Blossoming into confident individuals

Welcome readers to CIOL's special on Woman's Day. There are several reasons for having this special; the most important being that we are proud that the IT industry has truly provided the women of this country with unimagined opportunities. We have seen women rise to positions of power in several organizations. The only other industry that can rival the IT industry is the Indian banking industry. However, there is a subtle difference. For one, we have not witnessed as much democracy, with just one bank allowing a woman to climb to the top of its management ladder, though women form a significant bulk of a bank's workforce.

A closer look at the distribution of women in the IT industry throws up an interesting point. They are everywhere-as programmers, team leaders, project heads, marketing heads, country heads, chief information officers (CIOs), chief technology officers (CTOs), call center executives, technical writers, writers and editors of IT publications, performing other allied functions. They travel the country and world, making business and technical presentations, making deals, signing contracts, and much more. All these were considered improbable if not impossible a decade back. If these were restricted to a few, the IT industry has made it possible for many.

That is the reason why it is not surprising to hear stories of women blossoming into confident individuals, from shy and awkward school/college girls from small towns in Tamil Nadu and Kerala such as Tirunelveli and Thrissur.

But we wonder, is there another side to the success story? Is it all hunky dory as it appears to be or does it have a downside as well? We have read about odd work hours, long work hours, the incessant travel, and the resultant stress. We have also heard that despite the corporate role, the role at home has not changed. Is it really the case? Do these women have to cope with all that was conventionally set aside as a woman's role besides office? What is the final take? Is it all worth?

To get a holistic view, we have asked women from three generations to respond-women in their 20s, 30s and 40s-- to see how they view life and their perceptions of the man-woman equation. We have also asked a few men to air their views. Can any statement relating to a woman/man be complete without the other's viewpoint?

That we have chosen to talk to a few and get their views does not stop you from writing in with your views and experience. The more such views we have, the better it will be. Who knows, we who are part of the ICT ecosystem may well set the standards high, forcing other sectors to follow suit. May be, we can help those who continue to wear blinkers that they are probably missing out on something very valuable and useful by not actively encouraging their women workforce.

Better still, we might just make all organizations (including IT) sensitive to the need to seriously look into making homes a secure place for young kids and old parents. Think about it, waiting for men to pick up the nurturing and multi-tasking capabilities of women to maintain work-home balance might be a long one. It would be easier and faster to convince companies to consider employing a trained workforce comprising housemaids/cooks/etc and offer them as perks to employees. This would certainly take the pressure off men as well.

Most importantly, it would mean employment for a large population of under educated women as well.

So, how about a little re-engineering in our lives? Write back on lathac@www.ciol.com with your views and opinions.

(The author is Executive Editor, CIOL)

CIOL Bureau