Interviewer:
Could you tell us a bit more about yourself?

A.B:
I did a computer engineering degree from Singapore, NTU and then I joined an investment back, a European investment bank, in the IT department. I've been working for about 6 months now.

Interviewer:
So, you're a fresh graduate?

A.B: Yes.

Interviewer:
What made you take up this IT job?

A.B:
Well, like I said before, I had a degree in computer engineering so obviously that was the field I was most comfortable in. I knew what I was getting into. I had done an internship in Citibank and did an IT project as well. So, you could say that that's the job I was gearing up for. So yes that's why I took up this job.

Interviewer:
You basically took up the job because you had an IT background, you were an IT graduate. So, can I ask you why did you take up a major in computing or computer engineering?

A.B:
I grew up in India and the environment is such that you're geared towards engineering from the time you pass grade 10. So I did engineering and out of all the engineering disciples, computer engineering s the most coveted. I just followed the crowd and followed my parents' wishes and ended up here.

Interviewer:
So, it was probably less interest and more peer influence and family influence?

A.B:
Definitely. I had an interest in maths, but I wouldn't say I had an interest in computer engineering. I didn't even know what programming was.

Interviewer:
Do you think that in the course of your working, in these 6 months, do you think that investment banking or even IT is primarily male dominated?

A.B:
Definitely. Investment banking in general is very male dominated and IT as well. So the combination of the two becomes extremely male dominated. I think there are a lot of initiatives going on in my bank and I think in other organizations as well to recruit and retain more women in the organization because they also feel that it's a major problem. Because they train a lot of people and they eventually leave because of the pressure or because of family commitments.

Interviewer:
Do you think that at the graduate level, the gender divide is not that much but as they go on females leave the sector?

A.B:
Yes, I think so. But I think the problem starts much earlier. Even during my degree, there were about 400 students in my batch. There were 50 females and the rest were all males. So the problems aren't when you start working, the problem starts much before that.

Interviewer:
It starts basically at the undergraduate level. What about at high school? Do you think at high school there was such a divide or at high school it's more or less equal?

A.B:
At least it wasn't in my school. I have friends who went for humanities courses. But that's mainly in other countries. In India, at least from what I faced, most women do take up science and maths.

Interviewer:
While talking to you earlier, you mentioned that at work, you were a part of a committee which worked at recruiting and retaining more women in IT. So, can you elaborate a little more on that. What is it all about? What do you all do?

A.B:
Well, basically whatever we do, you said it all in a gist. The committee takes itself quite seriously because it takes this as a very major issue that a lot of women tend to leave. So, what it does is, it organizes more senior women to come down and share their experience of working like empathise with the women, like 'yes it's a hard life, yes there's work to do at home, yes, there's work to do in office,' it's important to balance the two, balance your family life and it brings a personal touch because when you see these women who managed it so successfully, you are maybe, inspired to do the same. And it also gives a chance for women to interact among themselves in a session like this. Network amongst themselves. They have a supportive network and they have people outside their projects and teams who they can go to with their problems. Suppose they have problems at work. Sometimes you just need to share with somebody and you would rather share with somebody who understands the situation much more. So, yes, that's what they are trying to do.

Interviewer:
You've just worked for about 6 months but in this period, while working have you had any personal experience where you have been at an advantage or a disadvantage because you were a female, either at work, or even during the process of recruitment?

A.B:
No, I don't think I have really faced anything like that. There was no advantage but I didn't face any disadvantage as well. I think as you go along, I have heard of a lot of cases where women have felt that they were at a disadvantage because there are teams with about 20 people and maybe only 1 female. I'm very lucky. In my team there are about 12 people and 4 of us are females. So, that's still 1/3rd of the team which is substantial in IT terms.

Interviewer:
So, what kind of disadvantage did they face?

A.B:
Sometimes it could just be that they felt that they put in the hours but they weren't compensated enough.

Interviewer:
Or has it ever been that your male colleagues haven't taken you seriously enough, or something like that? Say, in their case?

A.B:
For me, I would say that has happened. But that has happened maybe because I'm a graduate and I don't have that much experience. I would be very hesitant to put that across as a female thing. It's more like 'You've just joined, so you don't even have the experience.' But I have heard of cases with other people. You know, in Support, you get a lot of calls regarding issues.A friend of mine is basically she has been at the receiving end where they say ' Is there somebody else who can look at this problem? Is John there? Is Matt there? Can somebody else take a look at this?' So, it had reached that stage where she had to tell them that 'Stop, I can handle it. I can do it. Why don't you tell me the problem?' So, I think there is definitely discrimination. And there is bound to be since there are so few of us there.

Interviewer:
How do females handle situations like these? Like over here you said that she put her foot down. Have there been any cases where they have actually taken a much more serious step?

A.B:
I think you can take a much more serious step if your manager has been very supportive, if you've been receiving this kind of nonsense from people, if you can go to your manager and be open about it, it brings a lot of comfort. But if your manager is the one discriminating against you, then it's much harder. Then you probably have to go even higher up and then probably, make a much bigger issue out of it.

Interviewer:
Final question. There have been claims that the male brain is more suited to process technical knowledge than the female brain. What are your comments about this?

A.B:
I strongly disagree with that. I think that's not true. But I do feel that society is gearing women towards more creative and arty kind of jobs that maybe IT. But, I think that if women have a genuine interest in maths and science and IT, they would go for jobs like this. They can do just as well.

Interviewer:
Thanks a lot.

A.B:
No problem, it's a pleasure.