Shweta Ratanpura, an outstanding young woman from India, is not only a bronze Medallist in Graphic Design Technology at WorldSkills Kazan 2019, and also the first Indian woman to bring back a WorldSkills medal. She has broken the traditional constraints of Indian society on women’s career choices, and shoulders the responsibility of inspiring young people across Asia and around the world, especially women, to courageously choose skill-based careers as a path to personal development.

Going against the current: A design journey that defied doubt

In India, success is often restricted to a handful of careers, such as medicine or engineering, while art and design are often not seen as “decent work.” Shweta’s choice to enter the design field was often questioned and undermined by many around her.

“When people heard I wanted to study design they would come up to my parents and say, ‘What happened to Shweta? We thought she was good at studies. Why is she doing this?’,” explains Shweta with a smirk, as she recalls what happened back then. Yet it was her passion and determination that carried her through the pressure, leading her to earn a place in the Graphic Design program at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

The real turning point in her life came when she originally heard of WorldSkills through a peer. She applied to compete at the WorldSkills India national skills competition and progressed in the intense domestic competition to be selected to represent India at the 45th WorldSkills Competition. Training was very intensive for around 8 to 9 hours a day, 6 days a week, and even on the one free day, she would be studying on her own to gain some advantage. “In college, we were taught the basics of how to go about, but what I learned there is what industry needs and how we need to deliver it,” she recalls. “The rigorous training was the equivalent of working in the field for three years, and I think it’s made me very, very confident.”

It was this experience that earned her a bronze medal in Kazan, marking a historic breakthrough for India and gaining her the respect from the very same people who had looked down upon her choice. “At that moment, I realized that skills are not a second-rate option, but a path that can lead to excellence just as well.”

Currently serving as a Product Designer at Microsoft, Shweta earned her Master’s degree in Interaction Design from IDC, IIT Bombay and her Bachelor’s from NID Ahmedabad. Before Microsoft, She also had the opportunity to work with Samsung and Google, shaping her experience across diverse design contexts. Faced with the impact of AI technology on the design industry, she does not feel threatened. Instead, she sees it as an opportunity, “AI can create logos based on certain inputs that you give. And this is obviously going to get better in the future. So, I want to work on this software and make it work better. This specialization in Interaction Design helps me with that in a way so that I can combine my prior knowledge.”

Mission of the Global Dream Ambassador: Building a community of skilled youth in Asia

Becoming a Global Dream Ambassador for the WorldSkills Shanghai means a broader platform and greater responsibility for Shweta. She clearly recognizes that this identity has granted her unprecedented influence, which she longs to use “to change the lives of young people through skills.”

She shares an experience that moves her. She delivered a speech at the Opening Ceremony of the WorldSkills Lyon last year, which she had not anticipated would have much impact. But later, another WorldSkills Champion specifically sought her out and said that the speech was the reason for applying to the Champions Trust. This experience made her deeply aware of the power of role models and the weight of words, further strengthening her sense of mission as an Ambassador.

After becoming a Global Dream Ambassador for the WorldSkills Shanghai, Shweta has set more ambitious goals. She would like to promote the establishment of an institutionalized alumni platform for Asian WorldSkills Champions, so that skills talents across the region can collaborate, train others, or exchange knowledge at a professional level. “In WorldSkills, interacting with other young people from different countries and cultures, who have faced similar experiences, makes me feel recognized as part of a community, united despite our differences.” She believes that the spirit lived before and during the Competition should live on, sustained through a long-term collaborative community.

But above all, Shweta hopes to advocate for young people, particularly girls, to consider skill-based careers as a path to personal fulfilment and professional success. “In India, girls still face significant resistance when choosing unconventional careers,” she says. “I hope through my work as a Global Dream Ambassador and a WorldSkills Champions Trust representative, when a young girl chooses to pick an unconventional career path, she gets all the encouragement and support she deserves.” She firmly believes that skill education is an important pathway to achieving gender equality, and that the power of role models can ignite countless young minds.

Her message to WorldSkills Shanghai: Inspiring more students to learn skills

For WorldSkills Shanghai, she hopes the Competition will become the most successful event in its history. She looks forward to seeing it not only influence China, but also inspire more young people around the world to pursue skills, participate with courage, and shape the future with their own hands.

To the young skilled talents worldwide who are about to step onto the WorldSkills Shanghai stage, Shweta sincerely shares her message, “Dear Competitors, you are about to experience one of the most wonderful and unforgettable moments in your lives. Do your best and enjoy it! Good luck to you!”

She knows that the moment she stood under the spotlight was the result of countless days and nights of sweat and perseverance. The significance of the Competition lies not only in the medals, but also in proving to the world that skills can bring dignity, passion can drive innovation, and individuals can create extraordinary value.

Looking back on her journey, Shweta says with deep emotion, “Skills have allowed me to stand here today, speaking before an international audience, young people, decision-makers, and educators.” Today, she is not only a designer, but also a representative of the skills dreams of millions of young people. With skills as her brush and the world as her canvas, she is painting the glory of a new generation of craftspeople.