WOMEN IN STEM – SCI & TECH

News: More girls join STEM courses in India than in U.S., U.K., says PM

 

What's in the news?

       Prime Minister Narendra Modi said enrolment of girls in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in India is at 43% today, more than in countries such as the U.S., the U.K. and Germany.

       He also pitched for unicorns in self-help groups for women.

 

Key takeaways:

       Number of women compared with men is increasing in the country and the number of girls studying up to high school and beyond has tripled over the past nine to 10 years.

 

Backdrop of Representation of Women in STEM:

       Increase in women participation in R&D projects from 13% in 2000-01 to 28%.

       The number of women principal investigators in R&D had risen more than four times from 232 in 2000-01 to 941 in 2016-17.

       The percentage of women among researchers went from 13.9% in 2015 to 18.7% in 2018.

       The increase in women’s participation, especially in research, is due to a combination of government programmes and natural progression.

       Results of the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019 showed a 53% and 55% participation of women in science education at the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels respectively.

       The Department of Science and Technology supported the Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) project, based on the UK’s Athena Swan Charter, was introduced.

       In the first phase of GATI, 30 educational and research institutes have been selected by DST, with a focus on women’s participation in leadership roles, faculty, and the numbers of women students and researchers.

 

Causes for lack of representation:

1. Stereotypes:

       The paucity of women in STEM is not merely due to skill inadequacy, but also a result of assigned stereotypical gender roles.

       It is still considered okay to judge the parental or life-partner status of a woman scientist while deciding to hire her or give her a leadership position, overlooking her merit.

2. Patriarchal and Societal Causes:

       There are patriarchal attitudes in hiring practices or awarding fellowships and grants etc.

       Matters related to marriage and childbirth, responsibility related to running of households and elder care further hinder the representation of women in these ‘non-conventional’ fields.

3. Lack of Role Models:

       Lack of women leaders and women role models may be preventing more women from entering these fields.

4. Absence of Supportive Institutional Structure:

       Women leave the workforce, due to the absence of supportive institutional structures during pregnancy, safety issues in fieldwork and workplace.

5. Less women specific science institutes:

       Only 11% of colleges in India are exclusively for women, majority of which offer arts and commerce rather than science.

6. Economic factors:

       This is another major constraint for women in pursuing science.

       Even for families with greater resources, economic considerations affect the pursuit of a science degree as a science which is generally more expensive than an arts or a commerce degree.

7. Considered as Burden:

       Families expect daughters to marry and assume obligations to their husband’s family.

       Many families think that a daughter’s education would primarily benefit her in-laws rather than her natal family. Such families traditionally view boy's education differently from girls.

 

Government initiatives:

1. Vigyan Jyoti Programme:

       It was launched to address the underrepresentation of women in different fields of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in the country.

       Initially, it was introduced at the school level wherein meritorious girl students of Class 9-12 were being encouraged to pursue higher education and career in the STEM field.

       Recently, the programme was extended to 100 districts in its 2nd phase.

2. KIRAN scheme:

       It was launched in 2014-15 to provide opportunities for women scientists in moving up the academic and administrative ladder.

       The Department of Science & Technology has also additionally established Artificial Intelligence (AI) labs in women universities with the goal to foster AI innovations and to prepare skilled manpower for AI-based jobs in future.

3. WISTEMM Program:

       Under the Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM (WISTEMM) program, women scientists can work in research labs in the US.

4. GATI Program:

       The Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) program was launched to develop a comprehensive charter and a framework for assessing gender equality in STEM.

5. Women Scientist Scheme:

       The Women Scientist Scheme aims to provide opportunities to women scientists and technologists who desire to return to mainstream science after a break in career due to social responsibilities.

6. CURIE:

       Consolidation of university research for innovation and excellence in women universities (CURIE): KIRAN is involved in taking proactive measures through the component - CURIE, to develop state-of-the-art infrastructure in women universities to attract, train and retain promising girl students in S&T domains.

7. Women technology parks:

       Women technology parks (WTPs) act as a single window hub for convergence of diversified technologies, leading to socio-economic development of women through capacity building and adoption of location-specific technologies.

8. Training and capacity building:

       Several training programmes specifically for capacity building of women scientists working in various sectors covering multifarious themes are conducted in partnership with premier institutions including the National Programme for Training of Women Scientists and Technologists in the Government that provided an opportunity to over 1000 women scientists to upgrade their knowledge base and skills.

 

Solutions to increase Women participation in STEM:

1. Holistic approach:

       Getting more girls and women into STEM education and careers requires holistic and integrated responses that reach across various sectors.

       Society has to understand that women are an important human resource and can play an important role in economic growth.

2. Private participation:

       Companies can invest in building female talent in a multitude of ways, some of which include providing more internship opportunities for women, giving STEM scholarships to meritorious yet economically backward girls, and focusing on retaining women employees in the workforce to maintain better gender ratios.

3. Spread awareness:

       Awareness needs to be spread among parents that pursuing science for girls is not as difficult as it is presumed.

       With family support and encouragement, girls can be high achievers in science.

4. Mentoring:

       Along with family support, having teachers who mentor and encourage girls in STEM subjects can have more impact.

       Mentorship programmes for girls at secondary and senior secondary levels are the need of the hour.

5. Make education gender sensitive:

       There is a need to promote positive stereotypes of roles of women in textbooks. It is important that when girls come out of school, they have the dream to carve a path for themselves.

       Education for boys at school level should be in the direction of making them gender sensitive.

6. STEM scholarships to meritorious girls:

       Scholarships to meritorious girls at school levels can provide a boost to girls to pursue science at graduate and postgraduate levels and take up science as a career.

 

WAY FORWARD:

       The problem needs to be addressed at two levels - at societal level which requires long term effort and at the policy and institutional level, which can be started with immediate effect.

       There is an immediate need to invest in supporting infrastructure, incentivising institutions to promote gender equity, transparency in decision making to bridge the persisting gender imbalance in STEM majors.

       However, schools need to break the ‘gendered notions of intelligence’ and encourage girls not only to take science at secondary and higher secondary level but also to pursue their career in STEM.

       This would help not only in women being able to chase their dreams but science itself would be benefitted from other points of view.