Panel discussion held to inspire girl students to become women entrepreneurs in city

Guwahati : A panel discussion on 'Women Entrepreneurship' was organized by STEM+E club for Girls of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Khanapara, Guwahati on Saturday. Two women entrepreneurs –Atreyee Borooah Thekedath, CEO of Web.Com (India) Pvt. Ltd., one of Assam's leading technology companies and Member of Board of Governors of IIITD&M, Jabalpur, and Nashrat Majid, Director, PIBCO Enterprises Ltd, Guwahati, delivered inspiring talk to girl students of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Khanapara.

The theme of panel discussion was 'Women Entrepreneurship-a need of the hour'. STEM +E (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics + Entrepreneurship) Club for Girls was set up at KV, Khanapara on the initiative of Hibah Ihsan Muhammad with the support and guidance of Dr Sanjay Kumar, Principal. The objective of the club is to engage and inspire girls of Classes VIII, IX and X, so that more and more girls enter STEM+E subjects in Class XI and also to motivate girls of classes XI and XII to continue with STEM+E subjects with more confidence, stated a press release.

Atreyee Borooah Thekedath, one of the panellists- a computer engineering and business management graduate and an alumna of the prestigious Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Programme for Women Entrepreneurs, noted that though India had one of the highest women STEM graduates in the world, the percentage of women in STEM jobs was very less. She emphasized the need to encourage more women in STEM to get into the workforce and contribute to nation building. She explained the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur viz., perseverance, persistence, ability to adapt to change and staying ahead of competition. She emphasized that girls must be sensitized to the fact that there were many opportunities to become entrepreneurs in the technology domain.

Nashrat Majid, a law postgraduate and Director, PIBCO Enterprises Ltd, an automobile enterprise in Guwahati, explained how the Companies Act, 2013 has mandated inclusion of women in the Board of Directors in specified companies. She emphasized the need for affirmative action on the part of both government and private sector for increased women participation in entrepreneurship and jobs.

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