With a vision of raising awareness around this year’s International Women’s Day theme #BreakTheBias, we have some of the leading women of IEEE sharing their views on recognizing the contribution of women leading the way and helping build a more sustainable future for all.

Ramalatha Marimuthu, IEEE Senior Member

“The need to sustain gender equality in technology careers stems from the fact that a large chunk of trained and talented technologists is unable to contribute to the economic growth of the country. For most women who aim to become engineers and technologists, their dreams and ambitions take a backseat, to other responsibilities and familial duties. Nevertheless, every woman must nurture their dreams until the end. Each woman is born with what it takes, and she must realize those dreams despite the circumstances. The choice and the responsibility are hers and hers alone. My only urge to my fellow women is – Make the choice and live your dreams”

Preethy V Warrier, IEEE Senior Member

“Power and Energy are both fast-growing and promising sectors. Being a professional from this background, I have observed gender bias, especially when it comes to manpower roles or those involving technical skills. The recent focus on minimizing gender inequality has created a multitude of opportunities for women in technical and leadership roles. Digitalization, decentralization, supply chain, energy value, product strategy, grid interconnection, policy governance, investments are some of the areas that gained a lot of attention in recent times, and women can and should explore these avenues more. With proper mentorship and guidance, woman can be driven towards excellence.”

Sukanya Mandal, IEEE Senior Member

“Gender equality has been a long pressing challenge and women remain significantly underrepresented in the corporate ladder. Diversity and Inclusion cannot just be a one-time campaign, rather it requires significant efforts towards continuously developing processes, and maintaining and cultivating the mission. Various research suggests that there are significant benefits of fostering a diverse workforce. It enables companies to build more inclusive products by nurturing diversity of thoughts and hence more revenue generation. It’s time to embrace diversity and celebrate inclusion by rewarding female tech leaders – this could motivate younger generations of women not only to pursue this field but to have a role model as they climb up the corporate ladder.”

Shally Gupta, IEEE Graduate Member

“Technology has transformed the modern world and is shaping our future, yet women are currently underrepresented in the tech industry. To ensure we harness the full potential of technology, digital transformation must be accompanied by human transformation. The dearth of women in technology prevents the development of innovative approaches to solving society’s problems and the potential for economic gains. A number of research studies have proven that diversity in the workplace is directly linked to increased revenue. Women in the tech industry have a proven, direct impact on a company’s ability to design and develop products and services that are used by all segments of society.”

Collectively, we can #BreakTheBias in the world and celebrate the achievements of diverse women who are stepping up and creating a better, more sustainable future. Only then can we address the issues of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination, and build a world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.