Women in Leadership - Transforming businesses with Technology

Tech Supergirl is an IWIL India Foundation Program which aims at reinforcing Women collaboration in three focus areas: Incubating women in tech skills, accelerating Women in Innovation-Tech Sector and fostering Women Entrepreneurship. The aim is to boost women's involvement in GDP, increase women in STEM careers and accelerate Women Entrepreneurial Skills in order to gain socio-economic benefits in both urban and suburban regions of India. In the framework of this program, we are regularly conducting surveys, discussions, meetings and consultations with Women Entrepreneurs, CEOs and CTOs on how they are leveraging technology to accelerate their businesses or Startups

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Acknowledgements: This report comes at a very difficult time for our members and all informal workers across the country, as their lives have been uprooted by the widespread impact of the coronavirus pandemic. We want to thank our members, who told us about their hardships and experiences, and have allowed us to share their stories. Writing this the report would not have been possible without them. We would like to thank Deepa Sayal (Chairperson, IWIL India Foundation) for her continuous support and feedback. The knowledge they embody of our members’ lives and of the movement informs every area of inquiry. Any errors in this report are our own. Deepa Sayal and Nidhi Patankar.

Delhi, May 2021

FOREWARD

"More women can and must have rewarding careers in technology, and Indian technology ecosystem needs to benefit from women's competencies and skills." Such a declaration from IWIL India's Digital Strategy under the flagship Tech Supergirl initiative—must be seen as a cross-cutting goal for all the women in STEM professions. Women in Leadership - Transforming Businesses with Technology is a white paper that highlights inspiring and innovative initiatives and practices that aim to challenge existing biases and provide more opportunities for women in technology. The white paper looks at the challenges faced by women in the tech industry, how certain these challenges are being tackled, and what leaders can keep in mind as they work to improve organizations and build environments where women and minorities can thrive. To become a trusted digital leader rooted in values of openness, fairness, diversity, democracy and sustainability, India must undertake the commitment to empower women in tech. This white paper reviews the state of Digital empowerment and Entrepreneurship for women in India, and contributions exclusively from the female leaders in the Technology Sector. 

WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY

The initiation of Women in technology and computer science can be traced back to the times when Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi, Sudha Murthy, Kavita Bala, and other Indian women scientists paved their way into the world alongside prestigious Indian men. India's education system, particularly basic education, has always been based on science and math. We had a higher proportion of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. But due to emerging cultural stereotypes and lack of attempts to balance the gender and wage gap, the field became extremely male dominated. According to many studies, the reality of discrimination, judgement, salary disadvantages, or the need to fight stereotypes and labels is prevalent and suppressing the advancement of women in technology. Women frequently express feelings of discouragement, inadequacy, or misjudgment, and are told they do not belong in a "man's world." Lack of job skills, lack of versatility, pay disparities, job instability, and other inequalities also contribute to the low number of women in STEM fields in India.

THE INDIAN PERSPECTIVE ON WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

India's 432 million working-age women are the country's most underutilized economic resource. According to a recent Bain report, Powering the Economy with Her: Women Entrepreneurship can be a catalyst for change in women's economic roles in India. Today, India has 13.5 to 15.7 million women-owned businesses, accounting for less than 20% of all businesses. Accelerating growth in the number and size of women-owned businesses has the potential to create 150 to 170 million new jobs in India by 2030.

According to Report by Statista on Females Entrepreneurs around the world, India counts for only 2.6% in 2020. If we map the distribution of women-owned micro, small, and medium businesses in India in the financial year 2021, women owned just over 20% of all micro, small, and medium businesses in India, compared to nearly 80% for men. Furthermore, women had the highest proportion of micro businesses of all business sizes, with rural areas having more businesses than urban areas.

“Women's entrepreneurship is a critical component of the overall solution. It not only stimulates the economy by creating jobs, but it also has transformative social and personal consequences.”

When given equal access to inputs, women-owned businesses can outperform men-led businesses in terms of economic output, focuses Bain.

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS SCENARIO IN THE TECH INDUSTRY

The proportion of women in tech in India has increased by 11X between January 2018 and June 2020, according to MAKERS' 'State of Women in Tech Entrepreneurship' survey, but funding raised was a pitiful 1.43 percent. During COVID-19, early-stage funding deals for startups with at least one female founder increased by 8.16 percent, while growth-stage funding deals dropped by 54 percent. Between January 2018 and June 2020, funding raised by startups with at least one female founder accounted for just 5.77 percent ($1.69 billion) of total funding ($378 deals), while female-founded startups earned just 1.43 percent ($480 million) of total funding ($480 million) through 80 deals.

• In India, there are now 285 female-founded and co-founded tech startups.
• Fintech and fin-services are the sectors with the most funding and the most deals closed by women entrepreneurs.
• In the tech industry, the exit percentage for startups led by at least one female founder (3.5 percent) is slightly higher than the exit percentage for startups led solely by male founders (2.01 percent). 

WHY WOMEN SHOULD BE ENTREPRENEURS?

Women are well placed to consider their communities' overall needs and are more driven by a desire to enhance the quality of life for those around them. In practise, this means reducing poverty by expanding total employment (rather than a few large jobs), enhancing health and communal well-being by participating more in commercial enterprises that meet family-level needs, and promoting widespread basic education by emphasising literacy. Women entrepreneurs have a better overall record of success than their male counterparts in many ways, like repaying loans more consistently, precisely because they prefer to concentrate on smaller-scale, community-level needs. To its credit, India has already shown a higher degree of political commitment than most other emerging economies to encouraging and supporting women entrepreneurs. Much of this is due to the country's decades-long embrace of globalisation, liberalisation, and privatisation policies, which laid the groundwork for the phenomenal growth of self-employment that has fueled women's empowerment.

WOMEN LITERACY RATE

The facts and figures in both the KGWI and Belong reports come at a time when women's education in India is improving dramatically, despite the fact that the country's literacy rate for women was 65.46 percent in the last census, significantly lower than the global figure of 79.7 percent.

WOMEN IN STEM CAREERS

• Women represent about 43% of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates in India, which is the highest in the world, but women make up just 14% of STEM jobs.
• Men still hold the majority of technology-related employment in India, despite the fact that more women are joining STEM fields and the ICT (Information and Communications Technology) industry is booming.
• Despite major increases over the last decade, the tech industry and other STEM-related fields have yet to reach gender parity.

Why do women need to be Tech-skilled?

According to research, STEM-related jobs in India have increased by 44% in the last three years. By 2025, India's digital core industries are expected to generate 60 to 65 million jobs, many of which will require functional STEM skills.

Delhi, Mumbai hubs for STEM jobs among metros; Developers are in demand The data reveals that Delhi is leading the way for STEM jobs with 31% of overall postings among metros, followed by Mumbai (21%), Bengaluru (14%), Pune (12%), Hyderabad (12%) and Chennai (10%). However, in terms of regions, the West has beaten the rest of the country to the top spot, with 34% of all postings from this region. The North and South of India come in at a close second with 31% of postings from each of these regions. The East accounted for only 4% of all STEM job postings.

WOMEN IN THE NON-TECH SECTOR

According to a survey on the work-life dimensions of young Indians conducted in 2020, about 38 percent of millennial men aspired to work in technology companies or startups. The majority of women, on the other hand, tended to work in technical services. Across the country, 11.7 percent of women prefer to work in the social sector, while only 5% of men prefer to work in the social sector

WOMEN CONTRIBUTING IN INDIAN GDP

Just about a quarter of the workforce in India is female. However, they contribute just 17% of domestic GDP, which is less than half of the global average. According to the World Bank, doubling the percentage of women in the workforce will improve India's growth rate from 7.5 percent to 9% by 2025, bringing its GDP to US$700 billion.

CHALLENGES FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN TECH INDUSTRY

Gender financing gap, Gender Stereotypes - Male-dominated society, Lack of Access to Venture Capital or Funding, Finance, Lack of Tech Skills, Social Restrictions/ Expectations, Owning Accomplishments, Lack of Support Network, Balancing Responsibilities - Work and Family Life, Coping with Fear of Failure, Unsupportive/ Dominated Work Environment are some of the major challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.

Gender disparity experienced by female startup founders 2020

Gender disparity is a direct obstacle for the Next Generation, which necessitates balancing and strengthening women's digital skills and literacy in order for them to thrive in an increasingly digitised and fast-changing labour market. India must commit to empowering women in technology in order to become a trusted digital leader rooted in values of transparency, justice, diversity, democracy, and sustainability. IWIL India, evaluates the state of digital empowerment for women in India, based solely on contributions from female digital leaders in the technology sector. Women are being kept out of key roles, strategic skills, and occupations due to common gender differences and stereotypes. It is posing problems for innovation capacities and creating confusion when it comes to attracting and retaining talent today, as well as filling potential roles.

Workplace discrimination experienced by female startup founders 2020

In 2020, on average, more women who were entrepreneurs in the technology sector encountered at least one instance of workplace gender discrimination than men. More than half of female tech founders said they were treated differently when raising funds because of their gender, compared to just 35% of male founders. Furthermore, nine percent more women than men said they had been informed at least once that if they were a man or had a male cofounder, they would be more likely to get funding. However, 40 percent of male founders said an investor had stolen their concept, while just 16 percent of female founders said this had happened to them.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Women Business Owners

Women are more vulnerable to COVID-19–related economic effects because of existing gender inequalities. The pandemic is deepening pre-existing inequalities, exposing vulnerabilities in social, political and economic systems which are in turn amplifying the impacts of the pandemic. Covid-19 has come with extended challenges but also has emerged with certain tech solutions that give rise to new Women entrepreneurs.

In India women made up 20 percent of the workforce before COVID-19; their share of job losses resulting from the industry mix alone is estimated at 17 percent, but unemployment surveys suggest that they actually account for 23 percent of overall job losses.

SOLUTION

All social disparities are amplified and exacerbated by a pandemic. These disparities in turn shape who is impacted, the magnitude of the impact, and our recovery efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its social and economic consequences, has produced a global crisis unlike any other in Indian history—one that needs a whole-of-society response to match its size and complexity. However, whether at the national or international level, this response would be severely hampered if it ignores the forms in which disparities have rendered all of us more vulnerable to the crisis's effects. Alternatively, if we want to replicate past policies rather than seize this opportunity to rebuild more equitable, sustainable, and resilient communities.

Instead, the gender impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic must be addressed in every COVID-19 response plan, recovery package, and resource budgeting. This entails:

(1) putting women and women's organisations at the centre of the COVID-19 response;

(2) transforming the inequities of unpaid care work into a modern, inclusive care economy that benefits everyone;

(3) developing socio economic plans with a deliberate emphasis on women's and girls' lives and futures. Putting women and girls at the centre of economies would profoundly improve and maintain development outcomes for everyone, enable a faster recovery, and put us back on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals

Global best practices for enhancing opportunities for women in the tech sector

Women in Leadership at Tech Companies; How can women who are already transforming tech can help other women in navigating their career? Let's take a closer look at women in the technology industry. According to Catalyst, only about a third of women worldwide work in tech-related fields. According to the Women on Boards 2019 survey, 17.9% of women serve on the boards of directors of technology companies. Women make up only 16 percent of senior leadership in the information technology industry globally, with only 3% are CEOs and 20% are CFOs according to Credit Suisse.

SOLUTIONS

Diversity Helps Companies Thrive

More women in leadership, women in technology, and women in leadership at technology companies adds real value to a company and its customers because of the mix of many different perspectives, talents, and just how everyone approaches things a bit differently. This is a philosophy that has helped IWIL and Tech Supergirl prosper over the years, as we support over 35,000 MSMEs and Startups around the country with a workforce that is diverse in terms of culture, history, and gender. Our own leadership team is made up of 70% Women , which is on par with the company average and twice the tech industry average.

Case Study: Women Led Team & Digital Transformation Success One fantastic example of women in technology leadership is from one of our very own clients. This was not only one of the largest digital transformation projects that Tech Supergirl has undertaken, but the teams involved were almost entirely led by women, and it was a complete success. This broad Post employs over 60,000 people through all of its subsidiaries and processes over 44 million parcel pick-ups each year across its vast retail network and transportation fleet. The digital transformation project involved many organisations, the majority of which were headed by very talented and committed women, and centred on the full modernization of the Post's retail network.

How Women in Technology Lead to Success in Digital Transformation

In terms of seeing more women in leadership positions, more women in technology roles, and more women executives at technology companies, we need to look at where we've been and how far we've come in recent years. The findings are promising, but there is still much more work to be done. Diversity in the broadest sense is beneficial to business because it allows us to learn from one another, question the status quo, and push the limits of creativity and what is possible.

Initiatives, policies, and organisations supporting Indian women in tech

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) like Indian Women Institutional League - India ( IWIL India ) develop platforms, campaigns, and policies to help level the playing field in the technology and science industries. We work to close the gender and wage disparities in STEM fields, as well as to enable more female students to pursue careers in technology through our Tech Supergirl programs.

CONCLUSION

According to IWIL India and Tech Supergirl, there is still a lot of work to be done in order to promote and help women entrepreneurs and their ability to create economic security for themselves, their families, their societies, and their countries. Churning Women Empowerment Opportunities, We through our programs are trying to:

• Equalize the playing field for high-impact, job-creating entrepreneurs.
• Assist ambitious "solopreneurs" and small business owners in scaling and becoming high-impact entrepreneurs.
• Encourage more women to start their own businesses.
• Create, strengthen, and scale up productive rural entrepreneurs.

IWIL India also provides SME lending, access to the venture capital investors, network, and accelerator and incubation support to women-led startups. Selected startups are given support, mentoring, and actionable coaching opportunities.

Our main focus is on assisting aspiring entrepreneurs with funding and bringing them to the next stage. The aim of this initiative is to highlight the contributions of women in our network who have "stepped up" to pursue and achieve their goals.