Women in Technology (WiT) India today will hold its first edition of WiT Ignite, India’s first Career Fair for women in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) fields, on Friday, November 27, 2020. The virtual career fair is presented by Optum Global Solutions, a leading health services and innovation company, and is being co-hosted with ThiinkEqual, a platform for professional women to advance their careers. It will allow women looking for jobs in the STEM fields to meet with the hiring managers of several leading companies.
Among the participating companies will be over 50 big names, such as Facebook, Qualcomm, DBS Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Allianz and Novartis, offering more than 1,000 job opportunities to the participants. Over 50,000 participants are expected to be part of the fair.
Anuranjita Kumar, founder and CEO, WiT India, that the “pandemic has set women professionals back by more than a decade, further disbalancing gender parity at work.” Recent data reveals that five out of 10 women have been rendered jobless due to the pandemic and resulting economic slump. Therefore, WiT Ignite has been initiated with the aim to “rebuild a more inclusive culture and tap the intellectual capital that the female workers can bring in.”
In India STEM education has always been emphasised, which is why it leads in this space and has many women graduating in STEM. However, the country is on 112th position when it comes to equality in terms of opportunities for men and women, amongst 153 countries.
Unless India focuses on gender parity in the key roles in organisations, the situation will not improve. In the words of Debjani Ghosh, president, NASSCOM, “WiT Ignite aims to help close the ever-widening gender disparity at the workplace and allow employers to benefit from a rich talent pool with niche STEM skills in order to drive post-Covid innovation and growth.”
By collaborating with WiT Ignite, Optum Global Solutions hopes to emphasis its “ commitment committed towards creating a workplace that encourages our diverse workforce and provides them avenues to do their life’s best work,” says Saikumar Chintareddy, head – data solutions, Optum Global Solutions.
WiT Ignite stands out as a unique fair as it will offer participating employers niche and pre-assessed candidates who have been ranked with AI tools. Employers will also be able to showcase their technology environment to target specific skill groups, such as AI, ML and analytics among others, in specially curated pre-event sessions.
Candidates will receive preparatory training in the form of webinars, masterclasses, as well as counselling and speed mentoring sessions prior to the event. Microsoft is the exclusive learning partner for the event, which will give the participants an opportunity to enroll for free advanced certification courses to fast-track their career.
Those keen to participate can at : https://witignite.vfairs.com/en/#home
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