The programme aims to remove the gender gap in the top levels of the IT developer community.
Gender gap in the upper echelons of the corporate world has been a topic of constant discussion among the professionals of the industry. Many companies are coming forward to address this issue and add more women employees to the executive positions.
ThoughtWorks India runs a programme called Vapasi to address the gender gap within the senior developer community. Being a technology company, it offers experienced women developers on a career break an opportunity to re-learn programming.
These women developers will be provided deep and intensive knowledge of object-oriented programming, through a custom-designed four-week boot camp. They will be equipped with programming skills and also be given hands-on training.
The aim is to help the women developers, returning from career breaks, to get updated with the recent changes in the IT space and make their programming skills more relevant. After going through the four-week programme, they can apply for a three or six-month internship with the company. Once the internship is over, they can look at full-time work opportunities in the company, after going through a special recruitment procedure.
The objective of Vapasi is to provide a platform to women IT professionals to define their career paths, connect and identify role models, exchange experiences and support each other.
Commenting on the Vapasi programme, Savita Hortikar, head of recruitment, ThoughtWorks India said, “ThoughtWorks has always been passionate about diversity. We realise that an inclusive working environment of passionate and driven women technologists leads to collective and sustainable organisational growth. We are happy to provide a platform in the form of the Vapasi programme, for women professionals to continue strong technical careers.”
The Vapasi initiative is a part of the #TalkTechToHer campaign of ThoughtWorks, to help women possessing over six years of experience in technology. This campaign carries a message that women can achieve as much as men, and even more, when given the opportunity without any biases.
The programme will be held in Hyderabad this year, in the third week of August.