Women are more disciplined, focused, and hardworking, who raise productivity and create a positive work culture

The increase in economic productivity has raised the demand for talent. Today, employers are gender agnostic when they are looking for a skilled workforce to meet their requirements and are open to women even for job roles that have traditionally been male-centric. As per the recent data, the Female Labour Force Participation Rate is 37% against 23% five years back and 25% of apprentices are women. Various government initiatives and policies drive women’s participation. Sectors such as retail, banking, healthcare, hospitality and education have the maximum women workforce, but the most recent trend is the rise of women workforce in the manufacturing sector in machine operations that have traditionally been male-dominated. Across India, many manufacturing plants are run by women and the trend is on the rise. The social taboo is being broken as families are encouraging girl child education. As per the recent AISHE report, the female GER is 28% which has gone up nominally by 3% Year on Year (YoY). Today, a little over 2 crore females are enrolled in higher education.

Breaking the glass ceiling
Women bring in a lot more to the workplace than just the skills. Being more disciplined, focused, and hardworking with a no-nonsense attitude has a positive impact on the work culture and also raises productivity. A woman often brings a blend of technical skills, knowledge and personal traits to the workplace. To develop the talent pool, among the many skilling, reskilling and upskilling initiatives, the industry is also collaborating with academia to create a talented workforce.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 encourages such collaborations to offer work-based education programmes such as degree apprenticeships. Breaking the tradition of classroom learning, degree apprenticeships are a blend of theory and on-the-job learning that are jointly executed at the establishment of the industry in the real work environment by industry experts and able faculty. Experiential learning is fundamental; it builds both cognitive skills and technical knowledge. The programmes follow the National Credit Framework (NCrF) and National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF). The cherry on the cake is the financing of the programme, which is done by the industry and the student apprentices earn a handsome stipend. It’s not just an apprenticeship or a degree programme, but a holistic career development programme that helps organisations tap talent at the grassroots level. Organisations are using degree apprenticeships to fulfil their gender diversity agenda. Both technical and non-technical courses have been introduced to create a talent pipeline. The scarcity of women ITI candidates makes degree apprenticeship a preferred option in the manufacturing units for skilled women. Also, instead of going for a regular college degree, a degree apprenticeship can be a good option to be job-ready in services industries such as retail, IT/ ITES and financial services.

Essential for economic growth
Organisations are also making the most of the degree apprenticeships for mobilising rural women and empowering them through skills. A few run these programmes under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Interestingly, there is also pay parity under degree apprenticeship which makes it favourable for young women to build a career.

To vocationalise higher education, UGC had introduced B Voc, however, the nomenclature makes them less aspirational, and as per the last three AISHE reports, the enrolments have dropped. Degree apprenticeship courses such as BSc and BBA with industrial specialisation become more acceptable to the youth and society. Women's empowerment is essential for economic growth. As we progress towards a $5 trillion economy and prepare for a $30 trillion economy by 2047, higher women participation in the labour force is imperative, and degree apprenticeship is the key driver in creating an inclusive workforce.

—Vijay GarG Retired Principal Educational columnist malout