International Women's Day 2022 Live Updates: Women Tech Leaders on "gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow"

“This year, I believe we should incorporate habits that enable us to negate BIAS and it is important we do that for a sustainable future. We are all humans and bias is a part of us, which is built over a period of time for various reasons and consequences. Constant self-realization can help us build a society and eco-system that offers equal opportunity to all. Corporate, Corporations & Businesses play a vital role in enabling such environment including Media; if we as businesses start focusing on building products, services & content that does not promote any kind of BIAS in itself can address some of the challenges of 21st Century including Gender equality, discrimination based on skin color, religion and may others. We must focus on inclusiveness in all walks of life.”

"As the world moves towards a more gender-inclusive world, India today faces a dichotomy: - while we have the highest number of females graduating in STEM courses every year in the world, the percentage of women in the workforce remains one the lowest compared to our peers in the world.

With Covid, the future of work has undergone a dramatic shift and opened our eyes to a more remote working world. I do believe that the new remote working world would enable a more inclusive workforce and help talent access the right opportunities – whether that’s a talent sitting outside of metro cities in Siliguri, or if it’s a talent figuring out how to juggle work-life without wasting 2 valuable hours every day sitting in traffic returning from work.

I hope that with remote work going mainstream, it proves to be a "tipping point" for women to participate and return into the workforce in record numbers!"

In our highly male-dominated society, I want to ensure that people here believe in women. At the same time, I have always wanted to be a powerful woman in this male-dominated environment, and the thought of flying high inspired and pushed me to pursue my dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

Meenakshi Dubey, Co-Founder, Yes!poho

“Different people bring different skills and perspectives to the table that makes an organization more holistic and helps with innovation. And this is why gender equality is much needed. Organizations should also look towards working on this the same way as they would towards a product launch or a grand marketing strategy. It is indeed that critical. Let’s also remember that equity is required to bring in true equality. We have to fix the long trending gap. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, "The future depends on what you do today."

Poornima Seetharaman, Director of Design at Zynga

Gender equality is when people of all genders have equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities. Sustainable development depends on ending discrimination towards women and providing them equal access to education and opportunities for employment. On top of that, women face several obstacles like sexual harassment, pressure to fulfill gender roles, and having to carry out the majority of unpaid care work and labour-heavy chores. Even when women do work, the gender pay gap means they aren’t earning as much as men. Unless women have access to empowerment opportunities and as long as a country is unsafe for women, it cannot develop fully. However, over the recent past, women’s lives are getting better as attitudes change and educational opportunities improve in India. Steadily increasing access to education is helping women gain newfound power and respect. Undoubtedly, education will be the single biggest driver of change for girls and women over the next decade.

“I believe that sustainability is going to define the tomorrow, both as a society and as an ecosystem. Organizations, industries need to recognize this and innovate to contribute towards driving sustainable development, which will also provide them with a competitive edge. Hence, it is imperative that we go beyond just having a vision of sustainability, to making it a mission as an organization or a country ensuring it reflects actively in policies as well as practices.

Sustainability, as defined is the ability to maintain a balance between economic, environmental, and social factors; and gender equality plays an important role in achieving this. In the evolving world today, each capable individual needs to be empowered, skilled, and enabled, and only then India as a country will truly be able to unleash the power of demographic dividend, which it is blessed with. A unified mindset, with a gender-neutral approach while appreciating and acknowledging gender diversity is the start point. ”

"Women have been proactive in the ever-evolving startup space, but only 43% of the 27,084 recognized startups in India have a woman director. Nevertheless, times are finally changing and women brigades are now leading the pack and part of the biggest shift in the promising startups of India. At Bolo Live, we stand strong with women’s ambitions, respecting their choices and listening to their voices for sustainable business. At national levels, strong actions should be taken to make the mainstream gender perspective into national policies and strategies, as well as related sustainable development goals and interventions."

Tanmai Paul- Co-founder and CPO, Bolo Live

Happy International Women’s Day 2022 Live Updates: "Every professional and every leader brings unique experiences, strengths, and perspectives to the workplace. Deeply valuing this uniqueness every day is worthy of an annual celebration. My wish is for every leader to acknowledge the value, nurture the value, and themselves be capable of adding the value. Happy International Women’s Day."

International Women's Day 2022 Live Updates: "Women have continuously proved their mettle in the professional world by competing with their men counterparts on equal footing, yet they remain excluded from C-suite opportunities. In sectors like insurance, incumbents have the baggage of legacy recruitment and culture where change will be gradual even if it is enforced at all hierarchies. 21st-century insurtech firms like Toffee, however, are rewriting the new normal by building a new gender-inclusive culture from the ground up.

Women and girls already have disproportionate access to education, healthcare and financial literacy. This eventually carries over to hiring and promotions in the workplace as well. Only when we begin to have inclusive conversations at our home about gender parity, will we be able to achieve parity in the workplace.

The Indian government has a number of gender reforms that need to be advocated by both the private sector and civil society. Company policies must prioritize the recruitment and advancement of female talent at all levels. Companies must also educate their own leaders and host constant conversations on gender inclusivity and related unconscious biases.

At Toffee Insurance, we are proud to have made gender inclusivity a priority at all levels."