Nasscom is currently going through its third annual IT Women Leadership Summit in Bangalore.Has there been any progress is the sceptic's question, and Som Mittal, president, Nasscom, said that, while earlier only around three or four companies had any real rules concerning gender inclusiveness, today, around 80 companies have gender inclusiveness as a policy.
"There are 2 million people in the industry today and this figure may swell to 8 million by 2020," pointed out Mittal while urging companies to push forward with steps to encourage more women to join the workforce.
Nasscom has also presented awards to recognise companies that have strong policies for gender inclusiveness.
They awarded Infosys (IT Services & Product Companies category), IBM Daksh Business Process Services (BPO Companies category)
These awards are given based on five parameters, namely business rationale, senior leadership support, communication, accountability, and measurable results.
While Mittal says Nasscom is determined to get women to play a bigger role in IT, he also admitted that one factor that affected this push for gender inclusiveness was the fact that women did face other pressures.
"They have to face the pressure of a day job and also need to run the family," he said.
Quick take
>>Nasscom wants women to play a bigger role in IT
>>Over 80 companies are today addressing this issue
>>Family pressure may play a dampening role in this regard
Dark truths?
According to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Haifa, Israel, light plays a role in development of breast cancer.
The researchers used NASA satellite maps to find out light usage and then used this data along with statistics pertaining to lung and breast cancer in the same neighbourhoods. They found no correlation with light and lung cancer. However:
>>Women living in neighbourhoods with average lighting had breast cancer levels 37 per cent higher than those living in neighbourhoods with low night light levels.
>>Women in communities with the most night lighting had breast cancer rates 64 per cent higher than women in communities with the least light.
The study results might explain why female night shift workers have a higher rate of breast cancer. This could be of particular concern for BPO companies in India, which employ a lot of women.
According to some, bright light at night may diminish the body's supply of melatonin, a hormone involved in the control of the body's natural rhythms.
This is so serious that the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organisation, considers overnight shift work as a probable carcinogen.
