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BREAKING THE ICE OF STEREOTYPES

Surprising but true, Internet seems to be the oxygen Electronics Engineering (IEEE), Chartered Institute of
that every person is breathing today globally. Public Relations (CIPR), and Cambridge Wireless. For
Everyone needs it but not everyone has access to it. someone like her and with her kind of education, she
When I say ‘everyone’, it doesn’t really mean “every can lead mankind to reach the top of the mountain
person”, rather, it means men and women from of dreams.
different social background especially in the Indian John F. Kennedy created the Presidential Commission
society. Ever since our civilisation has come into on the Status of Women (PCSW), which highlighted
existence, we all know, men would step out of the the need for women to fill a shortage of jobs in
house to work and fend for the family, while women teaching, science and engineering in the U.S.. At that
were bound by the four walls of their house. But, time, less than 1% of recorded engineers for women,
as times changed, women too became bolder and and the ‘time’ was the early 1960`s.
decided to step into the outside world. They seemed
to have gone beyond the normal and have ventured Duncan is not a sole example in the field of IT a
into newer domains. They too have stepped into the field considered to be dominated by men. You
world of Internet. A world that has no bounds. Today, would be surprised to hear that the first computer
they are taking up their jobs whole-heartedly just as programmer ever was a lady. Yet today, there are
they performed their house-hold chores. They have fewer women than men in science and engineering
successfully moved forward and are making their college programs and careers the world over. The
presence felt globally; or I must say, they are bridging numbers seem to be equally grim in the developed
the gender gap and the generation gap too. nations as well.

“Looking back, I can hardly remember any aspects In fact, according to recent statistics, college-
(working in the engineering field) I didn`t enjoy, but educated women are less than half as likely as men to
there must have been some”, said Helen Duncan, be employed in field of Internet. U.K. has only about
now Managing Director and Founder of MWE Media. 9% female engineering workforce, and only about
She is ‘a woman in a man`s world’. Yes Duncan is a 6% of registered women engineers and technicians.
woman engineer in a world full of men. When Duncan It is sad to see that while we are aiming to reach
was studying for her EE degree (only a few decades the moon, we are happily ignoring half the earth’s
ago), there were only two girls out of group of 100 in population. But despite such a grim situation, women
her class. are not depressed. In fact, they take this completion
as an open challenge and are coming forward to take
An engineer with an Electrical and Electronic the world head on. Women are actually ‘breaking the
Engineering degree from the University of Leeds, ice of stereotypes’.
a member of the Institute of Engineering and
Technology (IET), Institute of Electrical and Lakshay Vedik, XI-A