Woman techies flock to city

Woman techies flock to city
The Times of India

Bangalore: Women in IT sector seem to get a fair deal in the city. When Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Chennai have less than 2 per cent women in the top rung of IT, Bangalore employs close to 3 per cent.

Taking the cue, more women are willing to move to Bangalore. “There is a feeling that IT industry in Bangalore gives a better, growthcentric career option to women, compared with other cities in the country. Everyone need not agree on this, but it’s true in my case,’’ says Anita Gandarwal, who recently relocated to Bangalore from Mumbai, to take charge as vice-president (operations) in an IT company.

Sheila Sen Gopal, another IT professional who has recently moved to the city, says: “In fact, my HR consultant told me that he would get me a better designation if I were willing to move to Bangalore.’’ Gopal, who joined a multinational company in the city as general manager (international marketing), was a senior manager (marketing) with a Delhi-based firm.

Sources say the country employs around 25,00,000 IT professionals and 20% of them are women. Of this, Karnataka alone accounts for around 5,00,000 workers, where women constitute 25%. Bangalore that employs over 4,00,000 talents has 1,20,000 women at 30%, the highest in the country. On a national average, 18 per cent of the men make it to the top and barely 2 per cent of the women. Women in Bangalore stand a better chance, at 2.97 per cent.