CoachLab student receives top honours for outstanding achievements

Verusha Aboo, a student in the 2006 CoachLab™ class.

Verusha Aboo, one of the participants in the 2006 CoachLab™, has been selected to participate in the IBM Women in Technology and Leadership Programme and the Golden Key International Honour Society. Both these honours are awarded to outstanding achievers and offer unique opportunities for career development and mentorship.

Currently studying BCom Informatics, Verusha is part of the Cisco Systems Inc sponsored group of the CoachLab™ programme. She says that participating in the IBM programme is especially attractive because of the opportunity it provides to advance to her leadership skills. "Our generation are the future leaders and as a woman involved in IT, this is really an important opportunity", she adds.

The IBM programme, which will be officially launched on 5 August, aims to promote the participation of women in IT worldwide and elevate the presence of women in science and leadership by creating opportunities for top achieving young women to get ahead.

Debbie van Zyl, Skills Executive at IBM South Africa, says that IBM is looking forward to working with Verusha and her fellow students over the forthcoming months. "Our aim is to work with University female students to show them the possibilities of becoming technical leaders. The IT industry across South Africa suffers from a lack of female talent and here at IBM, we hope to encourage the students to see technical roles as not just being an area where males traditionally dominate but rather as a great space for them to grow and make a mark.

"We will show them the possibilities of various roles within our company and guide them in leadership principles underpinned with tools around mentorship and coaching.

The results of the 2006 South African Women in Corporate Leadership Census indicate that the increased opportunities in South Africa to appoint female candidates in leadership positions are not well utilised. Of the 343 companies measured, only seven had women as CEOs, while 15 had women as Board Chairs.

Verusha agrees that there is lack of women in leadership positions in the IT sector. "I would definitely say that there is a shortage of female leaders in IT. What's great about the IBM programme is that whoever is selected to participate also gets to mentor other young women, so the impact spreads further than just the few people that get chosen", she says.

Verusha is similary excited about her election to the Golden Key International Honour Society. Only the top 15% of students in second year and higher are selected for the Society, which has 350 chapters distributed across colleges and universities in seven countries. Members are connected to exclusive career opportunities and assistance through Golden Key's partnerships with major corporations and graduate programmes, and are awarded over US$400 000 annually through 17 different scholarship and award programmes.

About 20 000 of the Society's 1.3 million members are South African. Well-known honorary members include Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Judge Erwin Cameron. Verusha says that the recognition for her academic achievements has been inspiring. "I am so thrilled to be a part of both these initiatives, and I am really looking forward to the opportunity to improve my leadership skills."

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