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

International Women's Day 2022: "Building a sustainable future is more about driving gender equity. An increased representation of women is crucial for equitable and sustainable development. This will help in understanding and responding better to their needs and designing policies, infrastructure, thus, building an inclusive environment.

The focus should be on fixing the system that aims for better employment opportunities, higher education, improved socio-economic environment with increased security.

Preethy Soman, Director Marketing, Enquero- A Genpact Company

International Women's Day 2022: Gender inequality is one of the most prevalent issues of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is also one of the greatest challenges that humanity is facing in the 21st century, as in most of the countries across the globe, women don’t have access to education, employment opportunities, proper medical care, and political autonomy. Even the advent of newer technology and humanitarian emergencies also confronts women with novel challenges. The need of the hour is that women from all walks of life should boldly raise their voices against such inequalities. Woman-led movements should be amplified to stop child marriage and female genital mutilation so that women should be the trail-blazers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) – asserting their power as global change-makers. It’s highly commendable that on this International Women’s Day, we are putting a special impetus on gender equality and various efforts that will be undertaken to attain a sustainable future.”

Nikky Gupta, CEO & Founder, Teamwork Communications.

International Women's Day 2022: Retaining top female talent should remain a priority for every organization, all year round. For that to happen it is essential that women do not lose out on equal accessibility to every resource and prospect. Women are generally more susceptible to losing out on career-oriented opportunities due to various societal expectations and the glorification of our ability to take on multiple responsibilities, effortlessly. Acknowledging and endorsing the contribution of women and girls across varied sectors, in their respective capacities, today is the only way to build a sustainable tomorrow.

Misbah Quadri – Founder & CEO, Monofys Media

International Women's Day 2022: We strongly believe in the ideology, 'to empower women is to make them financially independent. At WiZ, we have always made conscious and deliberate efforts to hire women employees. From our manufacturing unit to the admin team, we have a fantastic team of empowered, dynamic and independent women contributing significantly to the brand's growth. Subsequently, we also keep no stones unturned to create a clean and friendly workspace for our employees.

As a woman entrepreneur, who's been supported by family and friends throughout, I understand the importance of backing other women. At WiZ, our culture is all about growing together. This is why, even when the unprecedented pandemic brought significant manufacturing and supply chain issues, we were able to overcome all obstacles and register positive growth.

Manisha Reetesh Dhingra, Co-Founder, WiZ Care

International Women's Day 2022: One’s HOME is the first SCHOOL to learn culture and hence learning “Gender Equality” starts at home. All the women in the family must be respected at home for the younger male family members to learn to respect other women. It depends on us to instil a culture which remains in conscious and subconscious mind of our next generation.

We see that today’s female professionals are increasingly finding their seats at the table. Not only are they bringing innovation, empathy, and originality, but they are also creating a sustainable landscape for businesses in the post-pandemic world. Having said that, many women in India still face workplace biases and inequalities like a gender pay gap that affects their growth. It is very important to maintain a sustainable society with a huge focus on gender equality. Equal considerations, equal respect, and equal opportunities irrespective of gender are what is needed to be on the path of sustainability.

An environment devoid of gender bias will foster more women's entry into all industries. We need women to bring in their way of thinking, to be able to influence products, to be able to influence decisions and processes. It is quite encouraging that today, women are in great positions everywhere. They have proved their mettle. It is important that we have more women come in as this will automatically influence workplace environments and we will be on a fast-paced journey towards gender equality. Capability and skills should determine employment and progress. Once in a job, equal considerations for all in an equal playing field would create a gender-neutral environment with an absolute focus on the goals and objectives of an organization facilitated by the best talent, irrespective of gender. Hence, setting up diversity goals is of utmost importance. Needless to say, gender neutrality can not be achieved without gender equality.

Aparajita Mukhopadhyay, COO, Intrcity

In the last few years, many Indian tech companies have witnessed significant progress in helping bridge the gender gap in urban sections through counseling, skill training, and STEM education, which has encouraged many women to enroll and choose tech as a career option.

The recent pandemic disrupted the women working culture who were finding it difficult to maintain a work-life balance. Combating this churn & motivating more women percentage in the IT segments, we need a continuous streamlined approach by creating the right working ecosystem & policies such as caregiving, flexible hours & equal pay.

Today there is a massive demand for a skilled workforce, irrespective of gender to scale up tech innovations in the country. Women should invest more in self-learning and be future-ready. Hence, I believe that we are moving towards growth & moreover leading tech women leaders must invest & inspire others to inspire them to achieve their goals.

Swati Ganguly, Co-Founder, Edufiq

International Women's Day 2022: "Women leaders have carved a niche for themselves, especially when it comes to presenting futuristic views in a room full of bureaucrats or a corporate boardroom. However, comparing age with experience or understanding of the business and economy, on the whole, is a predominant matter of concern when it comes to treating with disparity. It is time that the society not just accepts but also develop all-round equality and encourage the budding talent to lead the evolution for a sustainable future, irrespective of their gender, age, race and many more discriminating factors."

Mayurakshi Das, Founder & CEO, Elixir AI

International Women's Day 2022: Indian as well as global brands in India have been directing major efforts towards building an inclusive workforce and creating diverse job roles for women from across academic disciplines. At Snap, we believe that Augmented Reality (AR) is a powerful tool for self-expression, creativity and innovation and our endeavor is to pave the way for young women to explore a career in technology and AR. To increase their familiarity and fluency in AR, we are hosting the second edition of our Lensathons on International Women’s Day this year. I hope that these initiatives will inspire these young and empower them to bring their creativity to life without any inhibitions and free from any bias.

Juhi Bhatnagar - Head, Strategy & Growth Partnerships, India at Snap

International Women's Day 2022: #BreakTheBias is here to bring a change that demands our attention to equalise roles in the work domain and make progress towards gender inclusion.

While many of us may not always realise it, gender stereotypes and assumptions have been firmly rooted in our work environment thus impacting everything right from recruitment processes to everyday interactions. The theme #BreakTheBias focuses on the significance of confronting biases and misunderstandings in the pursuit of a more inclusive and gender-equal world.

Razorpay believes in equality, making people feel belonged and inclusive. This is what makes our team such a pleasure to work with. Respect for one another, a safe space to be ourselves and experiment with new things adds to the uniqueness of Razorpay's inclusive culture. This culture allows us to be progressive and see sustained success.

Anuradha Bharat, Vice President, People Operations at Razorpay

International Women's Day 2022: Traditionally, India’s tech industry may have been male-dominated, however, many more women are now pursuing a career in tech space. Women must keep themselves updated on all the new trends and tools, given the dynamicity of the industry. For some women, upskilling may become challenging if they need to take breaks in their careers for family reasons.

In India, many companies are making conscious efforts to bring in diversity and gender equality by encouraging women in many ways. Effective implementation of such initiatives is the need of the hour for the benefit of both the organization as well as the women employees. Further, new-age technologies like AR/ VR, AI/ ML and BCI are disrupting the tech industry and opening many promising new opportunities for women in India. Women should focus on developing skills to be at the forefront of these technologies and have the confidence to effectively communicate their ideas.

Lastly, every leader needs to mentor women employees to transform and grow their role in the tech space. Many women leaders are driving mentorship programs to inspire young women and help them advance their careers in tech by guiding them on the correct path

Ritu Sharma, Country Manager- AppsFlyer, India