A woman faces more challenges when she attains a certain level in her career
Published on : Tuesday 08-03-2022
Ramya TV, Manager – Proposal, Utthunga Technologies Pvt Ltd.
What was the inspiration that prompted you to pursue this career path?
My mother is my inspiration who always said that ‘there is no career of worth without gaining knowledge through experience and exposure to the challenging world’. Another source of inspiration is my teachers who always said that studying in college is like a base work for the future but work experience is the real knowledge, which stays with us lifelong.
Can you recall your early days – say the first few days at work – and anything you would like to mention about that?
Being a lone lady, it was very difficult to work at sites, and the environment of the plant was dusty, high temperature and laden with toxic gases. But I always realised that no one can stop us to move into the career path of excellence. Always believed that whatever happens in life is for good and headed towards achieving the goal of learning and excelling. Got selected in campus interview done by JSW Steel Ltd as Trainee for the Maintenance Department, thereafter, handled Breakdown Maintenance, Shift Maintenance and Department Projects, working at site was quite difficult job that too having lot of dust, high temperature, toxic gases and working at heights, but soon after got addicted to the job and handled all the projects and assigned task successfully. Having supportive colleagues is also important for a better working environment and luckily, I was having some of the best teams who always thought how to complete the assigned tasks.
For a woman, it is a matter of finding the right balance between the jobs and managing the home – how do you manage this?
Yes, finding the right balance between the jobs and managing home is a difficult task. There is a perception in society that women should always give priority to her family. But she still manages both family and work by some methods which is like:
‘Me Time’ – sometimes it is necessary to spend time with ourselves to set the future goals and plan things the right way.
‘Do Not Disturb’ – understanding family is the key for the successful working life of a woman; informing family to not disturb during working hours, which is a major relief to get the job done at work.
After working hours, jumping into the home mode is more necessary because you can give time to family as well.
Giving a timeout to family during vacation or taking off from work life when it feels stressed.
Last but not the least, luckily I got a supportive parent, spouse and in-laws who are always standing by me whenever I prioritise career over family.
What challenges (or privileges) do women stereotypically face, based on their gender?
A woman faces more challenges when she attains a certain level in her career. Still there are people who believe women belong in the kitchen and not in industrial jobs and prevent them from taking challenging assignments saying ‘women can't do this’.
Discrimination at workplace – women are often stopped from being promoted and deprived of growth opportunities.
Lack of flexible working hours – sometimes families don't support women to work beyond certain hours; those families who accept the flexible hours may fear for safety during conveyance from home to office.
When it comes to the privileges, nowadays women are supported by the government policies, be it mental harassment, physical harassment and matters like maternity leave.
Some organisations are providing necessary training sessions on various government policies pertaining to women’s welfare. Most of the leading organisations give free support when it comes to the legal issues through a legal body formed internally for women’s welfare.
Zero tolerance when it comes to mental or physical harassment at the workplace is a major privilege given to women employees.
Have you ever missed a career opportunity or promotion due to gender?
Yes, missed one of the training and promotion opportunities due to gender. During the campus interview there was a leading company which offered the position of service engineer and later backtracked saying that particular position is for male candidates and the same is not suitable for a female candidate.
Are workplaces today more sensitive to gender issues than say, a decade ago?
In today's world ladies braving all the odds of society mostly choose to ignore the gossip and loose talk while marching ahead to excellence. Nowadays there are also more female entrepreneurs in India due to the gender equality programme run by the government and the education level given to a girl child is showing more fruitful results in society. Due to the internet revolution in India most of the online businesses are run by female entrepreneurs.
Which women's 'cause' needs to be challenged and changed, first?
The gender-based wage gap is something that needs to be fixed.
Are there areas at work that still restrict women when it comes to leadership roles?
Yes, there are some areas like onsite service, which is not limited to automation, and this field is usually reserved to male candidates only because of the safety issues during the transportation and is directly related to family support.
What women-related myths or taboos need to be broken?
Being in a traditional country like India still in some areas women are denied their right to freedom in many aspects. Women are termed as too emotional when they portray them as female workers and too cold when it comes for the leadership roles, but this is because of social circumstances not because of biological differentiation.
Women are good at soft skills but not technical – this is a complete myth in the society developed on the basis of gender inequality. Every team member should possess this soft skill irrespective of gender, women are always good at soft skills and technical skills.
The other myths that need to be busted are: women belong to household chores; family responsibilities should be taken care of by women; women can't handle challenging roles as they are emotional; and women always find it difficult when it comes to managing family and career.
Do you have a mentor or a role model? If yes, you may state briefly how it inspired you.
My mother and my mother-in-law, both are my life’s inspiration. Being from an orthodox family, my mother always had to listen to things like it is ‘very difficult to raise a girl child’, ‘do not educate a girl child, she is not worth it’ and many more such regressive things, but she took it as a challenge and is guiding me even today saying ‘orthodox societies always try to pull you down but never listen to the negative comments always stay positive and give your best to the organisation let society know that women do not belong to household chores alone, she can choose her life, how she wants to live it.
What would be your message to the youth who are just starting their career?
Always give your best whether it's a challenging one or your regular routine work. Never hesitate to ask questions about what you don't know, gain knowledge through experience. Ask for help when you find it difficult to get the job done, don't limit yourself to certain boundaries when it comes to R & R. Stress is good at the starting of the career that will be the first step towards a future stress free career. As Howard Schultz said, ‘Risk more than others think is safe, Dream more than others think is practical’.
Describe yourself or your aspirations, dreams in 3 words.
Rooted. Practical. Achiever.
Ramya TV is an Electrical and Electronic Engineer with 13+ years of experience in maintenance, ISO, Engineering and Proposals. Possess excellent interpersonal abilities and a wide range of technical skills. She has worked independently and collaboratively in a variety of settings, conditions and environments; has motivated and mentored diverse teams, while leading by example as an individual contributor.
Ramya has proven technical skills and utilised them in driving profitable and cost effective collaboration between engineering and critical business functions. As a multi-tasking individual, she has created a team of E&I Engineering, Service and Proposals in Tenova Delkor. Handled ISO Auditor position to audit different departments to make an accident free/pollution free environment in JSW Steel Ltd. Created new Work Procedure and Work Instruction for the maintenance activity to improve the plant availability.
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