Will Indian women break the glass ceiling?
By Zoya Anna Thomas   |   Friday, 15 May 2009, 01:24 IST   |    37 Comments
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Will Indian women break the glass ceiling?
Bangalore: The women workforce in the IT-BPO sector has increased to 60 percent in the last two years, as per a study conducted on gender inclusivity in India by NASSCOM, in collaboration with HR consulting firm Mercer. The numbers have doubled, since last year and it is reported that only 20 percent women constitute the IT workforce. This seems to be a positive sign, since gender inclusivity has always been an issue in India. The survey covered over 45 technology companies in India. The gender inclusivity initiatives taken by various IT companies have helped in getting the women workforce. Tapasya Syal, who has been working in the IT sector for the past four years and is currently an employee at Infosys, Chandigarh, says, "I have certainly seen a number of changes over the past four years. For instance, companies have become more flexible, when it comes to work timing for women." However, some feel that these privileges don't come easily. Dr Sudha Selvarajan, General Manager at MindTree says, "I think a lot more is due for us. People expect us to fight it out to get privileges and not because we deserve it. There is certainly an increase in the women workforce at our organization, but this isn't a huge increase. While earlier around 20 percent of them were women, now it must have gone up to 27 percent." She feels that it will take a lot more time for women to get the recognition they deserve. The individual, the organization, the society and the country wholly needs to make a coordinated effort in order to ensure greater empowerment of women. Startup companies have their own problems when it comes to employing women. Sadhna Sanjeev, Director- Finance & HR of Medsphere Technologies, a startup company, says, "Smaller organizations don't have enough facilities to provide proper inclusivity for women. In our organization only 20 to 30 percent workers are women." However she is positive, that the situation will get better with time and effort. The survey also says that, out of the 400 million workforce in India, 30-35 percent are female and only one-fifth of them work in urban areas. Although there has been a 60 percent increase in women workforce in the IT and BPO sector, (the maximum being in BPO's) the question is, how many of these women make it to the senior management level or break the glass ceiling?

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