What it takes to build a gender agnostic world - A March Towards 2030 : By Han Digital

Published on Oct 30, 2019

The percentage of women entering tech majors is growing but yet there is seemingly no change in women entering leadership positions. This tells us that there is more leakage in the pipeline after their graduating years. Family responsibilities, relocations, lack of promotions & growth opportunities and differential treatment between men and women are some of the important reasons why.

Normalizing salaries to equate gender pays and making sure that pro – women policies are in place have been focused on over the past decade but is this enough to retain and nurture Women Talent?

At the organization level , companies spend enough on diversity initiatives, training programs and networking needs. However, they fall short on data as to why women are plateauing or leave before they reach leadership positions.

Women Leaders have often faced questions of how they raise children when work demands long hours and travel. Ironically, Men have never faced such questions.

More than 40% of *Women Leaders who have been interviewed by Han Digital felt that Men seemed to get more listened to at a work space. This lack of societal sensitivity and stereo typing are some of the biggest reasons that impedes women’s career growths.

Women are no less ambitious than Men. It is the struggle they go through in pursuing their professional ambitions that gets them burnt out and perhaps make them opt out of their careers earlier than their male counterparts

After working with different stakeholders of the Tech ecosystem and much deliberation, Han Digital, framed a few hard hitting questions specific to Business Leaders from Global Organizations (Demand-side), Talent Consulting / Academic Institutes / Regulatory bodies (Enablers) and Women Networks / Active & Passive Women jobseekers (Supply-side)

For CORPORATES of the Ecosystem

Do we have Buy-ins from senior management to make appropriate D&I driven decisions that could include upskilling expenses of majority of candidates?
Are we willing to take a chance on Women based on ‘potential’ and not just ‘performance’?
What are the ‘Inclusiveness’ practices implemented to make Diversity flourish?
Are we willing to open up candidate pools to those with non-traditional credentials
who are still able to show evidence of the desired skill sets?
Is there a specialized Talent Acquisition Function that has a dedicated focus on D&I hires?
Do we have the bandwidth to dedicate mentoring services and tie up with schools / academic institutions / authoritative bodies to make a grass root difference to bridge skill gap?

For ENABLERS of the Eco system

Can Regulatory bodies, in the likes of the Government, CII, NASSCOM, FUTURE SKILLS, NITI AAYOG further identify, recognize, support, certify and accelerate eco-system enablers to eradicate skill gap?
Can more Companies come forward with mentorship and curriculum services to collaborate with Institutions that support Women Networks?
Can Academic institutes upgrade their curriculums to stay relevant and perhaps introduce ‘Future Skill’ subjects to prepare the young Future workforce?
Is it possible for Talent Fulfilment Firms to go the extra mile and educate/assist returning Women force about what’s expected of them?

For WOMEN & FUTURE LEADERS

Could we get out of our ‘Comfort zones’ and prioritize/limit our ‘Constraints’ on what we can and can’t compromise to take a firm stand ?
Can we identify and chase our professional interest and aim towards not being categorised under ‘Diversity’ ?
Can we start speaking up, accept new jobs/challenges and support each other to raise and be role models ?
Can we negotiate salaries based on our diverse and adaptable skill sets and for what we are ‘worth’?
Can we ‘Lean-in’ confidently on our careers and carve a niche for ourselves to aid gender parity?
Is it possible for us to demonstrate ‘Hunger for Leadership’?

Achieving gender diversity in the Tech Executive ranks require more than just adding women to the team. It takes cultures of organizations , societies at large , collaborations and massive efforts of an entire eco-system to groom and nurture more Women Leaders across industries.

* Women Leader - Working in ITBPM industry, having 15+ years of experience