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Nina
Chatrath
Vice-President, QAI Ltd.
Has being a woman been a positive
or a negative factor in your professional life?
In most ways it has been a very
positive factor, but I would confess that in certain ways it has
been a negative factor. But the positive far outweighs the negative,
thus in a larger framework being a woman has been a positive factor.
What accounts for the fact that
there are such few women in top positions in the IT industry?
I would say that this area requires
large amounts of analytical and logical skills. Women are perceived
not to be too strong in these areas. Thus, I feel, it is a
pre-emptive decision of sorts in which by choice woman have stayed
away from making IT their profession of choice. Also because of the
pace of technology, dynamics of the business change at a very rapid
pace, and woman are not so comfortable with changes of the roller
coaster kind. They are more comfortable excelling in the traditional
industries.
Do you feel there is a glass
ceiling for women in the IT sector?
No. I would not say that. There has
been a perceptible shift in the area of acquisition of skills in
women and, thus, any barriers can be overcome. Also, there cannot be
a glass ceiling in a particular sector that is gender-based.
How can companies encourage women
to excel professionally in a proactive manner?
Encouragement
can be provided by progressive companies, wherein the inherent
skills of women are built upon. This can very effectively be done in
a proactive manner. To excel in any field, certain inputs are
required from companies, which are applicable to both men and women
equally. If the companies are progressive, they will have commitment
towards thr development of their human resources.
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