Women in India’s Mobility Scene are Driving the Conversation on Inclusivity

On International Women’s Day last year, Auto Futures discussed how the Indian automotive industry was finally beginning to recognise its gender disparity and do something about it. It was refreshing to see leading industry names take note of the problem and take action to make the industry more inclusive of women.

However, while one might be more understanding of the traditional automotive industry, you certainly wouldn’t expect gender gaps to be a problem in the mobility space. Born out of disruption and powered by cutting-edge technology, this is one of the most forward-looking industries out there. And while that might well be the case, from the looks of it, gender disparity is as real an issue in the mobility space as it is in the industry that birthed it.

Female Empowerment in Indian Mobility

In 2021, MG India took female empowerment to a new level by doing something that the auto industry hasn’t seen before. In a ground-breaking move for inclusivity, the company started a manufacturing facility with an all-women crew in Halol, Gujarat, completely breaking the bias that women are only capable of unchallenging administrative and desk jobs.

The newest company to set a similar example is India’s home-grown future mobility company, Ola.

CEO Bhavish Aggarwal made headlines in September last year when he announced that Ola Electric’s Futurefactory will be run entirely by women, making it the world’s largest women-only factory. Employing more than 10,000 women at full capacity, Ola has made significant investments to train and upskill all the women in core manufacturing skills.

“Enabling women with economic opportunities improves not just their lives, but those of their families and indeed the whole community. In fact, studies show that just providing women parity in the labour workforce can grow India’s GDP by 27%,” says Aggarwal in a blog post.

“But this requires active and conscious efforts from all of us, especially in manufacturing where participation remains the lowest at just 12%. For India to be the world’s manufacturing hub, we must prioritise upskilling and generating employment for our women workforce.”

While it is great to see some larger corporations beginning to take action with more inclusive and empowering workspaces for women, startups will prove the industry’s litmus test.

To get a deeper understanding of what life is like for a woman entrepreneur in this space, Auto Futures caught up with Prabhjot Kaur, co-founder and CEO of leading battery-swapping company Esmito, as well as Madhumita Agrawal, EV manufacturer Oben Electric’s co-founder and Chief Operating Officer.

The Winds of Change 

Kaur, for one, feels that the winds are starting to change for women in the industry – and her own career is a testament to those changes.

Prabhjot Kaur, Esmito’s CEO and co-founder

“It’s been a great journey, not only witnessing the shift of century-old prevailing internal combustion engine (ICE) products in the market to newer electric technologies, but also being a part of this development is a thrilling experience.

“Though this is true for anyone involved,” continues Kaur, “being a woman and making a space in the field which had been largely dominated by men leaves me especially thrilled. This is a changed era and technologies are smarter, full of opportunities, and nothing much to do with gender.

“I never felt I was not heard because I am a woman. When you have substance to your work, everyone listens. Yes, you might not have a very warm welcome to begin with, but once people know that you have a great command over your subject, everything falls in place. I do believe and see that your knowledge earns the respect you deserve,” she says.

Oben Electric’s co-founder and COO, Madhumita Agrawal

These thoughts are echoed by Agrawal too. With significant experience in the EV landscape, previously as in a tech consulting firm and now as an entrepreneur herself, she has been on both sides of the table.

“We can’t dismiss the challenges that exist. As a woman in a male-dominated, technology and hardware-related field, you are looked at with an inherent prejudice. That is something that I’ve faced personally. But what this does is that it pushes you to prepare more, and you handle that by being at the table, delivering and performing with your knowledge and experience.”

Agarwal gives a great example of the prejudice that often comes along in the life of a female entrepreneur, especially if she’s in a male-dominated space such as automotive manufacturing. As a co-founder, she often has to be an active part of the hiring process, where people often think of her as someone from HR, instead of the co-founder of an EV manufacturing company.

Breaking the Skills Bias

From what Agarwal said, it almost seems that despite the progress from the automotive to mobility worlds, this prejudice has been carried over. And while this might be a temporary roadblock, it does not prevent women from shining in their careers the same way it did before.

“We, as women, have to be updated and skill-wise at par with our male counterparts,” Agarwal explains.

Both Agarwal and Kaur are both very appreciative of female talent and agree that women employees distinctly display more dedication and apply a different perspective to problem-solving.

Kaur says: “Women are good at everything they do. As far as the working environment is concerned, mobility is as open and as safe an area to work for women as is any other domain. EVs are nothing but computers on wheels. It’s not the same old fashioned hardcore mechanical tasks as before, even in the traditional automotive industry. There are automations and transitions to controller-based integrations.

“All old and new entrepreneurs and industries also want a good mix and a balanced gender proportion, because a big percentage of intelligence needed in today’s world, especially in new creations and iteration in any field, be it finance, R&D, or business, comes from women. And, you know, for women, both sides of the brain are at work. It’s not muscles that are needed at work but great minds, so any woman reading this, just go for it, there’s a huge opportunity.”

One phenomenon that Agarwal highlights is that women are attracting more women into industries.

“Seeing more women entering into a particular space and sitting in decision-making roles in that space instils a certain sense of confidence – which is unbeatable. The main challenge is not to beat the stigma or the prejudice, it is to ensure that more women are out there in the space, showing their expertise, sitting in positions of power, which will, in turn, encourage other women to show interest in the space.”

The fact that Agarwal is regularly receiving queries from female students, who want to work in manufacturing and as equals to their male counterparts, is a clear sign that the winds of change are, indeed, blowing.

From 2021 to 2022, the difference in the landscape is incremental, but nevertheless, it is evident. The conversation on inclusivity is finally taking roots, and what is important to remember is the fact that each dent made carves a little more room for equality.