ISB Leadership Summit - Women in Business

WIB Club ILS Panel – Higher education & the India growth story

They came. They spoke. They conquered. Dr. Pronab Sen, the Principal Adviser to the Planning Commission of India, Dr. Indu Shahani, honorary Sherriff of Mumbai, recipient of “Women’s achievers award” and “Excellence in Education Award”, member of University Grants’ Commission, Dr. Shalini Sarin, Director of HR at Schneider Electric, India, Divya Ramachandran, CEO, Helios & Matheson Information Technology NA ., also an alumna from ISB’s founding batch. Four speakers. Four forces that came together and created a storm of ideas.

Organized by Women in Business (WIB) Club: Nandini Govindarajan, Saumya Joshi, Sneha Rajan, Sharon Ann Varghese, Shweta Sahjwani, Khushboo Pandey, Gunjan Paliwal, Sonali Saxena, Shruti Thakral. Moderated by Olivia Mukhopadhyay.

India is an emerging economy, at an inflection point, in need of talent. The WIB ILS discussion, thus, centred on the role and significance of higher education in India’s growth story. The issues addressed included the need for an innovation-based economy, brain drain, reverse brain drain, demand and supply in education sector, quality of education.

One of the highlights was the gap between the supply and demand of talent in the nation. Mr. Pronab Sen commented on how the economic system is churning out jobs our nations’ graduates don’t want to take up. Mr. Pronab Sen mentioned “According to statistics, the highest rate of unemployment in India is in graduate class”. Ms. Shalini Sarin emphasized that education is not being contextualized. She also added “Learning should not be offered in a tubular fashion in silos”.

Next, Dr. Indu Shahani threw some light on the issue of quality of education. She stressed upon the need for creative and independent thinkers, as well as, high-quality faculty. She emphasized the need of the hour to move from teaching institutions to research-oriented universities. She also commented “We need to be able to move from delivering knowledge to creating knowledge”. She insisted that the teachers be driven by the motto “teach from the head and inspire from the heart”.

Next, Divya Ramachandran indicated the mutual benefits corporates and academia could extract from a partnership to develop and nurture talent in the nation. Dr. Shalini Sarin added that more institutes should revise their curriculum regularly to keep up with the times, like ISB does. Divya also mentioned the recent trends in reverse brain drain, and mentioned this could be the perfect time to engage great talent.

All speakers agreed that India is at a tipping point. India has a lot of opportunities, but at the same time, there are issues staring it in the face. These issues must be addressed immediately, if the nation wishes to ride the approaching wave of success. Dr. Indu Shahani shared the following fortune cookie quote with the audience to signify the message to be left behind: “the world will accept best talent with open arms, no matter what”.

Shruti Thakral
Knowledge Initiatives Coordinator, Women In Business Club, ISB, Class of 2012

Green shoes

A lady dressed in formals steps into the room filled with bare minimum furniture - a chair and a desk. The lady behind the desk hands her 2 papers - one empty, and the other one saying "Green shoes". She is directed towards another room, this one filled with furniture - lots of chairs and tables scattered around, and lots of people. She was never too comfortable around too many people. She found a lonely little corner on a sofa at the far end. Some people are murmuring to each other, while some are perusing, and others writing frantically on their piece of paper. She settles into the couch, and takes a look around. Maybe, it wasn't a good idea. she feels old all of a sudden. She is clueless. She goes blank. She struggles. She fumbles. And then, she stumbles across an idea. As usual, she would have trouble expressing it. She was never good with prose. So she goes ahead and writes ....

I wake up each morning, take a shot of gourd juice.
Suit up my ego and vanity, and put on my green shoes.

I ride up the elevator, I've got nothing to lose.

But till I reach the top, I'd have a lot to choose.

My spirit's drunk on power, I'm running the rat-race.

Making a stack of green bills, never sure how long it stays.

Half the day passed by, the top of the roof slid by.

Yet I'm running, but who knows why.

It's time to go home, it's time to let the soul loose.

I'm finally at peace, it's time to take off my green shoes.

Disclaimer: Based on a true story

30-Oct-2010, 11:45 am, Taj Palace Hotel, Delhi, ISB Applications Round 1 Interview location