Background

Career guidance is considered more of a privilege than an essential element of education. For several girls from less fortunate backgrounds, the choice between a college education and job prospects has little to do with a lack of aspiration and more with a lack of guidance and contacts. They represent a first-generation group of learners who come from families with very limited knowledge of career opportunities, which makes it quite challenging for them to decide on subjects of study, scholarships, skills, and how to make the right transition from schooling to employment.

Realising this gap, The Rung Project was conceived to make career planning more accessible, personalised, and community-oriented. Instead of being restricted to psychometric tests alone, the program began by developing a strengths-based assessment tool to help the girls reflect on their interests and ambitions in real-life situations. This was the starting point for counselling sessions done together with professional counsellors. In the course of time, the program diversified its scope from counselling sessions to mentoring, volunteer training, fundraising for educational opportunities, and hosting a podcast featuring successful women in different professions. All these measures were aimed at providing an environment in which girls could understand their strengths and use them in pursuing further opportunities.