Harshada Giri: Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Each year, the Cadence Scholarship Program gives scholars a platform to fulfill their dreams and goals without letting their financial instability impede their progress.

Subsequent to my previous blog about the Cadence Scholarship Program, I bring to you another inspiring story featuring one of our students — Harshada Giri.

Harshada is one of the many success stories that prove the significance of this program and its profound impact on the betterment of society.

Coming from a marginalized family, Harshada had many things to worry about besides her engineering entrance exam scores. A great score would not guarantee her a place in college unless she could also secure the funds to attend.

Living in a tiny rented house, her father, working as a small-time carpenter, and her mother, a factory worker, struggled to run the household on their incomes. Her elder sister could not complete her education because of the family’s financial situation, and the family had to sell what they could in order to fund her brother's engineering course. This left the family with no funds left to support Harshada’s pursuit of a degree in engineering.

Fortunately, through a co-worker of Harshada’s mother, the family discovered the Cadence Scholarship Program. The family was hopeful that Harshada had a good chance of receiving the scholarship.

After scoring very high in the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test and clearing multiple rounds of the selection process for the Cadence Scholarship Program, Harshada was granted a full scholarship to pursue computer engineering from MKSSS's Cummins College of Engineering for Women, Pune. Additionally, she was given a laptop to aid her studies.

As part of the mentorship program, which is an integral part of the Cadence Scholarship Program, Mr. Deep Mehta from Cadence connected with Harshada as her mentor. Deep guided Harshada and influenced some of the most important decisions in her academics and career. During regular meetings, Harshada and Deep addressed the issues and challenges related to time management, better communication skills, and much more.

Studying at a Marathi-medium school, Harshada struggled during the initial days of her college, as the course was taught in English. However, with her hard work and support from Cadence and Joining Hands, the NGO partner, she maintained a strong overall grade point average.

Currently in the final year of her course, Harshada has secured a job at Bajaj Finserv as a software developer with a generous annual package. She will be joining the company in July 2023. Harshada is now looking forward to a future with great possibilities and a successful career.

In her own words, “The Cadence Scholarship Program is responsible for whatever I have achieved today. Besides the scholarship, I was also provided with a laptop which immensely helped me in my studies. My mentor, Mr. Deep Mehta, told me about the importance of job experience before opting for further studies in Masters…I want to secure myself financially first and determine where my interest lies. Eventually, I would like to give back to society, for I too want to help people like I was helped.”

Cadence Scholarship Program

The Cadence Scholarship Program was introduced six years ago in India, and it aims at addressing the issue of retaining students from underprivileged backgrounds in the academic cycle through funding and support to undertake graduation and professional courses. Over the years, it has benefited more than 400 students across Delhi/NCR, Bangalore, Pune, and Ahmedabad. More than 50% of the beneficiaries in the program are girls.

The execution and administration of the program is managed by our NGO partners Concern India Foundation (CIF) and Joining Hands. The students are selected through a rigorous process of due diligence carried out by Joining Hands. Concern India Foundation oversees the student’s performance throughout their coursework. Cadence employees in each of these locations volunteer as mentors to help them with their studies, develop their personalities and improve their communication and employability skills.