Women clinch more entry level IT jobs than men

There are more women than men being hired at the entry level by the Indian IT and BPM (business process management) sector. Women constitute 51% of entry-level hiring, and have a 50% higher chance, compared to male applicants.

BENGALURU: There are more women than men being hired at the entry level by the Indian IT and BPM (business process management) sector. Women constitute 51% of entry-level hiring, and have a 50% higher chance, compared to male applicants, of getting IT-BPM job offers, says a Nasscom report on gender diversity and inclusivity trends that was released on Tuesday. The figures are for 2013-14.

Since then, the figures could have improved for women. The Indian IT-BPM sector employs 3.7 million people out of which 1.3 million, or 35%, comprise women. But at the entry level, women now form the majority. The IT industry body's report also said that 15% of male applicants get final offers, while 22% of women candidates get final offers, indicating a higher success rate for women.

Women in managerial roles as a proportion of the total women employees has increased by 2 percentage points, to 23%, over 2011-12. This shift is also accelerated with women moving away from support roles and opting for business-facing operations with increased focus on training and development. Women constitute 28% of job applicants to the Indian IT-BPM industry, up by 5% from 2011-12, and 35% of all job offers go to women applicants.

Partha De Sarkar, CEO of Hinduja Global Solutions, said his India team used to have one of the worst gender diversity ratios with merely 20% of its workforce comprising women about 18 months ago. So Sarkar undertook several initiatives to empower women. "Our research showed that there were inherent biases in the selection process at the entry level. We sensitized interviewers on their approach towards hiring women candidates. We also sponsored executive management programmes for high-performing women talent," he said.

Thanks to those measures, women now constitute 35% of HGS's employees. "Our entry level hires and senior management retention has been good. I have a huge task to tackle in the middle," Sarkar said. Christopher Arnold, senior VP in Wells Fargo India Solutions, said that in their campus hiring, 50% or more are women. But overall, the proportion is much lower. Arnold says the company is into analytics which is not an area where women gravitate to. "1 out of 20 applications I receive is from a woman candidate but I'm sure it will be better in the future," he says, adding that at the entry level, women are flexible and can be provided with training in skills like analytics.

Wells Fargo has over 5,000 employees across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai.

Source: TechGig.com