By Indranil Halder
A weekend lunch in Sydney turned out to be valuable session for me on Tata Consultancy Services’ program called goIT Girls. It is part of their social corporate responsibility gamut of activities. My host Prabal Chatterjee explained that TCS is a strong advocate of STEM education amongst girl students all over the globe.
Who is Prabal Chatterjee?
Prabal is the Head of Human Resources( HR) – Tata Consultancy Services TCS Australia and NZ. He is an avid supporter for TCS’s visionary programs such as Community Innovation Program and goIT Girls. The Corporate social responsibility function in Australia and NZ reports to him.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) & Community Innovation Program:
TCS is a global leader in IT services, consulting & business solutions with a large network of innovation & delivery centers. Globally competes with Accenture Cognizant, Infosys and Wipro amongst many. One of TCS business objective is to potentially change the way in which the not-for-profit sector delivers services to the community and advocates for change. In Australia, companies website states, “The TCS Community Innovation Program delivers in-kind services to Australian and New Zealand organisations valued collectively at $1 million (AUD), in areas such as apps, websites, CRMs, chatbots, data and reporting systems and gamification.” Some of the organisations already benefited from TCS Community Innovation Program are Food Ladder, Hello Sunday Morning, Charitable Recycle. TCS also aims to address the shortfall of women in IT industry with goIT Girls.
goIT Girls: A brilliant familiarisation program for Aussie girls with IT industry
As we are treated to a delicious Bengali menu with Luchi , Railway got curry and Doi Mach (Yougurt fish ), I learnt that goIT Girls is a week-long, immersive work experience progriam aimed at female Year 10 and Year 11 Sydney and Melbourne. My host who made amazingly tasty Luchi, said, “As dversity in STEM is a challenge in Australia. We are addressing it with goIT Girls. We love to see more Australian girls pursue careers in innovation and technology. It is a great program for them.” Prabal added that there is an extreme shortage of women in IT sector. TCS goal is to invest in STEM subjects.He told me,”The Australia’s Office of Chief Scientist updates that women make up less than a third of the country’s STEM university graduates. goIT Girls is another program to familiarise Australian girls with IT industry.”
According to TCS company website,” 100 young girls were invited to participate – discovering the business and culture of TCS first-hand in 2019. They received guidance from TCS senior executives and our client organizations too. They also had an opportunity to develop valuable technical skills through an introduction to coding.” In 2022, there are girls from schools in Vic , NSW WA , SA and ACT who are part of goIT Girls program.
For students, it’s their chance to learn how to think outside the square to solve problems. It fascinates me, to learn that such program actually exists for girls in Australia making them equiped for future global challenges and increase their capabilities as leaders.
In our multicultural Australia, we are focused on promoting inclusion and diversity across different job sectors and goIT Girls program is an essential solution for such promotion. They also have opportunities to work with real life female role models (already breaking stereotypes about women in technology sector). The program has the potential to help, inspire and connect with girls across Australia, whether they growing up in the Western Sydney suburb of Mt Druitt, NSW or attending private boarding school in Perth or from Aboriginal communities in Northern Territory or lives in rural property in Albury/Wodonga in Victoria. In 2017, Pooja from Moorefield Girls High School, Kogarah, NSW was selected for goIT Girls program who said,”I have also been selected to attend a five day work experience program ‘TCS goIT Girls’ run by Tata Consultancy Services and cannot wait to go. This program opens up new opportunities and careers in IT for girls in Years 10 and 11. Pooja (Yr 11).”
As we enjoyed the long Saturday brunch, I looked at the perfect sunset sky with pink and blue colour covering the sky outside and thought to myself that critical thinking, Innovative ideas and problem solving are part every young Australians life today and program such as goIT Girls are a must. It is a program with steps in the right direction. Australian girls not only have the potential to learn more and earn more but also equipped youths to handle future better instead of being bitter. And being knowledgeable, they will be able to make informative decisions to progress Australian in the world of technology. For me goIT Girls is definitely a much needed program to empower Aussie girls for a technology savvy future.
To Apply for the Program and learn more visit : https://tcsempowers.tcsapps.com/apac/tfg/home
