International Women’s Day 2023

Ascendion

Spokesperson - Sangeeta Shetty – Senior Director, Human Resources at Ascendion

“Equal opportunities are no longer enough to ensure a level playing field for everyone. Setting each employee up for success by recognizing and accommodating their unique needs and circumstances is the need of the hour. By doing so, we can create a more inclusive and supportive workplace where everyone can learn, grow, and thrive in the organization.

In addition to providing opportunities for growth and development, we believe that craftsmanship is essential to engineering software that truly makes a difference. Our company promotes this through a communities of practice model called Ascendion Circles, that encourages mentoring, hands-on projects, and the creation of intellectual property.

Ascendion Circles has been enabling us to unlock tech innovation from time to time. One such tech development is Ascendion AVA built by Ascendion’s product engineering team. AVA is an intelligent engineering platform that enables enterprises to drive relentless Intelligent automation and machine learning led autonomous processes across every aspect of the engineering lifecycle. It provides enterprises a door dash experience with the transparency & flexibility of an Engineering as a Service (EaaS) model.”

Equinix

Spokesperson – Hwa Choo Lim, Vice President, Human Resource, Equinix Asia-Pacific

“Observing the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, this year’s International Women’s Day is an opportunity for us to recognize the achievements of women who forged their own path no matter the obstacles thrust in their way. Whether it’s dispelling stereotypes, speaking up for themselves and their peers or achieving beyond what was expected of them, we celebrate their accomplishments and courageous perseverance. At Equinix, we place great importance on making women feel “I’m safe, I belong, I matter.” Through long-standing communities for empowerment like the Equinix Women Leaders Network (EWLN), women are able to mentor, connect, belong and nurture one another through ongoing programs that encourage professional growth.

Going the extra mile this year, Equinix Foundation, our employee-driven global charitable organization, has committed a $100,000 grant to World Pulse to support its work accelerating digital inclusion and closing the gender digital divide. In order to close the digital divide for women, we will continue to empower women specializing in technology roles, giving them the support and confidence they need to succeed and thrive in the field.”

Whatfix

Spokesperson – Romita Mukherjee, Associate Vice President, Human Resources at Whatfix

“International Women's Day 2023 focuses on the notion that equal opportunities alone are insufficient for achieving gender equality. Despite equal opportunities, women still encounter significant obstacles to success, including gender bias, unequal pay, limited access to leadership positions, and not being included in making critical decisions for the company. Breaking down systemic barriers like sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and unequal access to education and healthcare that hinder women from accomplishing their objectives are steps toward genuine gender equality.

Employers can also leverage technology to support their female workforce. This can be achieved by introducing digital mentoring and on-demand coaching programs, creating inclusive communication channels that allow women to participate fully in discussions and decision-making processes, adopting gender-neutral recruitment and selection tools, and implementing data-driven diversity and inclusion initiatives to measure and track progress toward diversity and inclusion goals. By implementing these technology-based solutions, companies can create more inclusive and equitable workplaces and support their female employees. Focussing on making Inclusion as a strategic agenda will help foster women employees’ enablement more meaningfully.”

Trend Micro

Spokesperson – Sharda Tickoo, Technical Director, India & SAARC at Trend Micro

"As we commemorate International Women's Day, this year's theme rightly reflects the change that needs to be brought, that equal opportunities are no longer enough to drive meaningful change. It is time to shift our focus to judging the outcomes of our efforts and, if need be, aligning our endeavours with measurable outcomes .Trend Micro is committed to upskilling initiatives that empower women to develop new skills and competencies that foster career mobility and growth through various initiatives, such as hosting women-focused events such as Women in Tech sessions and ensuring we have a high representation of over 50% of India's leadership positions led by women. We hope to drive innovation, increase productivity, and create a more inclusive workplace that values diversity and inclusivity by embracing tech-based developments led by our female leaders. I am proud to say that at Trend Micro, we have witnessed incredible technological developments spearheaded by women. Talent  and expertise of women in our industry has very few examples like those we at Trend Micro have set. By encouraging and supporting these initiatives, we hope to foster a more diverse and inclusive environment in which everyone has the opportunity to contribute to the organization's success.”

Qlik

Spokesperson – Poornima Ramaswamy, Chief Transformation Officer, Qlik

“More than diverse backgrounds, we need to applaud the unique pathways individuals choose. Understanding the various journeys everyone takes to get to where they are, and their goals and objectives is essential. A one-size-fits-all approach never works when determining an individual’s true potential. Instead, I believe in acknowledging and making realistic investments and alignments for continuous progress. This can help enable equality of outcome along with opportunity.

For this, upskilling is essential. As the industry rapidly evolves, employees must continuously seek and develop new skills to stay relevant and competitive. By investing in upskilling programs, companies not only empower their employees with the knowledge and tools to succeed but they also create a culture of continuous learning that attracts and retains top talent. Furthermore, upskilling initiatives promote mobility within the organisation, allowing employees to explore new roles and take on new challenges. As a result, companies prioritising upskilling initiatives in a rapidly changing industry will be better equipped to adapt and thrive. All the organizations I’ve been at have encouraged me to seek new learning and also provided platforms for me to explore my new skills. This has helped me have a thriving career and diverse and fulfilling career, from leading a business unit in a services firm to being the chief transformation officer at Qlik, an end to end data and analytics platform company.”

CrowdStrike

Spokesperson – Jhilmil Kochar, Managing Director, CrowdStrike India

“Without equal representation in STEM fields, women's participation in shaping technology, research, and innovation will remain quite limited, including their access to careers in industries that focus on STEM skills. At CrowdStrike, we have a keen interest in bridging existing disparities and enabling the use of technology to create a safer, more sustainable, and more equitable future for everyone. However, reducing any inequality requires some fundamental reforms.

Effective solutions to increase women's representation in STEM fields must focus on removing the barriers that keep them from pursuing the same. To begin with, why do women choose not to pursue STEM skills in academia? Do they even have a choice? Understanding this will go a long way towards helping encourage more women to see this as a viable avenue to a future career. What is needed is an equity-based solution that takes into account the diversity of  individuals and communities, embracing them and adapting opportunities, services and policies taking into account these differences.

It is also essential to understand the various journeys women employees take to get to where they are, their diverse backgrounds, and their goals, objectives and priorities. Recognizing and accepting differences in experience and skill sets is critical to the success of any effort to reduce inequality. Organizations can start by acknowledging these differences and taking the required actions to identify how to support an individual's interests and aptitudes in order to help them be successful. Targeted reskilling and upskilling programmes can help women succeed in a changing labour market. 

Also mentorship and guidance from women who have had successful STEM based careers encourage others that there is a pathway for them. Such initiatives can allow women employees to gain knowledge and skills that can open up a variety of career paths within the same company, fostering talent mobility as well. If we can collectively shift our mindset towards bringing more women into STEM, we can reap outstanding benefits for our industry and for society.”