I had
an unusual two days of the universe sending me signals - all of which screamed
"women build true capability." It's unusual to find the same tune
sung in so many different keys. It struck me that building the skills and
capability for young talent and women is not about ticking the boxes, but
thoughtful, ongoing, systematic effort.
Here's
some light reading, going in order of scale from "home, sweet home",
to "my friend, the entrepreneur" to "in memoriam to a robber
baron's wife"....
I woke up jet-lagged this morning in Chennai, and found my mother coaching the maid's granddaughter, Viji. The young girl had failed her Tenth grade exams, and was on the verge of being married off in her village when her grandmother brought her along to the city.
It
turns out that shifts in the education system meant that kids can go all the
way to tenth grade, never having been tested. So here is young Viji, who my
mother discovered has a photographic memory, with absolutely no ability to work
with English or Math. When my mother encountered her, she put the kibosh firmly
on the marriage idea, and has taken on the task of coaching the young girl and
funding some occupational training. My contribution was copy writing and early
math skills work books. Through small victories are the battles won!
It's a
pity that the system doesn't quite address the needs of young, talented girls
like Viji, who could so easily have been lost in the mire of early marriage, motherhood
and drudgery.
In
essence, she was responding to a gap she saw - the gap in entry-level
professionalism and productivity.
She
and her partner run courses to help high schoolers and their teachers hone
their soft skills. I loved that she'd just plunged in there and started a
business based on her savvy, a great partner, a computer and some apartment
space. The impact she's already had on the lives of thousands to young kids
making their first set of career decisions is heartwarming. And practically
speaking, I'm glad that they'll be more attuned to their work
environments.
India
doesn't yet have a vibrant internship approach and there's an opportunity there
for a business person to train and farm non-MBA, non-Engineering interns to
businesses so they are better prepared for their careers and realistic about
their capability levels. (I know all of y'all who work with Gen Y'ers are
saying "m'hmm"!)
Laudably,
this is a start-up team that's already doing good - they have run free
workshops for those who can't make it to the paid sessions.
So,
capability-building was on my mind as I took one last scroll through my emails
before hitting the pillows. This note from my Alma Mater Balliol College in
Oxford got me thinking.
"In
a bid to increase applications from female candidates to subject areas where
there is an imbalance in the female-male ratio, Balliol College will select
three female students to be Dervorguilla scholars. The divisions that are
under-represented by women are Humanities, the Social Sciences, and Maths,
Physical and Life Sciences."
Ummm - so in what disciplines exactly
are women appropriately represented or, dare we dream, over-represented?
Click here to learn more about the scholarships,
ladies.
I love
that the scholarship is named for the true founder of Balliol college, not John
Balliol but his wife Dervorguilla who seed-funded the school. A woman of substance, she funded a school for the
poor as part of her husband's penance for his land dispute with the Bishop of
Durham. A lady of good works, she was also plenty savvy, and seems to have
quite a history of litigation to her name.
Given
she was walked this earth about 900 years ago, I'll overlook the fact that when
Sir John died in 1269, Dervorguilla had his heart embalmed and kept in a casket
of ivory bound with silver. The casket traveled with her for the rest of her
life.
Just a
few of the women worth emulating out there....
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