 "Digital skills help narrow gender gap at the workplace")
What would be the odds faced by a bunch of 20 Indian engineering students wanting to compete at a four-day global event in Singapore in today’s day and time? There are many, says Manupriya Vats, who is leading Team Panther, India's only all-girl team at the Shell Eco-marathon Asia, scheduled to take place in March next year.
Vats and her team have been running from pillar to post for sponsors to support their project, Iris 2.0. Named after the Greek messenger goddess connecting the world of humanity with Gods of Mount Olympus, this three-wheeler, an improved version of a previously developed model, promises a mileage of 300 km per litre and a maximum speed of 55 km per hour.
“It is very difficult to convince companies that an all-girl-team can do field work and seize something great in the field of mechanical and automation engineering,” says Vats, adding there is a label of incompetence and mistrust attached to projects led by women, and this malaise runs deeper in this field.
Recalling an incident, Vats says: “One of my team mates, Panya Rawat, went to Kashmere Gate (in Delhi) to buy some auto parts for our prototype. The dealer there told her she should rather send a boy to buy such things. It is not safe for women to linger around in the area.”
The project, worth Rs 17 lakh, is mostly self-financed. Their institute, Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTU), and their sole sponsor Shell India, meet the shipment and travel cost.
Given the constraints, the team had to make do with meagre funds as members pooled in their money. The odds, however, prevailed and the team had to cut down costs by using in their prototype heavier materials – glass fibre and aluminium – which increased the vehicle’s weight by 3-4 kg and decreased its efficiency.
Juggling between classes and project work was another challenge; they ended up with just about three-four hours a day after class. “Unlike boys, who do not have a curfew, we have to miss classes so that we can work on the project. Our parents insist that we remain indoors at night as it is not safe for us to be working out late. Our classes end at 5 pm; that leaves us with very little time,” Vats said.
Reading between the lines
Vats’ experience can be indicative of a larger cycle that replicates gendered relations within the field.
For Sujitha, another engineering student majoring in Instrumentation and Control Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli, gender discrimination is layered and the problem lies in the fact that there is very little acknowledgement as far as the different forms of discriminatory practices are concerned.
“There is a huge difference in the opportunities available to men and women on campuses. For example, women, practically, have no access to laboratories as they have to rush to their hostels after class,” says Sujitha.
Hostel authorities insist that women stay indoors after 9 pm, for security reasons, even as there is no such deadline for men residing on the campus. Other opportunities like participating in extra-curricular activities are off-limits, too.
Besides, within her department, existing trends suggest that during campus placements, companies are more likely to hire women for analytics and coding. Laboratory-based, factory-based and field-work-based areas, such as research and maintenance, are mostly taken by men.
For many aspiring women, however, an entry into core sectors is not always an impossible task. IGDTU, for example, has a 100 percent placement record. But differences in work experiences manifest in the form of an alienating work culture for women.
In fact, Vats recalls that during an internship at one of the leading automobile companies in New Delhi last year, she was the only woman in an office that had 30 workers. During a field visit at a plant, she relates, a teacher instructed: “Don’t keep the girl in the assembly line for long, else the workers will stop working.”
Even academic spaces do not go without their brand of sexism. Sujitha adds to the unfolding narrative by stating how one of her professors once said during the course of a lecture that the institute’s quality was compromised once it started accepting woman applicants.
For Ridhima Singh (name changed on request), a former student of IIT Roorkee who switched fields later, one of the reasons behind her transition was the “different treatment” she received while working at a chemical plant at Bathinda.
“A feminine presence seemed to cause discomfort among workers, who were all men. They kept telling me not to go to the site of production, though that was part of my job,” says Singh.
The Silver lining
Despite all these factors, enrolment among women in engineering and technology institutes has been on the rise over the years. According to UGC data, women account for around 38 per cent of the increase seen in enrolments (630,212) in a year’s time from 2013-14.
In 2014-15, the enrolment of women in the field of engineering and technology increased by more than 200,000.
Hoping that the tides will change in favour of a more inclusive academic and work culture, Vats, leading Team Panther, says: “It is okay if we do not win the competition. But I really hope that by seeing our work, people realise that even women can build projects and lead them.”
