Though a misnomer, now a survey throws light to say women are interested in emerging tech course and rue the lack of enough options available to them.
Approximately 79 percent of female respondents have shown interest in emerging tech courses and 21.43 percent feel that there are not enough options available to upskill themselves, according to WileyNXT survey, Women Empowerment Through Upskilling.
For firms, upskilling is one of the significant ways to build a future-ready workforce; and for professionals, it is a way to keep themselves and their skills updated in alignment with the industry and market demand. When it comes to upskilling courses, the majority of women i.e., 64.29 percent and 60.71 percent have demonstrated interest in opting for courses in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and Data Analytics respectively. These interest areas were followed by Product Management i.e., 46.43 percent, Full Stack Development (35.71 percent), Cloud Computing (25 percent), Cybersecurity (21.43 percent), Fintech (17.86 percent), and Blockchain Technology (14.29 percent).
Almost 75 percent of women professionals said that the motivation to take up upskilling courses is driven by their desire to get better opportunities outside the organization and to get better raise within as well as outside their current Companies. For 50 percent women, another factor that drives them to pursue upskilling courses is growth in their industry. 25 percent women pursue upskilling courses with an objective of making career change.
When asked about what holds back women from taking up tech courses, surprisingly, ‘lack of interest’ was not the reason for any of the women professionals. The real challenge, as highlighted by approximately 36 percent of women is the lack of time. Almost 47.83 percent said that the absence of flexible workplace policies acts as a hurdle, 18 percent chose lack of opportunities, 14.29 percent selected lack of resources and lack of support from the employer, whereas 7.14 percent expressed their inability to upskill themselves as they are not the decision-maker for their investment or career choices.
According to the report, 71.43 percent of the women respondents are willing to pay in the range of Rs 50,000- Rs 1 lakh for upskilling themselves through online programs.
Vikas Gupta, Managing Director of Wiley, WileyNXT, and mthree in India, said, “In the latest (2021) fortune 500 list, it was revealed that only 41 out of 500 companies have women CEOs. That’s just 8.1% of the leadership positions where women are donning the top hat. WileyNXT as a business takes cognizance of the increasing gender gap in the technology domain and envisions to upskill more and more women in new, advanced and emerging technologies.
The survey focussed on women professionals to understand the scope, interest, and challenges in regard with women upskilling in emerging technologies. The survey also aimed to find out how new-age technology courses are helping women professionals to carve their own career trajectories.
