The Genesis of VMinclusion Taara
-By Duncan Hewett, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia-Pacific & Japan, VMware.
One of Duncan’s personal priorities is to create a balanced and fair workplace which should be representative of our society. For him, Growth and Inclusion go together, and he has been passionately driving several initiatives across the region that can make a lasting impact. One of his key programs in the Asia-Pacific region is VMInclusion Taara, where the company has committed to bring 15,000 women in technology back into the workforce in India. More details of the program can be found here.
It’s been an energizing week at VMware worldwide sales kickoff in Las Vegas! It’s always great to put our heads together to look back at our learning and achievements from last year, and to level-set for the year ahead.
With International Women’s Day week, we also had the golden opportunity to renew our commitment to gender parity. It was no surprise that VMInclusion Taara, a project you may have noticed me talking about, came under the spotlight. It’s a great example of the commitment we have in empowering women in technology, starting this unique initiative in India.
There is much to celebrate in the technology industry today. I recognize that there is still much work to be done, but many tech companies I know are taking a hard look inwards to improving diversity and inclusion. HR initiatives, flexibility and work culture are all excellent measures we are putting in place to retain women. Stats from @RachelBowley’s blog are encouraging, as they show over the last 40 years, the STEM industry saw the largest change in female representation, going from under 25 percent to almost 50 percent.
The Female Tech Talent Drain in India
However, a conversation I had at a “Women in Tech” forum in Bangalore reminded me that the challenges women face are bigger than what an organization can address purely within its own walls.
Speaking to Padmini, a VMware engineer and working mother, when I was asked the thought-provoking question on the way forward for women in technology from the point of view of her daughter, it made me think hard of the platforms we are providing for the next generation. As a tech professional and a father, it seemed important to me that VMware should play a larger role, and go beyond our organization to bring about real change for women in tech.
When we delved deeper into the issue of women dropping out of the workforce, it was startling to see that while more Indian women are enrolling in STEM, about 50 percent drop out at the five to eight-year mark and never return. This is a huge loss for an industry that thrives on innovation. The hypothesis indicates that most women would take a career break to care for their families, and as a result feel that their skills become outdated, and hence never return. This is understandable considering a rapidly changing technology landscape.
Taara’s Industry wide-Impact
The need to do more in empowering women in the workplace and particularly within tech was clearly evident. It got me thinking: how can we at VMware help to uplift women and the tech industry as a whole? How can we leverage our technology leadership to be more inclusive?
The answer was Taara. Now live, Taara is our Women Return to Work program in India, which aims to upskill 15,000 women by providing free technical education and certification courses on digital business transformation technologies.
The response has been outstanding. As I write this, 2000+ women are enrolled in our courses. I’m particularly heartened by the buzz we’re seeing from the industry itself. Leaders in the industry like @HarmeenMehta from Airtel, @PRDevraaj from Cognizant have expressed support of their organizations.
This is the kind of meaningful impact that we had hoped for and is proof that with some industry support and commitment, a career break doesn’t have to hold women back from work. They can prioritize what’s important to them at any point in their life and return to work when they are ready — with upgraded skills. I would like to hear your thoughts on this initiative, and what else we can do to empower women in the workplace. VMware is committed to pave the way.
