9th March 2021
Zoom Online
Three women leaders from the fields of Science, Finance, and Journalism were interviewed by three youngsters on March 9th, 2021. They were: Anuradha TK Senior scientist from ISRO, Usha Thorat, former deputy governor of RBI, and Faye D’Souza, well known newsperson. The event was organised on Zoom, and live streamed on YouTube channel of Population First.
Dr AL Sharada welcomed the guests and spoke about why Women’s day was celebrated.
Argentina Matavel Piccin, Country Representative, India, UNFPA gave the keynote address. “All over the world, women lead. Businesses or families, they are the leaders. Even in militaries we have women in top positions, though their number is not as much as we would like to have. This past year, women have taken so much on their shoulders. They are frontline workers, caregivers. Through programs like the Kutumbashri in Kerala, MAVIM in Maharashtra or Mission Shakti in Odisha, women started working as soon as the pandemic started. Indian women’s collectives have had a significant impact,” she mentioned.
She added, “We must invest in the resources to bring women up. When it comes to promotions for the working woman, she is often held up by family responsibilities. We need positive workspaces. We need to encourage and mentor girls to take on leadership roles. It should begin right from school level.”
In the first session, Ushat Thorat, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, was interviewed by Adoorya Harish, a young student from Bengaluru.
Ms Thorat began by talking about the shrinking number of women in the workforce in India. “In South Asia, India ranks quite low. But it does not tally with our understanding. Are we missing something? Because definitely more women are getting education than before. Then what are we doing terribly wrong?” she asked.
Ms Thorat spoke about the proverbial glass ceiling when she mentioned transferable jobs. “Transfers are inevitable for going up the ladder and that’s what most women can’t handle. Women themselves stop themselves from going up. The stereotype of the woman being the homemaker is the major obstacle in their progress,” she said. She talked about what ICICI bank had done differently. “That bank has had maximum women leaders. Flexibility was what made all the difference for the women. That’s what women need when kids are young. It was a great lesson for all of us. That shows that society should be supporting the women when they have young children,” Ms Thorat said.
Her message to the youth leaders? “Believe in yourself. Assert yourself. Don’t let gender affect anything. Don’t get emotionally blackmailed. Set your priorities right. Think beyond gender.”
The second session was with Faye D’Souza, renowned media person who was interviewed by Kuljan Singh.
Kuljan started by asking Ms D’Souza what inspired her to become a journalist. Her response was, “I was good in maths and as per the then trend, I had planned to do an MBA after my BSc or BCom. However, my college professors challenged every belief. I was good in English, so I switched streams. I was passionate about the radio so I started with AIR, Bengaluru. I worked there for 2 years. Then I went to television.”
She worked with CNBC for 15 years. After that, she became the youngest and first woman editor of Mirror Now channel. “We realised that most of the prime-time conversations were around Pakistan. None of India’s issues were being discussed. We tried to change that,” she said.
Was being a woman a challenge?
“Not really, because there were many women reporters in the field. However, the boardroom was a big problem. Lot of casual sexism, discrimination was there. It was a delicate space to navigate. I was told that women don’t watch the news, and men don’t like to hear women’s voices so I needed to have a male anchor next to me. I have also heard that I was too aggressive, too big for my boots, too ambitious, stretching past her brief, etc.,” Ms D’Souza recalled. She also spoke of how management decisions would be taken on weekends at the farmhouses, where she would not be invited. It will fade only when we have more women in top managements, she stressed.
The third session was with Senior scientist from ISRO, Anuradha TK. She was interviewed by Purvi Todi. Ms Anuradha has been with ISRO for 38 years and she has worked on various projects. “When I was doing engineering, there were about 8 girls in a class of 50. When I joined ISRO, there were very few women. Some people had concerns if I would be able to work properly, give my 100 percent, etc. But there was respect for us. Being a public organisation, systems were transparent and that helped us,” she said.
Her message to the young women? “Don’t hesitate. Don’t discuss problems. You have to take care of your problems. Don’t worry about others. There are solutions available, keep updated.”
Click here to watch the whole session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtDLNRRIqtI&t=419s