4 AUGUST2022Editor NoteTime for Introspection & Action to Improve Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Indian IT IndustryI recently had a conversation with Priyanka Aggarwal, Managing Director & Partner, Boston Consulting Group about her professional journey. When asked about some of the most significant milestones that she has achieved, Priyanka spoke about how she was the first woman in her family to take up engineering in 1994. She also mentioned that she was one of the few female students at the Delhi College of Engineering back in the day. This was almost 28 years ago. The reality of gender parity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics courses is quite different now. According to a statement presented by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the LokSabha in July 2021, India had a much higher percentage of women graduates in STEM disciplines at tertiary level as compared to developed nations such as the US, UK, Germany and France. The number of female STEM graduates in 2016 was 42.72 percent. The number saw an increase in subsequent years growing to 42.73 in 2018. This phenomenon manifests in the ground reality of the burgeoning Indian IT industry; we today have made strides towards a more gender balanced IT workforce. According to a 2020 NASSCOM report "India's Tech Industry: Women For The Techade" women constitute 35 percent of India's technology industry. According to another report, the Indian IT-BPM industry presently employs approximately 3.9 million professionals, and close to 1.3 million of them are women. For context we must acknowledge that women's participation in the Indian workforce collectively falls much below the number in the IT industry. The percentage of women who are part of the Indian workforce is an abysmal 24 percent. That being said, not all is rosy in the IT industry as well. When looking at the percentage of women in entry level roles in the IT sector, the number is over 50 percent. However, it dwindles drastically as we go up the professional ladder. Women constitute only about 25 percent of managerial positions and about one percent in the C-Suite.What is keeping women from ruling in the Indian IT space? It's certainly not about skills. Although Priyanka was one of the handful female engineering students in 1994, yet she stood 1st in the university across all graduating disciplines. Much like her, the ihe industry is today home to several such women leaders and high achievers who have demonstrated immaculate skill and know-how. It's about time we introspected to understand where we are going wrong and how we can fix the diversity, equity and inclusion issues faced by the Indian IT industry.Read on and do let us know your thoughts. Rachita SharmaManaging Editor
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