sci-
ence and automation at IISc.
Prof Jayanthi Sivaswamy, dean
(academics) at IIIT Hyderabad,
notes that the time when a woman
“Globally, the technology industry
is dominated by men, which dis-
courage women from taking up
STEM roles at the very first stage
of their careers,” says Sukanyya
Misra, senior vice-president at
Mastercard’s India Tech Hub.
might appear to be
traditional personal development
all-male bastions that mentors are often known for.
– Bhavana “The sponsor actively influences,
Kanukurthi | protects and advocates for the ca-
ASSISTANT reer advancement of the Googler,”
PROFESSOR, IISC she says. According to its latest Di-
versity Report, the percentage of
Vaidyanathan. The company has
also initiated a `Shadow a leader’
programme, where women employ-
ees at mid and senior level can
shadow a leader over a period of
time to gain insight, skills and ex-
posure to develop leadership skills.

COS MAKE SECOND COMING A HOMECOMING

tryst with linguistics.
“My choice of career was ac-
cidental, but a very fortunate one.
Linguistics is one subject that
goes from absolute science to ab-
solute philosophy,” says Kalika,
who did a Master’s in linguistics
from the university, after which
a research project to try to un-
derstand, process and generate
code-mixed language data for
both text and speech. “Code-
mixing or use of more than one
language in a single conversa- Ardra Shankar & women who want to return F lipkar t’s ‘Mom on Centres in India (ATCI)
tion is a common trait of all Shilpa Phadnis | TNN to work, it is to remain flex- Board’ seeks to provide alone has over 900 Return-
multilingual societies. Not only ible,” says Pallavi Tyagi, women guilt-free parenting ing Mothers Coaches.

she headed to University of York
for a PhD in phonetics.
Kalika then worked as a fac-
ulty member for two years at the
University of the South Pacific,
Fiji, where she handled a diverse
student population. Once when
presenting a paper at a confer-
ence, a company in Belgium,
which was looking for people
working on speech technology,
spotted Kalika. “I got the job.
And I transitioned from being a
linguistics professor to a speech
technologist,” she says.
Today, Kalika, 48, calls her-
self a ‘hybrid animal’. “I’m no
longer a pure linguist and I
have never been an engineer.
But I love my job,” she says.
The transition to tech was
initially challenging. “It’s
the science-vs-every-
thing-else attitude. It
takes some time
for people to take
you seriously
is this important for a machine’s
understanding of human-hu-
man interaction, but is also nec-
essary for any human-computer
interaction technology,” she
says. Siri, Cortana and Google
Voice, she says, would become
true personal assistants once
they comprehend a brew of mul-
tiple languages.
Right now it can be done at a
very basic level, for borrowed
vocabulary, named entities and
frozen expressions, such as “Hy-
derabad ka weather kaisa hai?”
or “ Aaj movie ki
tickets leni hai.”
Not, Kalika
s ay s , w h e n
people switch
rapidly and
fluently as
they do in
natural con-
versa-
tions.
W
omen who decide to
raise a family per-
haps have the most
daunting cultural roles to
perform — the foremost be-
ing that perfect, doting moth-
er. For those women with
little support systems, the joy
of motherhood comes at the
cost of her career.
The good news is that
many technology firms —
who are the real ambassa-
dors of workplace diversity
today — have put in place
robust processes to end this
brain-drain to cultural de-
mands. From rolling out
special initiatives to build-
ing a community support
system within the organisa-
tion to launching learning
modules, the tech industry
has built a successful model
of talent retention.
“If there’s one thing that
employers can do to help
chief HR officer, Capgemini
India. “Our fareWelcome!
programme incorporates
extended maternity leave,
work from home option, up-
skilling enablers and fo-
cused group discussions,”
says Tyagi.
Last year, Capgemini
hired over 200 professionals
through CAP-
tivate, a wom-
en-only career REBOOTING
comeback ini-
tiative launched in 2017.
When many of your em-
ployees are either working
parents, or on their journey
to embracing parenthood,
there is a need for compa-
nies to design conscious
interventions. “As parents,
they should not need to pri-
oritise work over children,
or vice versa,” says Flip-
kart’s chief people officer
Krishna Raghavan.
a n d wo rk e x p e r i e n c e
through shared life hacks.
The speed mentoring con-
nects new moms with sen-
ior women leaders within
the organisation, who share
their learnings. There’s an
online and offline commu-
nity that supports new
mothers and parents alike,
through net-
working ses-
sions, coun-
selling and by
providing relevant reading
material. Then there are
hosting inclusion circles for
managers, stakeholders and
mothers, to create an empa-
thetic work environment
where parents feel support-
ed and celebrated.
Accenture Operations’
Career Reboot, launched in
2017, targets seamless rein-
tegration of women who are
on a career break. The pro-
gramme is a six-month
structured journey with
periodic leadership con-
nect, domain training and
learning sessions.
Uber’s U4Her helps
women on a break re-enter
t h e a c t ive wo rk f o r c e
through a 3-6 month project
immersion. This is for both
tech and non-tech roles
across Gurugram, Bengal-
uru and Hyderabad.
Accenture has a ‘Return-
ing Mothers Pro g ram’
wherein proactive engage-
ment, personalised coach-
ing and a focus on enabling
flexi-work has enabled 90%
of mothers to return to
work. At present, the Accen-
ture Advanced Technology
Recharge is PayPal’s
u n i q u e s i x - we e k p r o -
gramme where women on a
career break, with at least
five years’ work experience,
are selected for a boot camp
to undergo rigorous techni-
cal orientation. This is fol-
lowed up with an interview,
where they could potential-
ly land a job.
The second comings
would get stressful if new
moms are not backed up
with a daycare facility. SAP
established a massive facil-
ity several years ago. SAS
India’s HR director Srinivas
Rao says the company has
tied up with a daycare centre
near the office so that new
moms can visit their babies
3-4 times a day and manage
their work ef ficiently.
Capgemini, besides provid-
ing an in-house crèche, has
also set up feeding rooms.