In the movie Hidden Figures, when NASA's West Computing Group is about to be dissolved thanks to the introduction of an IBM computer, director Dorothy Vaughn is unfazed. In this time of crisis, she has shown real leadership – she is prepared, learning how to use the new computer, and most importantly, mobilizing her team to learn as well.
“There is only one thing to do: learn all we can,” she tells them. NASA quickly realized that only this women's team could tame this beast!
Technology advances rapidly — then and now. What does this mean for women and women leaders as they navigate this ever-changing landscape? How different is it from Vaughn's time – almost a century ago? What can founders, leaders, organizations and governments do to support women thriving in the workplace of the future?
Education of the girl child
I believe that education has played a major role in increasing female labor force participation to 37% in 2023. Despite significant progress in the last two decades in girls’ education, there is still a need to do much more. India will play a major role in providing a comprehensive and diverse pool of talent to the world. To accelerate this, companies can work more closely with the government to educate and empower girls in rural and semi-urban areas. Computer literacy, exposure to the latest technology, programming classes, communication and life skills can provide many opportunities for girls and empower them to make career decisions after education.
Repair the broken step
The latest edition of McKinsey's Women in the Workplace report says that while women have become ambitious, their representation in the industry has increased relatively modestly, shrinking again at leadership levels. According to the report, the glass ceiling is not the real barrier, but rather the “broken rung” when women climb their way into leadership roles.
As a founder (and a proud former McKinsey alumnus), I believe it is a collective responsibility to rebuild this broken degree through ongoing mentoring and training programs, sponsorship opportunities, focus groups to specifically identify barriers women face and find answers, and finally create a supportive environment for them to work consciously.
Driving, driving training
As a leader, I firmly believe that one of my responsibilities is to nurture the other leaders on your team. Identify individuals who can take responsibility, create frameworks and train them to lead and move their teams forward. While this applies to everyone, identifying women with leadership potential, providing them with barriers, and a supportive work environment will address the current absence of women on boards!
Moreover, as much as organizations strive to build inclusive and supportive environments, the responsibility to grow and thrive also lies with us.
Think entrepreneurship
The current and future tech landscape is being disrupted by many tech and deep tech startups, and I believe the playing field is big enough for a lot more women to wear the entrepreneur hat. While the current numbers are low in India, we see that around 18% of startup founders are women; I'm glad that's changing too.
According to this Pitchbook dashboard, women received only 2% of venture capital distributed to entrepreneurial ventures, a largely similar number in India as well. I personally did not experience any bias or discrimination as a participating institution seeking funding. If we build a strong product and have a compelling proposition, we'll be there.
However, it would be great if there were increased efforts in the startup ecosystem to further promote women-led startups and achieve equity.
Learning, upskilling and reskilling
It's always a great time to learn new skills and enhance existing ones. With the development of AI and deep technology, there will be a greater need for data scientists, machine learning specialists, UI/UX designers, cybersecurity experts, etc. in the market. According to the Future of Jobs 2023 report, “Demand for AI and machine learning professionals is expected to grow by 40%, or 1 million jobs, as the use of AI and machine learning drives continued industry transformation.” As organizations seek to enhance their diversity and inclusion, this will open up much greater opportunities for women trained in technology. I encourage women in the workforce to continually learn and stay up to date to take on new responsibilities.
Numerous studies, including one by McKinsey, prove that diverse and inclusive teams are smarter, process facts better, and embrace greater innovation. Even at leadership levels! A Credit Suisse analysis of 2,400 organizations found that those with at least one female board member had a higher return on equity and net income growth.
The writing is on the wall: we all have to show up to make it happen – organisations, governments, associations and women ourselves.
