Gender Diversity at Gramener: An Inside View

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Gender diversity empowers an organization to have more insights from different viewpoints, and serve a broader customer base.

This enables the organization to become better at problem-solving, according to a 2014 Gallup study.

A gender-diverse workplace also opens up avenues for more talent with varying skill sets to enter the organization.

This is why, we at Gramener, value gender diversity and the myriad shades of a diverse workforce. With a firm belief in equal opportunity, we have designed people practices that enable women to join, perform, lead and excel at Gramener.

In 2017, Gramener’s workforce comprised just 20% of women. With various initiatives to bring in more gender diversity, the number grew to 30% in June 2020 and is continuously expanding. 

Challenges Women Face

Being gender-diverse also means being sensitive and responsive to the challenges women face in the workplace.

Biases against “opinionated women”, powerplay, hurdles in planning a family, and being the only woman on the team are some of these challenges, according to Gramener’s Nisha Sullia.

However, these challenges have not stopped Nisha from rising to a top position in the organization. Today, she is a Business Development Manager at Gramener in Singapore.

Juggling household chores and work is also a challenge for married women, points out Ramya Mylavarapu, Lead Information Designer.

“Before, there used to be so much time to experiment and learn new things. During the lockdown, with no house help, there is not even breathing space. In a split second, I have to switch between work and cooking and vice versa!” Says Ramya.

This flexibility that Ramya mentions is taken seriously at the workplace. We have a dedicated night shift policy to ensure the safety and security of women employees working at odd hours in the office.

The lockdown has also been tough on Aastha Bhatia, Senior Lead Data Consultant.

“At the start of the lockdown, I always saw myself struggling between work, kitchen, cleaning, stocking up groceries, and still trying to find time to maintain sanity. I was cooking when on calls, or cleaning the house in the middle of work when I got like 30 mins break,” says Aastha.

But now things have started to improve in her locality, some restrictions have been eased, and she gets help from her husband (always been a 50% partner with household work, and at times more).

Marriage and Parenthood

While marriage and parenthood are natural progressions in social life, society does not see men and women going about it the same way.

For Kranthi Teja Vadlamudi, with a child in the house, it becomes difficult to sit at work continuously for long periods.

“I started approaching deliverables in chunks. Suppose I have to make a presentation. I target completion of a few slides in each sitting, rather than trying to finish it all in a single go,” says Kranthi, who is Senior Manager – Data Sciences at Gramener.

Gramener’s “work from home” option helps young mothers take extended time working from home pre- and post-maternity leave. Even when they resume office, they can balance their work timings to coincide with their child’s needs. We also extend working from a remote location for women who need to be closer to their family.

Sharon Sowmya, Associate Lead Data Science Engineer, says that as a woman techie, there is a continuous comparison of how men can work longer hours. 

There are also hurdles while getting back from maternity breaks. However, Gramener has made efforts to address these issues.

For Aastha, the transition into marital life has been easier thanks to Gramener.

“The environment Gramener provides is so comfortable and employee-friendly that you can always reach out for help without any second thoughts,” she added.

Getting More Women Into Tech

Women hold just 20% of the jobs in the global technology industry. With the barriers being what they are, how can we encourage more women to get into the technology?

“Young women have to be given timely assurance and opportunities to excel in their fields. Show them good examples of women leaders and instill confidence in them to achieve,” suggests Kranthi.

Keeping this in mind, we at Gramener reserve one internship position during each cycle for women applicants.

Pragnya Reddy, Senior Data Science Engineer, says that getting a headstart is essential.

“Collaborate with colleges and universities to introduce Data Science as a discipline. Assign women mentors to women students and trainees,” recommends Pragnya.

This is exactly what Gramener is doing to maintain gender diversity. We reach out to women-only educational institutions for hiring and we also conduct workshops in these institutions to put more women on the path to the dynamic field of data science.

Ramya says that irrespective of which field women are from, they can work in the tech industry.

“Steve Jobs took up calligraphy in college. This gave him inspiration for the unique and beautiful typography that you see in Apple products today. Similarly, we can apply principles from all fields in the tech field and do wonders,” she states.

Gramener also encourages women to participate in external talks. For Data Scientist Sushmitha K, giving talks at events was high on her list of wants, and it happened soon enough.

“When I joined Gramener straight out of college, I used to see a lot of people giving talks. This was something that I always wanted to do. I walked up to Anand (CEO) one day and asked him if I could get a chance. He instantly agreed,” she relates. 

Surprised, she asked him if she was experienced enough to give a talk.

He replied, “Unless you give a talk, how will you become experienced?” 

Her game-changing experience came when she got a chance to be a keynote speaker at the Women in Data Science conference. 

“A lot of women approach me and ask how I did this. Well, my answer is simple. Be in a place with equal opportunities and also where people let you grow,” she signs off.

Note: This article on gender diversity at Gramener was researched and written by Varun Bala Krishna and Sushmitha Krishna Kumar.