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KOCHI: One of the most significant achievements of the Kerala IT industry is that women make up about 50 per cent of the workforce at the state’s tech parks.
This was revealed in the ‘Women in Tech 2023’ study by AIM Research, which estimated that women account for about 29 per cent of India’s total tech workforce.
Thiruvananthapuram’s Technopark reports 45 per cent, while Kochi’s Infopark and Kozhikode’s Cyberpark have 40 per cent women employees. And this strength in numbers is reflected in the industry’s functioning too.
Thomas K, a senior employee at an Infopark-based multinational company (MNC), has witnessed this transformation firsthand. “When I started as a programmer in 2000, women accounted for less than 10 per cent of the workforce. Now, women make up over 50 per cent of staff in many firms in Kerala. In my team, at least 60 per cent are women,” he says.
There are several reasons for this shift. As men in the tech sector started migrating abroad, Kerala began tapping into the vast pool of skilled women. “Technology progresses faster than society, and naturally, this is reflected in the IT industry,” he smiles.
However, while women are well-represented at the entry and mid-levels, their presence in senior positions is thin. To understand why, it’s important to look at the past.
The beginning
The story begins with a bus journey in the 2000s, when Kusumam Punnapra, a former Keltron employee, overheard two women talking about their jobs in the IT sector. One of them had been “benched” after she got pregnant, and remained sidelined even after returning from maternity leave.
“Benching is a common term in IT, where employees are kept away from key projects,” Kusumam explains.
Kusumam’s daughter, who was also in the IT sector, worked long, irregular shifts. “She would start early in the morning and return late at night. There was no proper schedule,” she says.
These observations prompted Kusumam to investigate further about challenges women techies faced. She found that many IT companies lacked even basic maternity leave provisions.
“Some companies granted three months leave back then. But the work hours the women had to put in after won’t even leave room for childcare. Also, there were no creche facilities at workplaces, where a new mother spent nine to ten hours away from her baby,” Kusumam says.
This made her sit up, wanting to do something for the women in the tech world. Kusumam spearheaded a movement to ensure six-month maternity leave, creche facilities, and nursing breaks for women in the IT sector.
In her earlier years as an IT professional, Nayana R also faced some of these odds. “The maternity leave was extended to six months after the intervention of activists such as Kusumam. Till then, it was tough, although there was a provision to avail ourselves of one-and-a-half months paid leave,” says Nayana who works in Technopark.
Furthermore, there were many companies which stipulated that women employees could not get pregnant or even get married in the first year of their joining. “This policy still exists in some firms, likely to avoid providing maternity benefits until the employee’s position is confirmed,” says Rashmi Narayanan, another techie.
While some companies now offer creche facilities, many do not, despite amendments to the Shops and Establishments Act that mandate daycare for firms employing more than 25 women, she adds. “We still have to pay around Rs 10,000 for childcare facilities located outside our work campuses,” Rashmi notes.
Despite legal provisions, enforcement remains inconsistent. “We need laws tailored specifically to women in the IT sector. Ten years ago, many women delayed marriage or pregnancy to avoid losing career momentum,” she says.
Balancing work and home life continues to hinder women’s career growth. “I earn less than my male colleagues because I couldn’t invest the same time in certifications or extra hours at work, as I had to manage household responsibilities,” Rashmi explains. This disparity often leads to women being rated lower in performance reviews, even when they are equally capable.
“By the time many women reach mid-career, they are exhausted from juggling multiple roles and societal expectations,” she adds.
Benching, lack of promotion, fewer overseas opportunities, etc., result in fewer women occupying senior roles. The root cause of all these impediments is the lopsided social setting, where the woman is expected to ‘take care of the house’.
“Companies prioritise availability, and those who can work round the clock are chosen,” says Deepa K R, vice-president of Prathidhwani, a tech workers’ organisation.
Unconscious bias is another factor. “When a woman gets married, some managers assume her priorities will change, and that impacts her chances for promotions or foreign assignments,” Deepa explains. “That said, women themselves may also opt out of such opportunities due to family pressures.”
The POSH Act
The IT sector has made strides in implementing the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013, with many firms establishing Internal Complaints Committees (ICC) as required by law.
“However, not all companies comply. Smaller firms, in particular, often lack an ICC, even though it’s mandatory,” observes Vineeth Chandran, secretary of Prathidhwani.
Advocate Sandhya George, a member of the Local Complaints Committee in Ernakulam, recalls a case where a woman faced workplace harassment after filing a complaint.
One of her superiors misbehaved with her, thinking that she was ‘so modern’ and open to advances. “The woman reported him, and he was expelled from the organisation,” says Sandhya.
“She then faced relentless scrutiny and targeted harassment. Her seniors tried everything to make her time there hell.” The fear of such ‘repercussions’, Sandhya adds, discourages many women from reporting harassment.
The future
The post-Covid hybrid work model has changed the dynamics in the IT industry. “I started working four and a half years ago, mostly in a work-from-home setup. Now it’s hybrid, and many of the issues that existed earlier are less visible,” says Silpa Mohan.
Vineeth says that the IT scene has evolved. “We now need to tackle unconscious bias at the workplace, and the societal expectations that hold women back,” he says. “As a first step, Prathidhwani plans to identify companies without an ICC.”
Sandhya adds that the IT sector is generally more aware of sexual harassment laws when compared with other industries. “Tech workers are well-informed about POSH Act and ICC provisions. While incidents might be fewer than in other sectors, it’s crucial that cases are handled effectively,” says Sandhya.
Some names have been changed