Number of women pursuing B-Tech doubled in 5 years

In the last five years, the number of women taking admissions in B-Tech courses across various Indian institutes of technology doubled, the government said. Between 2016 and 2021, it went up from 8 per cent to 19.72 per cent, the ministry of education said in the Parliament.

In response to a question on the participation of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, the ministry said that as per All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20 data, women opting for B-Tech courses went up from 8 per cent in 2016 to 19.72 per cent in 2021. In the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), the enrolment of female students in B-Tech programmes has increased to nearly 23 per cent, the government said.

AISHE 2019-20 data also showed that the total numbers of female students enrolled at various levels of higher education in STEM fields, including undergraduate, postgraduate, MPhil and PhD courses across the country was 43,65,928. Among this, 41,296 female students were enrolled in PhD programmes.

In addition to this, the number of female and male teachers in STEM fields is 1,98,514 and 3,53,259 respectively.

The government was replying to a question by YSR Congress MPs Kuruva Gorantla Madhav and Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy.

In reply, minister of state for education Subhas Sarkar said that to incentivise women in STEM courses, the government has started the Pragati Scholarship Scheme 2020-21, under which the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) grants 10,000 scholarships yearly to meritorious girl students for pursuing technical education at degree and diploma level in 23 states and UTs.

“In addition to this, AICTE is providing scholarships to all eligible girl students from the remaining 13 states and UTs which includes states from North Eastern Region, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, etc. An amount of Rs 50,000 per annum is given under this scheme,” the minister said.

The Department of Science and Technology has schemes to increase the participation of women in STEM for higher education, including Knowledge Involvement Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN), Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Medicine), Consolidation of University Research through Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities (CURIE) for women pursuing technical courses, the minister said.

The department of science and technology also has courses for students in classes nine to twelve.