GROWING FEMALE WORKFORCE IN TECHNICAL FIELDS

GROWING FEMALE WORKFORCE IN TECHNICAL FIELDS   ,  Daily Current Affairs , RACE IAS : Best IAS Coaching in Lucknow 

Mains Examination: General Studies 3

(Women Empowerment)

Reference :

• At present the number of working women has increased rapidly in the technical sector.
• Increasing female workforce participation in technical fields has strengthened the most important aspect of their lives. The increasing participation of women in the once completely male-dominated field of technology is significant in many ways.

Women workforce in technical fields at present:

• In the last few years, the expansion of technology has opened new avenues of progress in the working world of half of the country's population. The growing number of women in technical fields attests to this. Along with this, choosing technology-related subjects for the study of a large number of girls also shows that women are confident of getting better opportunities in this field in future.
• According to the latest report by the National Center for Women and Information Technology, women make up 26 percent of the workforce in the tech industry. The number of women in tech has increased by 5 percent in the past five years.
• According to the recently released Grant Thornton report, five percent of women have chosen 'Work from Home' forever.
• About 5 percent of the women are doing 'flexible work' ie working according to their time and convenience. It is making a lot easier for them to choose the option of working from home or office.
• With the convenience of working from home, women living in Tier II and III cities have also increased their stake in large companies in metros.
• The number of women working in remote areas is increasing. Such circumstances of moving forward while balancing the responsibilities of family and home are going to open a new path for the coming generations as well.
• As a result, the number of women and daughters in technical education and in the world of work is increasing. According to the periodic labor force survey of the National Statistical Office, the female labor force participation in India has increased from 17.5 percent in 2017-18 to 25 percent by 2020-21.
• Although the presence of women has increased in this era of information technology, but even in a completely new field like artificial intelligence, 22 percent of experts are women.
• Most of the studies show that this participation will increase further in the coming times.
• Women will play a significant role in every sector of the world of innovation and technology.
• Last year, a report by 'i Delight' company predicted that by the end of 2022, the participation of women in technology companies around the world would be up to 33 percent. An increase of 8 percent is possible in 2023 in this share.
• According to the 2022 'Hurun India' report, 11.6 lakh women are employed in top 500 tech companies in the private sector.
• Girls are also being promoted in 'STEM' education. 'STEM' refers to the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
• According to statistics, in 1980, women accounted for less than 2 percent of all engineering degrees in the country.
• Four years ago, an All India Survey of Higher Education report revealed that 31 per cent of engineering and technology degrees were taken by women.

Positive Impact of technical fields on the lives of women:

• In addition to taking care of the family and raising children, the responsibility of discharging social relations also comes to the share of women. In such a situation, quick communication, convenience of working from home and getting the freedom to settle your work according to the specific time is becoming very helpful in the jobs related to the technical sector.
• The technological world has made the life of women comfortable.
• Prepared women to lead a secure life and not compromise on their self-respect.
• Women have been empowered financially which means the economic dependence of women is decreasing.
• Technology has made it possible for women to communicate with people around the world through email, instant messaging, skype, social media etc.
• It has enabled women to strengthen ties among friends, relatives and colleagues.
• Women are getting attracted to inter-caste marriages.
• The collective contribution of women to global GDP is increasing rapidly.
• Indian women are reaching decisive roles in most of the male dominated sectors.
• These areas have strengthened the decision-making capacity of women.
• These fields have had a positive impact on every aspect related to women's scientific thinking, technical understanding, society and family.
• Technological spheres have helped to reinforce the existence of women in a family structure with an environment of expectations and neglect.

Negative Impact of Technical fields on the lives of women:

• Technological sectors have negatively impacted the lives of women in the following ways:
• Technical sectors have played a major role in creating tension in domestic and married life.
• These technical areas have worked to convert joint family into single family.
• Worked to inculcate individualistic thoughts in women, this has led to deterioration of personal relations.
• It has had a bad effect on the physical and mental health of women.

Conclusion:

• Although women are becoming a part of this field all over the world due to the increasing interference of technology in every aspect of life, but the new options available to women in the socio-family environment of India are particularly noteworthy. Indeed, we have a long list of responsibilities and common life problems for working women apart from professional responsibilities.
• Working women in the tech world are not only playing a vital role, but are also actively promoting innovation. In the last few years, many budding startups have also been started by women.
• Technical fields have opened new avenues for women. Women are also moving forward by imbibing the new changes related to technology in the traditional Indian society.

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Mains Exam Question

In what ways has the increasing female workforce in technical fields affected the lives of women at present? Discuss