- Working as a third-generation entrepreneur in her family-owned manufacturing unit Vaibhavi Wankawala strives towards debunking myths and presumptions about the manufacturing sector
- She voices support for a complete change in the hiring and training process of women for gender inclusivity in manufacturing
Vaibhavi Wankawala, a Commerce graduate and is at the forefront of her family’s foundry business where she has continued to prove her mettle even during the darkest hours. She is a part of Jay Metal Tech, manufacturers and suppliers of Industrial valves and castings. Their vast range includes products like propeller shaft casting, pump casting, railway pin insulator and sluice valve. Vabhavi looks forward to a better tomorrow in manufacturing engineered by its employees and stakeholders. She dreams of a future where ”Women in the manufacturing sector serve as ambassadors.”
Graph of Women Rising up in Manufacturing
Vaibhavi appreciates the cumulative efforts geared towards bridging the gender gap in manufacturing.“ We are gradually shifting from a predominately male society to a gender-neutral one. But this change is still very slow”, feels Vaibhavi. She believes that a radical overhaul in the process of recruiting women employees, retaining and advancing them in the industry is the first step towards a non-biased manufacturing industry. The companies need to change their perspectives and deal with the issue on an individual level.
“Women working in the service industry has already witnessed an increase, hopefully, will see the graph increase in manufacturing too.” Vaibhavi is iron-willed to promote equal workplace opportunities for women in manufacturing, a culmination of her struggles through many storms.
Misleading Assumptions & Manufacturing Sector
Vaibhavi has been a part of the foundry business from an early age. Her perseverance has made Vaibhavi pretty well-versed with the adversities and challenges plaguing the industry. She says that the most important perception, when it comes to the manufacturing sector, is hard manual labour. However, she refuses to be bogged down by assumptions that are never fact-based.
The other inaccurate assumptions she has come across are the long hours and despairing job scenario of manufacturing in India. She observes that functioning under a lady boss is still is difficult for certain male subordinates working at managerial levels.” From her own experiences, she narrates how this hostility often turns things unnecessarily tricky. “Getting your work done and achieving targets becomes hard.”
She also shows concern towards the persistent gender pay gap, a big blow to women candidates aspiring to join manufacturing. But Vaibhavi feels content that women don’t really mind working odd shifts because they want to be on par with men.
Awareness among women is Imperative to Succeed in Manufacturing
Vaibhavi is very keen on working with women employees, and in her own company, she has a plethora of opportunities for women to take charge and excel even in challenging environments. Pleasantly surprised by an article that Vabhavi recently read, she opines, “Mining giant, Vedanta’s central control room at its aluminium plant in Lanjigarh is operated entirely by a team of women. They focus on operations and optimising resources, not easy work in a business seen largely as a man’s profession. I am sure that there are many such examples.”She adds that it is significant to showcase these examples and highlight the experiences of women in this field.
Vaibhavi feels that awareness among women about job opportunities in manufacturing and heavy industries is limited. They should understand that the manufacturing sector companies do not compromise on the safety and health of their employees. Although a lot of work needs to be done, Vaibhavi is proud to acknowledge the little achievements initiated by her that are already shrinking gender disparities.
Acknowledging the efforts of the central government into training women through a network of organisations, Women Industrial Training institutes, National Vocational Training Institutes and Regional Vocational Training Institutes, Vaibhavi still thinks that initiatives at the individual level need to be more pronounced.
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