Ashraf Engineer
November 2, 2024
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Hello and welcome to All Indians Matter. I am Ashraf Engineer
Much has been said about the potential of STEM – or science, technology, engineering and mathematics – in India. Yet, there’s a reality that’s a drag on that potential – the underrepresentation of women in the field. Like in virtually every sphere of life, women find themselves in a disadvantaged position. With technology becoming all pervasive, STEM education is a must not just for growth and social progress but also the ability to live a normal life. And that’s why equity in access and participation in STEM for women is key to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For us to be able to achieve the key sustainable development goal of ensuring equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all, we simply have to achieve gender equality and empowerment for all women. That, however, is a distant dream in STEM sectors as of now. But imagine if our research and scientific institutions, from the Indian Institutes of Technology to the Indian Space Research Organisation, could tap in to the potential and brilliance of women. That would be real progress and would go a long way in propelling India towards the future it deserves.
SIGNATURE TUNE
The overall STEM workforce of women in India is estimated at 27% of the total, way behind the global average of 30% and far below the aspired-to 50%. In science in India, women make up for 28%, with variations across sub-fields like physics at 13% and biology at 34%. In technology, it’s about 21% with engineering at 15% and information technology at 28%. In mathematics, it’s 18%. All of these numbers indicate significant underrepresentation. There is a clear gender gap in STEM in India, and even more so in leadership positions.
It’s an old story. Women usually have no choice when it comes to domestic and care burdens, and they face prejudice, stereotyping and other systemic barriers.
India does have a significant number of women graduates, but we lose them somewhere along the way, before they can make a larger impact in STEM.
This situation worsened during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Many women dropped out of employment due to lack of support and flexibility. While India Inc is trying to rework policies and processes to ensure women are retained and that they rise through the ranks, often they fall short. There is a clear scarcity of flexible work arrangements, childcare facilities and safe spaces. This is compounded by family dynamics, which forces women to exit traditional employment.
It’s a complex societal tale of expectations, family pressures and limited resources. So, the path to an inclusive STEM ecosystem will involve shattering stereotypes and weeding out deep-rooted social prejudices.
Many blame the low representation of women in STEM to three factors: lack of awareness, funding and bias.
So, the first line of offence for gender diversity should be educational institutions and research bodies. While there are numerous scholarships in place, accessibility, affordability and disbursement, especially in rural areas, remain concerns.
It’s not as if the potential of Indian women in STEM is untested. For example, botanist Janaki Ammal developed sugarcane hybrids as far back as the 1930s and Tessy Thomas led the first test launch of the Agni 4 missile in 2011. Yet, only 13.5% of STEM faculty members in 98 universities and institutions across the country are women, found a study by BiasWatchIndia, which tracks women’s representation in science.
This percentage further decreased in top institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology or IITs, the Indian Institute of Science or IISc and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research or TIFR.
The study found that women are also overlooked at STEM conferences, and there is high attrition as their careers progress.
The researchers said that Increasing women’s representation in science requires “clearly earmarked resources and, importantly, the will and a strong commitment to equity from the leadership of Indian science agencies and universities/institutions”.
The study found that women’s representation was lowest in the engineering faculties at 9.2%, while the highest representation was in the biology faculties at 25.5%. The study said this is because biology is considered a ‘soft science’ as compared to engineering, computer science or chemistry.
It’s worth talking about the trend of attrition among women too. A survey of 45 institutes with 495 women faculty members showed that while 46.3% of the women were in the early stages of their careers, which means less than seven years of experience, only 27.5% were in their mid-career stage, that is 7 to 14 years of academic experience. Just over 26% were senior professors with over 15 years of experience.
Broadly speaking, this representation has not changed over the past decade and it points again to the insurmountable barriers women face as their careers progress.
The underrepresentation of women in STEM is a global phenomenon. A 2020 report by the World Bank found that even though graduation rates are higher among women than men, women are less likely to undertake STEM studies, particularly engineering, information and communication technology, and physics. Furthermore, women who do study STEM fields are less likely to take up STEM careers and those who do take up such careers exit earlier than men. Women in STEM fields also publish less and are likely to be underpaid.
In India, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education by the Ministry of Education, the number of women graduates rose from 38.4% in 2014-15 to 42.6% in 2021-22. Simply put, India has the highest number of women STEM graduates in the world.
Yet, the gender gap in the field is staggering.
There are several policies in place that seek to address this problem. The Science, Technology and Innovation, or STI, Policy (2013) promotes gender parity in STI activities. The Department of Science and Technology has different programmes under the Women in Science and Engineering – KIRAN or WISE-KIRAN programme. These include the Women Scientist Scheme to encourage women to return to the workforce after career breaks and the Consolidation of University Research through Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities or CURIE programme for the creation of infrastructure and research facilities for women.
The Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions, or GATI, scheme aims to understand gender inequality and introduce gender-sensitive approaches in institutions. The Vigyan Jyoti scheme encourages high school girl students to opt for STEM and focuses on rural India.
IITs have raised female enrollment through additional seats and the All India Council for Technical Education has the Pragati Scholarship and the TechSaksham Programme, which enhances women’s employability.
Many of these efforts have borne fruit but the overall impact leaves much to be desired.
Closing the gender gap in STEM in India is about empowering women, dismantling barriers and addressing systemic issues. Therefore, dialogue about existing notions of marriage and women’s careers are crucial. Community engagement programmes can challenge ingrained biases and give a leg up to girls at an early age. Bridging the digital divide, local language support in STEM education and scholarships specifically for rural girls are needed too.
Awareness about scholarships, schemes and grants is crucial. Dedicated funding avenues for women-led scientific startups, mentorship and networking opportunities, and connecting girls with women leaders in STEM will be invaluable and inspirational.
The thing is policy intervention will never be enough. Fighting cultural biases and actively working towards ensuring a fair chance to women in STEM is the only way to enrich our scientific landscape.
Thank you all for listening. Please visit allindiansmatter.in for more columns and audio podcasts. You can follow me on Twitter at @AshrafEngineer and @AllIndiansCount. Search for the All Indians Matter page on Facebook. On Instagram, the handle is @AllIndiansMatter. Email me at editor@allindiansmatter.in. Catch you again soon.
