To prove their worth, women generally have to invest more effort at work
Published on : Tuesday 08-03-2022
Deepti Bangera, Strategic Account Manager, Aveva Information Technology (I) Pvt Ltd.
What was the inspiration that prompted you to pursue this career path?
I always believe that we just have one life but many dreams. And it is our moral responsibility towards ourselves first to fulfil our dreams. For if we do not respect our own ambitions, then how can we stand tall in society and claim that is rightfully ours? As a child, I nurtured this dream to be a star and these are efforts to respect that child in me.
Can you recall your early days – say the first few days at work – and anything you would like to mention about that?
I had an extremely rough start of my career. I got through Emerson Process Management in 2006 through Campus Interview. When I started working, I had a huge paradigm shift be it Nashik to Mumbai or Student life to Corporate. The city and its challenges, and then the fact that nobody from my entire family had ever been in a private company or corporate job, made me very inexperienced. We as a family are people serving either the Military, Defence or Police Force, or engaged in Farming or Business. So I had no guidance and lacked the rhythm of a corporate citizen. I self-learnt from my mistakes and evolved with time.
For a woman, it is a matter of finding the right balance between the jobs and managing the home – how do you manage this?
My mother is the key to my success at work. She has dedicated her 500% towards bringing up my son and that gives me so much peace of mind at work that nothing can stop me. She is a very tough woman. It is not easy to handle her because she is extremely particular about things and non-compromising on the quality of parenting we deliver. Thanks to that I am well guided and supported.
What challenges (or privileges) do women stereotypically face, based on their gender?
Ours is a male dominated society. There is no doubt it is a man's world. But as Mrs Pune, Mithali Kharandekar claims, if Man is the Pearl, the Woman is the Oyster. Sadly women, especially in the STEM Industry, are subjected to comparisons with their male counterparts in terms of their skills, expertise, knowledge and commitment to work. It is often seen that the whole process of child bearing is also seen as a woman's low light in the career. To prove their worth, women generally have to invest more effort at work.
Have you ever missed a career opportunity or promotion due to gender?
Fortunately I have never faced a gender bias issue. I suppose this is because I am vocal about issues and am influential in society to raise my voice and ensure I am heard. We tend to get suppressed when we believe it's one of those cases. We start to get into a loop of thinking that there is no hope even to raise voice to such issues. But the ideal way to handle this situation is to raise the concern through a proper channel and follow up until justice is delivered. This is each person's responsibility to stand up against any such practices.
Are workplaces today more sensitive to gender issues than say, a decade ago?
I completely agree. We have Diversity and Inclusion Departments in Corporates today, whose sole purpose is to ensure gender bias issues, if any, are heard and acted upon. They sensitise the employees towards Gender equality for Man, Woman and Transgender alike. Hats off to the warriors of corporate battles who have fought for these causes for years. It is because of them that we are aware of such rights today. I would like to highlight that at AVEVA, we celebrate International Men's Day and International Women's Day with the same passion. We have regular sessions and formal mandatory training towards Diversity and Inclusion. This keeps us well informed of all global changes and practices.
Which women's 'cause' needs to be challenged and changed, first?
‘Equal Pay for Women’ for women in the STEM Industry is a cause we must draw our attention to. It is really unacceptable to see men with the same qualifications and work experience getting paid higher than their women counterparts. May this IWD we ask all the Corporates to take corrective actions of such a practice proactively, if any in their organisation. I consider this as exploitation on gender grounds.
Are there areas at work that still restrict women when it comes to leadership roles?
Today leadership roles are grabbed on the basis of your talent and capabilities. With deserving high potential candidates, I do not see any challenge in claiming the positions on top. Man or woman needs guidance from mentors to aim high and consistently improve their performance. Another important aspect for leadership roles is ‘People Management’. If you have great potential but lack skills in handling people, it will be difficult to sustain in such roles. I think the industry has evolved beyond gender bias here. But we surely find the number of women continuing to work to this level is diminishing over the years. Factors like family responsibility, interpersonal relationship management and lack of investment towards self-development are the reasons to blame here.
What women-related myths or taboos need to be broken?
Pregnancy is not a disease. And bearing a child is not being unfit for work. It is the responsibility of a society to ensure this is deep rooted into our DNA so that we collectively raise a healthy and earth worthy next generation. I urge all corporate houses to not look at women who are: young newly married/married for a while but have no issues/have a kid but are young enough to bear another as a potential ‘Low Productive’ employee. Pregnancy is a temporary phase of life and that does not change her passion for work or her ambitious plans for herself.
Do you have a mentor or a role model? If yes, you may state briefly how it inspired you.
A mentor is a very important person in life. Mentor helps you to visualise your goals, they know your weakness and help you to channalise your strengths in the right direction to achieve your goals. I look to my husband, Mr Lalit Bangera as my mentor. I can bare my soul to him and seek his advice without being judged. It is a huge blessing for me. What inspires me about him is that he stays calm in the tensest moments and when you are calm you tend to think clearly.
What would be your message to the youth who are just starting their career?
Be what you are...believe in yourself. There is no shortcut to success. Please work hard and gain expertise in your field by working from grassroots levels. Even while you are working for a brand, consider the biggest brand you want to endorse as You Yourself. Build a strong ethical conduct, respect each other, do not criticise and fix problems.
Describe yourself or your aspirations, dreams in 3 words.
Dare. Dream. Dazzle.
I am 35 years old young and dynamic Engineer with Management accolades and 13 years of work experience, at Senior Level Management with B.E (Instrumentation & Control Engg) from India's top Technical Institute, Government College of Engineering, Pune (COEP), and an executive MBA in Customer Relationship Management from NIBM Chennai.
As part of my career progression plan, spent initial years of work at shop-floor level with hands-on experience as Project Engineer for DCS projects, then moved into brand marketing for systems solutions, later ventured into technical offer/proposal making for turnkey projects and then moved into regional Sales and presently handling the sales for a bigger geography selling software solutions to EPC sector for the Industrial Manufacturing Industry. Moving to software sales was part of venturing into and being a strong contributor towards the Digitalisation bandwagon for the Manufacturing Industry.
Currently working for Aveva Information Technology (I) Pvt Ltd as Strategic Account Manager and Heading the Geography Business for South of India. The Role focuses on tier 1, 2 and 3 EPC sector for regions in Maharashtra, South of India and Sri Lanka for the sale of Engineering Design Solutions, Information Management Solution, Enterprise Resource Management Solution, Monitoring and Control Solution and Asset Maintenance Solution of Aveva’s Plant Design Solution. Proved my worth as a High Performing resource with Year-On-Year Guaranteed Target Achievement along with strong Pipeline development.
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