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Saajhi Samajh 10.0
Discussion on Women in STEM: Bridging the Gap
Working towards creating awareness of Child Safety in the Cyber Space
- 11 February 2023, Saturday : 11:00 am IST
मीटिंग ID : 833 6866 7187 | पासकोड: 228805
90 Mins of topical discussion
Understand the importance of Gender Equality and making STEM inclusive for women
Network, Interact & Share
Our Panelists
For this session, we have assembled a diverse panel of speakers composed of experts, activists and educators from the social and academic sector with backgrounds in ‘STEM’ related fields.
Dr. Madhav Chavan
Keynote Speaker
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Dr. Vanshree Singh
Director, Blood Bank and In-charge, St. John & First Aid Training
She is a doctor with post-graduation in Transfusion and Transplant Sciences from Bristol University. Working with the Indian Red Cross Society since 1997, she has advance training on Blood transfusion medicine (from ICMR), First Aid (from International Committee of Red Cross) and various accreditation certifications from the Ministry of Health, India. She has played an instrumental role in upgrading the IRCS NHQ Blood Bank (in 2010) and making it a ‘State-of-the-art model blood bank’ is known to be one of her achievements. Also, she has worked in collaboration with the NDMA for developing school-level First Aid protocols (prepared Modules & App of First Aid)
Purna Mukesh
Panelist
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Dr Subroto Das
Co-founder, Lifeline Foundation
Padma Shri Awardee
He is the winner of one of India’s highest civilian awards, Padma Shri for his exemplary work on Highway Trauma Care. He co-founded Lifeline Foundation along with his wife, Sushmita (after surviving a life-threatening accident in August, 1999 on one of India’s busiest highways), with the aim of reducing the 1,50,000+ annual highway deaths in India. He is the only Indian to be honoured with the Asian EMS Lifetime Achievement Award by the Asian EMS Council in 2015, whereas The Times of India calls Dr Das ‘the country’s best known EMS expert’.
Dr. Chayanika Shah
Panelist
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Dr Nidhi Harish Kewalramani
She is a medical graduate and an alumnus of Symbiosis University as well as BITS Pilani with a specialization in Hospital and Healthcare Management. She is a doctor with strong base in statistics and believes in data driven number methodology to the core extent of all strategic and management decision. Dr Nidhi holds an experience of almost 15 years in diversified healthcare fields like Hospitals, TPA, Healthcare BPO, Healthcare KPO, Healthcare LPO, and Healthcare Education Management. Presently, she is the chairperson for Tech Mahindra Foundation SMART Healthcare Academic Council and is heading the SMART Healthcare Academy for West region. She is a designated external expert on board of Faculty of Vocational (Medical) Studies for Parul University, Gujrat. Also, she is working as member of governing council for UNICEF MahaPeconet NGO platform. Madhav Chavan
Keynote Speaker
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Dr. Vanshree Singh
Director, Blood Bank and In-charge, St. John & First Aid Training
She is a doctor with post-graduation in Transfusion and Transplant Sciences from Bristol University. Working with the Indian Red Cross Society since 1997, she has advance training on Blood transfusion medicine (from ICMR), First Aid (from International Committee of Red Cross) and various accreditation certifications from the Ministry of Health, India. She has played an instrumental role in upgrading the IRCS NHQ Blood Bank (in 2010) and making it a ‘State-of-the-art model blood bank’ is known to be one of her achievements. Also, she has worked in collaboration with the NDMA for developing school-level First Aid protocols (prepared Modules & App of First Aid)
Purna Mukesh
Panelist
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Dr Subroto Das
Co-founder, Lifeline Foundation
Padma Shri Awardee
He is the winner of one of India’s highest civilian awards, Padma Shri for his exemplary work on Highway Trauma Care. He co-founded Lifeline Foundation along with his wife, Sushmita (after surviving a life-threatening accident in August, 1999 on one of India’s busiest highways), with the aim of reducing the 1,50,000+ annual highway deaths in India. He is the only Indian to be honoured with the Asian EMS Lifetime Achievement Award by the Asian EMS Council in 2015, whereas The Times of India calls Dr Das ‘the country’s best known EMS expert’.
Dr. Chayanika Shah
Panelist
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Dr Nidhi Harish Kewalramani
She is a medical graduate and an alumnus of Symbiosis University as well as BITS Pilani with a specialization in Hospital and Healthcare Management. She is a doctor with strong base in statistics and believes in data driven number methodology to the core extent of all strategic and management decision. Dr Nidhi holds an experience of almost 15 years in diversified healthcare fields like Hospitals, TPA, Healthcare BPO, Healthcare KPO, Healthcare LPO, and Healthcare Education Management. Presently, she is the chairperson for Tech Mahindra Foundation SMART Healthcare Academic Council and is heading the SMART Healthcare Academy for West region. She is a designated external expert on board of Faculty of Vocational (Medical) Studies for Parul University, Gujrat. Also, she is working as member of governing council for UNICEF MahaPeconet NGO platform.
Brajesh Kumar
Panelist
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Dr. Vanshree Singh
Director, Blood Bank and In-charge, St. John & First Aid Training
She is a doctor with post-graduation in Transfusion and Transplant Sciences from Bristol University. Working with the Indian Red Cross Society since 1997, she has advance training on Blood transfusion medicine (from ICMR), First Aid (from International Committee of Red Cross) and various accreditation certifications from the Ministry of Health, India. She has played an instrumental role in upgrading the IRCS NHQ Blood Bank (in 2010) and making it a ‘State-of-the-art model blood bank’ is known to be one of her achievements. Also, she has worked in collaboration with the NDMA for developing school-level First Aid protocols (prepared Modules & App of First Aid)
Brajesh Kumar
Panelist
Know More
Dr. Vanshree Singh
Director, Blood Bank and In-charge, St. John & First Aid Training
She is a doctor with post-graduation in Transfusion and Transplant Sciences from Bristol University. Working with the Indian Red Cross Society since 1997, she has advance training on Blood transfusion medicine (from ICMR), First Aid (from International Committee of Red Cross) and various accreditation certifications from the Ministry of Health, India. She has played an instrumental role in upgrading the IRCS NHQ Blood Bank (in 2010) and making it a ‘State-of-the-art model blood bank’ is known to be one of her achievements. Also, she has worked in collaboration with the NDMA for developing school-level First Aid protocols (prepared Modules & App of First Aid)
Vasudha Narasimhan
Panelist
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Dr Nidhi Harish Kewalramani
She is a medical graduate and an alumnus of Symbiosis University as well as BITS Pilani with a specialization in Hospital and Healthcare Management. She is a doctor with strong base in statistics and believes in data driven number methodology to the core extent of all strategic and management decision. Dr Nidhi holds an experience of almost 15 years in diversified healthcare fields like Hospitals, TPA, Healthcare BPO, Healthcare KPO, Healthcare LPO, and Healthcare Education Management. Presently, she is the chairperson for Tech Mahindra Foundation SMART Healthcare Academic Council and is heading the SMART Healthcare Academy for West region. She is a designated external expert on board of Faculty of Vocational (Medical) Studies for Parul University, Gujrat. Also, she is working as member of governing council for UNICEF MahaPeconet NGO platform.
Asif Akhtar
Moderator
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Dr Nidhi Harish Kewalramani
She is a medical graduate and an alumnus of Symbiosis University as well as BITS Pilani with a specialization in Hospital and Healthcare Management. She is a doctor with strong base in statistics and believes in data driven number methodology to the core extent of all strategic and management decision. Dr Nidhi holds an experience of almost 15 years in diversified healthcare fields like Hospitals, TPA, Healthcare BPO, Healthcare KPO, Healthcare LPO, and Healthcare Education Management. Presently, she is the chairperson for Tech Mahindra Foundation SMART Healthcare Academic Council and is heading the SMART Healthcare Academy for West region. She is a designated external expert on board of Faculty of Vocational (Medical) Studies for Parul University, Gujrat. Also, she is working as member of governing council for UNICEF MahaPeconet NGO platform.About Saajhi Samajh 10
Introduction
International Day of Women and Girls in Science is an annual day to recognise full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, and to further achieve gender equality and empowerment in this space. This is declared by the United Nations General Assembly, and is a global celebration that falls on 11th February. This year marks the 8th year for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assembly, and the aim is to bridge between the International Community and women in science through linking their knowledge and expertise and its applications in a systematic, critical way for the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development, with focus on science and gender equality. The day will recognise the role of women and girls in science as beneficiaries and change agents in view of accelerating progress towards the achievement of key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Science and gender equality are both vital for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Over the past decades, considerable efforts have been made in inspiring and engaging women and girls in science. However, there still exists a significant gap at all levels of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The Indian research and development workforce is made of only 15 per cent of women, as compared to the global average of 30 per cent, according to the National Task Force on women in science report, 2019. This data highlights the under-representation and disparity of women in STEM because when it comes to enrolment– there is a growth of almost 54,000 in the number of women in STEM and a decline of about 59,000 in the number of men enrolled in STEM studies between 2017-18 and 2019-20, as per All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report, which compiles enrolment in undergraduate, Masters, and PhD-level programmes. This reflects that women are choosing STEM courses, but are not pursuing careers in it. This divergence in professional choices may be a result of deep-rooted social stigma, discrimination, biases, social norms, and expectations that influence the quality of education they receive and the subjects they study.
Tech Mahindra Foundation (TMF), the CSR arm of Tech Mahindra Limited, resonates with this understanding. The Foundation is committed to creating a cadre of skilled workforce by empowering the youth in knowledge, skills, and attitude domains aiming for enhanced employability. The Foundation also works on a mandate of ensuring 50% of its beneficiaries are women so to ensure gender equality and empowerment. Through SMART Skills for Market Training), its flagship programme in Employability, the Foundation has trained 1,35,455 youth since 2012-12 and progressively expanded to provide skill development training to youth across 11 different cities in India. The Foundation has been implementing the SMART program by establishing a network of Centres and Academies – both directly and through other partner implementing agencies.
Saajhi Samajh – The Tenth Edition
The tenth edition will therefore deliberate and discuss the importance of gender equality and participation of women in STEM. A diverse panel of speakers comprising of women in science, youth, experts, and professionals will come together in dialogues and discussion for identifying conditions and tools to put Science, Technology, and Innovation at the heart of sustainable development programs, international relations, and public and private sectors strategies and implementation plans.
In the past, The Foundation has hosted nine events with a focus on Teacher Development, Social Emotional Learning, Including Disability in Workspaces, Importance of Eye Health and First Aid in Children, and has brought together an array of experts and specialists. These events, titled “Saajhi Samajh” (or Shared Understanding), is the Foundation’s attempt towards creating a broader platform to enable advocacy through discourse and discussion on issues related and relevant to the development of teacher training and education in India. The previous edition of Saajhi Samajh, held in November, 2022 was a resounding success, a detailed report of which is available here. The tenth edition of Saajhi Samajh – to be held on 11th February 2023 – will be conducted as a virtual Panel Discussion to be hosted online by Tech Mahindra Foundation.
Glimpses of Previous Saajhi Samajh
Previous Saajhi Samajh