‘Why aren’t we provided with a male technician/product specialist for support activities? How can I talk to some male members in your team?’ – The initial shock of being advised by a female soon turned out to such blunt questions. I had worked as the Engineer – Product Management, in a social enterprise which manufactures and sells simulators for skill training. Our mainstream products were welding and spray-painting simulators – both of which are majorly male dominated sectors of employment. Though the simulators are made with the latest technology platforms like eXtended Reality, being a product management engineer, I had taken one step ahead to learn the respective domains of welding and spray-painting to give a holistic experience to the users. This included learning both theory and hands-on welding/painting and engaging with clients to understand the trainer’s/trainee’s perspectives. It was during such visits that I constantly used to get clear misogynist comments, even from well respected trainers and/or officials. Furthermore, most client sites – automobile industries / shop floors did not even have restrooms for women inside the building. That is when I realised the extent of prevalence of gender inequality in India despite the innumerable initiatives for women empowerment. Consistent frowns from customers regarding the gender of the technical assistant (and only the gender!) resulted in inculcating more perseverance in myself. I soon started volunteering to visit more and more industries, at times alone, or at times accompanied by colleagues. And I personally requested to also be part of the Customer Support team. Thus, for a long time, I was the only point of contact for many major clients of the company. It was during this long stint that I was able to win my battle of changing the common notions of workers in the hard skill sector. Though it started off with many bad experiences, frowns and dissatisfaction, upon being perseverant and constantly improving myself and my skill sets, I was finally able to achieve the unbelievable – gain their trust and getting them to accept skills based on objective benchmarks. This included convincing them on technical aspects of Welding/Painting in a detailed and deep manner, and sometimes even challenging them assertively. By the time I left the company to pursue my higher studies, I had visited atleast 12+ industries in and around India and held the responsibility of account ownership for 5 biggest clients of the company. Further ahead, this entire venture earned me the biggest achievement in my life so far – I was chosen as ‘one of the 45 eminent women who made an impact in their career’ by the National Skills Network, in March 2019. It was awarded as a token of appreciation for my contributions, as a woman, in lifting the common perceptions in the welding industry.
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