“If all the educated women of India were working, our GDP would go up by a minimum of 25 percent!” Rani recalls from a recent report she had read. “Tamil Nadu has one of the highest percent of women enrolled in higher education. Nearly 50 percent enrolled in tertiary education are women,” adds Rajani. Why is this not being reflected in our GDP?
The dynamic duo, Rajani Seshadri and Rani Muralidharan launched indePenn Connections in December 2019 with a vision to raise the GDP of India through gender parity. Rajani climbed the ladders of TCS, built profitable businesses in Europe and currently chairs IWN (Indian Women Network) while Rani is a charted accountant turned entrepreneur who worked majorly in the male-dominated manufacturing sector in Trichy. The friends of 10 years (though in different industries) started to notice that as years went by and their careers progressed, the number of female colleagues around them began to diminish. “Most women quit at middle management,” observes Rajani, “It could be because of marriage, a difficult pregnancy, childcare or even eldercare. We understood that because we experienced those circumstances as well.” The duo sat down with Gowri Kailasam, who invested in the young company with a shared passion for the cause and asked themselves two questions—What do women…
