JOIN USGirls outnumber boys in science courses enrolment
Girls continue to outnumber boys in enrolment numbers in higher education, a trend that started in 2017-18.
The Gender Parity Index (GPI), the ratio of female GER to male GER, is 1.05 as per the current All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report, released by the union ministry of education on Sunday.
The annual survey of the ministry is done after registered colleges voluntarily upload their data on the government’s site; in all 97.5 per cent (or 1085) of the 1,113 universities, 91.8 per cent (or 40,212) of the 43,796 colleges, and 77 per cent (or 8696) of the 11,296 standalone institutions registered with the Centre responded with data.
Girls outnumbered boys in enrolments in MPhil and postgraduate courses, too, with the enrolment of female students in MPhil being 62.10 per cent while in postgraduate courses, it is 56.45 per cent . While the overall Gender Parity Index is 105 per 100 males, for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) it stands at 107 and 102 per 100 males respectively, the report revealed.
While male faculty accounted for 57.1 per cent of the total teaching force countrywide, in states like Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Goa, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Delhi, Haryana and Lakshadweep, female teachers outnumbered male teachers. “The female per 100 male faculty has improved to 75 in 2020-21 from 74 in 2019-20 and 63 in 2014-15,” the ministry said in a release.
Over 35.7 lakh women (or 42 per cent ) enrolled in STEM courses among a total enrolment of 85 lakh, which is a decline from 2019-21 when the enrolment stood at 43 per cent . As per the report, 40 lakh women enrolled for STEM courses in 2019-20, when the total enrolment stood at 94 lakhs.
Girls also outnumbered boys in science undergraduate courses, with women accounting for 53 per cent of the total enrolment of 48,17,826. In science postgraduate courses, too, girls outnumbered boys in terms of enrolment numbers accounting for 61.3 per cent of the total enrolment of 6,79,178.