Gender disparity in Education sector

Published on 24 Jan 2025

India has come a long way in ensuring Gender parity in School Education. The female enrolment in higher education programmes had increased to 49% of total enrolments in 2020-21 compared to 45% in 2019-20 as per AISHE report 2021. But the Gender Gap is still evident within STEM fields. Of the 36,86,291 students enrolled in UG, PG, MPhil, and PhD engineering programs, 71% were male and only 29% were female.

Importance of Gender Equality in STEM

• Reduces the Gender Wage Gap: Better Gender Parity in STEM will lead to the induction of women in high-paying jobs and opportunities for innovation and achievement offered by the STEM sector.  

• Example: Men in India capture 82% of labour income while women get only 18%.

• Contribution to GDP: STEM skills are in high demand in the economy. Increased Representation of women in these fields can facilitate rapid GDP growth.

• Example: Women workforce in design of fabs can trigger growth in semiconductor manufacturing.

• Role Models and Inspiration: Visible and successful women in STEM fields can inspire and motivate other girls and women to pursue these careers.

• Example: Kalpana Chawla’s career in Aeronautics. 

• Ensures Diversity: Diversity is crucial for innovation and problem-solving. Exclusion of women and other underrepresented groups from STEM fields limits the diversity of perspectives and experiences needed to solve complex problems.

Government Schemes and Initiatives for Gender Parity

• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP): The programme aims to advance gender equality and the value of educating girls.

• Vigyan Jyoti Scheme: It is a project that will level the playing field for deserving high school girls who want to major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in college.

• GATI Scheme: A thorough Charter and a framework for measuring gender equality in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) will be developed by the Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI).

• The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) POWER: The SERB-POWER programme would reduce gender disparities in the funding of science and technology programmes at Indian academic institutions and R&D labs.

• WEST Initiative: In 2022, a new I-STEM (Indian Science Technology and Engineering Facilities Map) project called "Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WEST)" was introduced.

• BioCARe Initiative: The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) also launched the Biotechnology Career Advancement and Re-orientation Programme (BioCARe) as a move towards encouraging female scientists to pursue biotechnology research.

Thus, India is moving towards gender parity in education, with both the government and the society understanding the relevance of quality education to women, so as to widen the scope of female development in India.

Tags:
Social Justice

Keywords:
Gender disparity in Education sector education gender gap STEM female enrolment Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Vigyan Jyoti GATI Scheme WEST initiative

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 2

Topics:
Social Justice