Competency, Time Mgmt Help Women Scale IT Career Peak

‘In New York and London, women remain scarce among top bankers despite decades of struggle to climb the corporate ladder. But in India’s relatively young financial industry, women not only are some of the top deal makers, they are often running the show.’ This was the introduction of a recent article in New York Times. However, it is rare for us to come across many women at the top in the IT industry. To try and decipher the reasons for such a scenario, Biztech2.com spoke to some of the leading ladies in the business.

As put aptly by Shikha Rai, director of IT/ QEHS and General Affairs, Canon India, “It is not really a gender specific role. But yes, noticeably there are very few women in this field. In our Btech batch, we were six girls among a batch of 300 men. It is perceived that women are multi-taskers and are good at building teams etc. But it all boils down to the competency level finally and how one is groomed to take the key position of an IT decision-making role”.

Asmita Junnarkar, CIO, Voltas, says, “The main reason for this is that as the job starts getting more stressful, women find it difficult to balance their personal and professional lives. Thus, they simply opt out of such situations”. However, the moment we hear about this situation, the first thing that strikes us is that is there a gender bias that exists in the industry? Pooja Joshi, Head of Quality Tech Services, ILFSETS Learnet LINQ, feels that although there is no gender bias per say, there is an impression that women do have more responsibilities on the family and social front than men do.

Ritu Madbhavi, VP-IT, Draftfcb Ulka, is of the opinion that competency more than anything else is the deciding factor. “If the person is competent enough than there is no reason why any company will not bend a little backwards to help and accommodate that person’s needs. And here the situation is true for anyone irrespective of their gender. If a man tomorrow needs the kind of flexibility that a woman does today because of family commitments, then there is no reason why he shouldn’t get it,” she says.

So, the key here is obviously to balance personal and professional lives. What is the best way to achieve this? Benazir Miller, Senior Manager-Solutions and Technology, Shoppers Stop, is of the opinion that having a clear focus on deliverables, time management and a professional team to work with helps to maintain a balance between personal and professional life. “Not to undermine the importance of having a supportive family,” she adds further.

Niloufer N Vazifdar, GM-Internal Audit & IT, Forbes & Company, says, “In India, fortunately we have a very strong support system in place. This helps a woman focus on her carrier better. The joint-family concept proves to be extremely accommodating”.

It is said that a mentor is someone whose hindsight becomes your foresight. Madbhavi seems to agree completely with this phrase and adds that women mentoring programs are extremely important. “Every woman goes through this stage where she thinks that because she has a kid, she can’t devote herself enough to her professional life. At that point in time, if you have an example of someone, who has been through that same stage and still reached beyond that, it helps a lot,” she says.

‘It’s a funny thing about life, if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it’ said William Somerset. Expanding on this very thought, Miller gives this little piece of advice to all those women who aspire to be on the top, “Being sincere, persistent, goal-oriented and having the right mentor are the keys to success. Recognising opportunities when they presented themselves, grabbing the same with both hands and working with the team to translate opportunities into business-enhancing solutions has helped me reach where I am today. Basically, having the ambition and working hard towards it, is the recipe for growth”.