A recent survey suggests that about 36.9 per cent of women are option for digital courses than men. However on the other hand, 82 per cent men are going in for executive education whereas only 18 per cent opt for it.
The survey was conducted by Emeritus Institute of Management. Sharing the information, executive director of the institute, Ashwin Damera says that most women who opt for digital courses are from consulting, e-commerce, IT products, IT services and media industries.
'Digital marketing, digital marketplaces and digital strategies for business are the most popular digital courses opted by women,' he states.
He says that 86 per cent women complete these courses compared to 82 per cent men.
'As per the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report 2016, more deliberate efforts will be needed to ensure that the full talent pool of women is educated, recruited and promoted, over time creating novel competitive advantages and a virtuous cycle around a company’s ability to address skills shortages by targeting female talent,' he added.
There are three reasons for more women compared to men opting for digital courses:
* More women are in the middle management in companies. Courses like strategy and leadership are for more senior leaders and the percentage of women at these levels is less, hence the participation of women in such courses is less.
* Industries that have more women in the workplace include e-commerce, media, IT and consulting. All these face digital disruption more than, say, manufacturing, logistics, etc.
* Digital jobs are in high demand. Therefore, women are willing to take time from their work-life balance to upskill and enhance their careers. Hence there is a great ROI for them with respect to the investment of their time and money.
Ashwin says that more women enrolling in digital courses will result in narrowing the gender gap with equally skilled men and women in the middle management levels.
