Tata Steel helps 10 Women of Mettle break the glass ceiling in Season 3

• Himani Patel from NIT Suratkal emerges as the winner, Tanya Maurya from BIT-Mesra and Swati Kumari from NIT-Rourkela secure the 1st and 2nd runner-up positions, respectively
• The 6-month-long programme culminated with the Grand Finale held in Jamshedpur on September 5
• Top 10 Women of Mettle receive scholarship of Rs2 lakh each and an opportunity to join Tata Steel as Management Trainee, Technical
• Over 700 2^nd year students from over 50 premier engineering institutes participated

There have been generations of women, even our mothers, who had to struggle to make the women of today see this day. For ages, women have been fighting for their existence, rights and respect. Trying to snatch and hold on to whatever came their way to become successful women — at work and otherwise. But, for the modern Indian woman, things have changed and the doors of opportunity are opening up, so that they can prove their power and break the glass ceiling that have kept women trapped for years. Such leading groups as the Tatas are showing the way.

Tata Steel announced the winners of the 3rd season of its pioneering initiative, Women of Mettle scholarship programme, aimed at encouraging gender diversity and inclusion in the manufacturing sector. The programme witnessed participation from 700-plus 2^nd year female engineering students from over 50 premier engineering institutes across India, including the IITs, NITs and the like.

The names were announced this week at the Grand Finale held in Jamshedpur. The occasion was graced by Sanjiv Paul, Vice-President (Safety, Health & Sustainability), Tata Steel, and Avneesh Gupta, Vice-President, Shared Services, Tata Steel, as Chief Guest and Guest of Honour, respectively. They were also part of the esteemed jury.

 ‘Diversity at the workplace’

‘The Women of Mettle scholarship programme is a one-of-its-kind diversity-and-inclusion initiative not just in India’s steel sector, but across the country’s wider manufacturing spectrum. Going forward as the country grows and progresses, it’ll become more of the manufacturing hub than it is today and we’ll need to leverage the full potential of 50% of our human resources. For various reasons, participation of women in the manufacturing sector has been low in India. As a pioneer in bringing in the best HR and labour practices in the country, Tata Steel will continue to work towards this cause and enhance diversity in the workplace. The winners of the third season of WoM and the past winners are now role models for ensuring greater participation of women in the manufacturing sector’

— Sanjiv Paul, V-P (Safety, Health & Sustainability), Tata Steel

‘Manufacturing sector to benefit’

‘It’s been an evening of celebrating women and manufacturing. I’m extremely impressed by the quality of presentations and ideas put out. The pioneering initiative of WoM has been gathering momentum with every passing edition. Manufacturing is a core sector for such a growing economy as India and we believe that, with more participation of women in the manufacturing and technical space, the sector will benefit immensely’

• Avneesh Gupta, V-P, Shared Services, Tata Steel

A lifetime opportunity

• The Top 10 Women of Mettle received Rs2 lakh scholarship each, to be disbursed over the next two years — in their 3^rd and 4^th year of the engineering course
• They will also be given an opportunity to work with Tata Steel as paid interns in their third year followed by an offer to join the Tata Steel family as Management Trainee, Technical (MTT)
• Women of Mettle ranked 11-30 will be given paid internship opportunity
• Candidates ranked between 31 and 50 will be given a pre-placement interview (PPI) opportunity
• Since the inception of this unique and pioneering initiative in 2017, 21 women have joined the Tata Steel family as employees through the programme.

Rigorous selection process

• The WoM initiative was started to identify, groom and encourage female engineering talent for India’s manufacturing sector
• The applicants go through a rigorous selection process that involves exploring and designing solutions to technical challenges
• Of the total number of applicants, 50 were shortlisted based on technical assessment
• This select group of 50 then work on specially curated challenging cases for 1.5 months under the guidance of assigned mentors and present it to the jury
• The Top 10 participants are subsequently selected to present their ideas and solutions to the esteemed jury in the Grand Finale

The participants in Season 3 of WoM represented a diverse background of 2nd year of B. Tech students specialising in Computer Science, Information Technology, Electrical, Electronic, Mechanical, Metallurgy, Mining, Industrial, Mining Machinery, Mineral Processing, Chemical, Civil, Ceramic and Production Engineering.

In line with the company’s target of having 20% women officers in the workforce by 2025 and the recent modifications in the law, the human resources management division and the raw materials division have undertaken an initiative called ‘Women@Mines’. This initiative will focus on four aspects — communication, amenities, recruitment of women officers and non-officers and Tejaswini 2.0.

Earlier this week, Tata Steel became the first company in India to deploy women in all shifts in mines and the Ore, Mines & Quarries (OMQ) division became the first division in Tata Steel to deploy women in all shifts with effect from September 1, 2019.

Tata Steel also started two shifts at its Jamshedpur plant shop floor for women employees from April 1, 2019.  A total of 52 female employees work at its Coke Plant and Electrical Repair Shop Floor in Shifts A and B between 6.00 am and 10.00 pm through the week.