Women can do IT: FICCI Ladies roundtable

27th May 2013
Women can do IT:  FICCI Ladies roundtable
Alyssa Ayres addresses the FICCI Ladies Organization in Delhi last week

New Delhi, May 28, 2013: A roundtable of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Ladies Organization ( FLO), last week has said it makes for smart economics to enhance the retention of women in the Infotech sector.
Malvika Rai,
President FLO in her opening remarks said that the organization would be delighted to work together with the visiting US delegation for supporting and developing women leaders in the field by addressing skills gap by hosting "tech boot-camps" to provide targeted training for fresh graduates; preparing the next generation of women role models in the ICT field by offering leadership and professional development trainings; and developing new linkages with local and virtual partners to create robust mentoring programs for students and professional women.
Alyssa Ayres, Deputy Asst. Secretary for South & Central Asia of the U.S. Dept of State said "Increasing representation of women and girls in Science & Technology is not only a national imperative but a global one."
Debjani Gosh, Managing Director, Intel Technology India Pvt Ltd highlighted the significant difference role models can make in a women's career and how FICCI FLO can encourage more and more women to come forward as role models and mentor young girls entering the Industry. 
Sangeeta Gupta, Vice President, NASSCOM felt even though 30% of workforce in the ICT sector are women, only 6% are at the senior or middle level. This is because there is 'aspiration deficit' among women as they are not aspiring to be leaders and are happy to drop off after 15-20 years of experience.