New Delhi: The number of women studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses have gone up across institutions, latest government data has revealed.
Minister of State in the Education Ministry, Subhas Sarkar, told Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that enrollment of women students in B.Tech programmes in Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has increased from eight percent in 2016 to 20 percent in 2021 — after IITs created supernumerary seats.
With the same development in National Institutes of Technology (NITs), the figure went up to 23 percent in 2021.
Supernumerary seats for girls were created in 2017 in order to take in more women students in technical fields, in institutions like IITs and NITs. According to data shared by ministry sources, the number of girl students in IITs went up from 995 in 2017 to 2,990 in 2021.
There are now more women STEM students in state, central and other universities. As per the 2019-20 All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) Report, the number of women students enrolled in STEM courses increased from 41.97 lakh in 2016-17 to 43.87 lakh in 2020-21.
Listing the reasons behind this, Sarkar highlighted the many government schemes that have boosted women’s involvement in technical education. “To promote female students in higher education and research, the University Grants Commission (UGC) provides a special scholarship scheme for girl students across the country – Post-Graduate Indira Gandhi Scholarship for the single girl child,” Sarkar said.
He further said the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) also gave 10,000 PRAGATI scholarships annually to economically weaker section girls who want a technical education.
“The scholarship is applicable to students pursuing polytechnic, engineering, pharmacy and architecture courses in institutions approved by the council,” Sarkar added.
He said the higher STEM enrollment makes women more “job ready” and also increases the pool of quality women candidates for professorship.
A World Bank report published earlier this year also said there were 43 percent women among the total STEM graduates in India. This figure is a lot better than that in developed nations. As per the report, the percentage of women STEM graduates in the United States is 34 percent, it is 31 percent in Canada, and 38 percent in the UK.
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