The Smart Techie was renamed Siliconindia India Edition starting Feb 2012 to continue the nearly two decade track record of excellence of our US edition.
January - 2007 - issue > In Focus
Creating Ripples
ST Team
Why women don’t lead
Think of a CEO and you always visualize a man,” started Rosalyn O’ Neale, CEO of Barnes O’Neale & Associates as she got down to explaining why women in IT were rarely in leadership positions today. Addressing the IT Women’s Leadership Summit 2006 organized by NASSCOM, she went on to sum up the issues within the theme of gender inclusivity (sic) at work. The first of its kind, the event was used as a platform for the IT industry to tackle the oft-asked question- ‘why so few women make it to the top?’ The NASSCOM committee went ahead and also announced awards recognizing IT companies that excel in gender empowerment practices.
As of 2006, women constitute 30 percent of the Indian IT industry where the man to woman ratio stands at 76:24. While the number is seeing a steady increase and expected to reach 65:35 by 2007, the bunch of panelists addressing the summit brought out a common thread where lack of women in leadership positions was a becoming prominent void in today’s industry.
“There is a greater need for gender inclusivity in the IT industry and we need to create room for the women here to grow professionally,” said N R.Narayana Murthy, Chairman Infosys. With 23 percent of its workforce as women, Infosys has only seven percent (of women) holding top positions.
Many of the key challenges like notion of gender stereotype, lack of networks, and most importantly lack of support for work- home life balance were addressed and dealt by panelists—all prominent women achievers in their field. They noted that attrition among the women in IT reached a peak after they hit the mid level, personally and professionally. Many are forced to make a choice between family and work. They have to leave their jobs many a time giving up lucrative offers and high posts.
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