Women in technology get a launchpad Meenakshi Sengupta

The role of women in the field of technology has been overlooked for many years, yet the industry is not without impressive female role models. Three of the leading and most powerful tech companies in the world are headed by women: Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook; Yahoo!'s chief executive is Marissa Mayer; and the president and chief executive of IBM, Virginia. This proves that technology is not just a man’s world but is an arena where women also play a vital role.

With women making up only 25 per cent of the tech workforce, meet the person who is working towards changing the mindset of many and is a reason for the increase in the number of women in this field. A young city based researcher and the Limca Book Of Records holder for bring an ‘Undergraduate Researcher with most number of publications’, Sree Divya Vadlapudi, has taken up the initiative of encouraging women to take up technology as their career without having any second thoughts.

Girls In Tech (GIT) is the largest global nonprofit organisation based in Silicon Valley, focussed on the engagement, education and empowerment of influential women in technology and entrepreneurship. It is also involved in creating awareness about the need for recognition of women’s contributions and promoting their participation in the workforce. Divya will soon be setting up GIT’s Indian branch in Hyderabad for the interest of women here in technology.

“It will provide a platform for them to cultivate ideas around their careers and business concepts involving technology and entrepreneurship. It will focus on enhancing the ecosystem and encourage activity and opportunities around technology and entrepreneurship. Through this platform, we will be offering a variety of local programmes, events, tools and resources to enhance their career,” says the MD of GIT, Sree Divya.

“I am a researcher by heart and advocating women for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is my passion,” says the 24 year old and founder of I M WISER (I’M Women in STEM, Entrepreneurship & Research), an initiative to enable more women to take up these fields. As part of this, they will be given specified number of scholarships every year to grow in their profession.

Sree Divya, who at the age of 10 realised her interest for technology, says, “I was inclined towards this field since childhood as I loved going in depth, observing changes, analysing and strategising things around me. By the end of schooling, it was clear that I wanted to create new methods and make inventions to help humans in their daily lives. Engineering is what I wanted to take up. Many people warned me about the difficulties a girl could face in this field.

But I believed in myself and my passion. I was confident regarding my ideas and wanted to experience the happiness of building something new and seeing people using it.” “In my journey, my Guru Prof. P Ravi Babu played a very important role. He saw the passionate researcher in me and encouraged my ideas.

We did many experiments together and till date he has been a pillar to me. He taught me that research is not a part of life but a way of life. The world of tech is brilliant and creative. I want to spread this message that ability counts, gender doesn’t,” says Divya.