Career
advancement for dropout women in field of science and technology
(In Indian Context)
Introduction
¢ A career is
an individual's journey through learning, work and other aspects of life. There
are number of ways to define a career and the term is used in varied ways.
¢ Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as
a person's "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of
life)".
¢ In general, career includes all the learning
throughout the life and earning through job course.
Forty eight percent of Indian women drop out before
reaching mid-career (compared to the Asia average of 29 percent) due to various
socio and psychological reasons. The main reason for career drop out may be expectations
of domesticity. And this expectation starts right from her birth. At her
maternal place she is expected to take care of her siblings and also she should
shoulder the household responsibilities. At her in-laws place she is expected
to be a great homemaker that includes all the household responsibilities. She
must be a wonderful wife, mother and daughter-in law. If she fulfills all the
above said requirements then only she can opt for her career. Many women are
confined to their home only because they are considered to be ‘treasure’ of
their family and are not allowed to move outside of their home. In some places
there is safety issue also. If a woman gets a job opportunity she has to think
hundred times whether that place is safe enough for her or not and she is
expected to keep in mind her family responsibilities also. With this there are
other related problems are domestic violence and sexual harassment at work
places. If a family gets to know that the girl next door is being harassed at
her work place they will not allow any of their female member to work outside. Women
have to fight a lot to survive at their own terms and conditions.
Therefore, it is
observed that the shortages in the supply of trained female professionals in
disciplines related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
making weak innovation potential of the society. A wide gender gap has
persisted over the years at all levels of STEM disciplines throughout the
world. Although women have made important advances in their participation in
higher education, they are still underrepresented in these fields.
The liberalized Indian
economy has presented a report on the women professional status in the country:
¢ 23 percent of employees in private industries,
¢ 25 percent of
employees at IT companies and
¢ 50 percent of
employees at BPO
¢ It is clear
from the Bombay Stock Exchange 100 Companies how few women advance into
leadership positions.
¢
According
to another report, women represent only 19 percent of senior leadership
positions and just 15 percent of the total employed population.
¢
Forty-two
percent of the companies surveyed said they plan to hire more women,
particularly into senior leadership positions.
This data is for regular employees only. There are few
or no opportunities for the needy career drop out women specially of rural
areas and that too in the field of Science and Technology.
Career opportunity if
there are no options for further studies: women can do Freelance
writing, translation, editing (language and specialized filed). A woman having
command over any specific field and language can write for news papers,
magazines and online journals. It is not necessary to write in English there
are other regional language in which a person can write or edit. There are
various media that may be fetched to get work.
They can easily start
their career with their own coaching institute or they can simply kick start their
career by giving home tuitions.
Women can run hands-on
Activity institutes where she can give training for computer course, typing and
other technical activities. They can take government project for IT and give
training for the same.
Women can make a self
help group and work with micro-credits. It is also known as ‘self-help group’. They
can start with small amount that they can pool and after six month or one year
with that amount they can start some small scale venture. They can also join
entrepreneur programme of DST and other organizations.
If they want to
continue their studies they can go to distant education programme run by
various universities. They can attend few classes and after that they can give
examination to get degree or diploma.
Career opportunity in Academic area: Women
Scientist Scheme of various scientific organization e.g. DST, DBT, UGC
viz. Scholarship for Research in
Basic/Applied Science (WOS-A), Scholarship for Research in S&T - based
Societal Programs (WOS-B), Internship for the Self-Employment (WOS-C) KIRAN
programme of DST govt. of India
There are various other
projects sponsored by various educational institutes for further education.
