Pandemic, gender and education

The All-India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE), 2020-21, presents a mixed picture of the higher education scene in the country after the waning of the Covid-19 pandemic. There are both positives and negatives in the report. It shows that the total enrolment of students in higher education increased to nearly 41.4 million in 2020-21 from 38.5 million in 2019-20 and that women’s enrolment showed an increase from 18.8 million to 20.1 million. There are other gains, too. Government universities, which constitute 59.1% of all universities, account for 73.1% of the total enrolment of students. The number of universities and colleges and the number of teachers also increased. Another important finding is that the number of Scheduled Caste (SC) students, including female students, and the number of Other Backward Classes (BC) students registered an increase. The number of students enrolled in distance education also increased. Karnataka is among the top states in terms of enrolment and density of colleges in the country.

One major negative is the fall in women’s representation in streams like engineering, commerce, and management. A remarkable level of gender balance had been achieved in medicine and commerce streams, but it has now shifted in favour of men. Men have also increased their dominance in courses like technology, law, and business administration. The gender composition of classrooms had steadily improved over the years, but the report shows that there was a setback during the Covid years. This cannot be seen in isolation from the greater price that women had to pay in their families and society during that period. More women had lost their jobs, fallen ill, gone hungry and suffered in other ways than men because of the general gender bias in society. This was being corrected in many areas and education was an important one among them. Traditional social and cultural attitudes asserted themselves when society faced a challenge and was under pressure, and the impact was felt in all areas.

It is too early to know whether the fall in representation of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and other similar courses is a trend, but it needs to be countered with policies by governments and educational institutions. Scholarships and other forms of assistance should be offered to women students to attract them to such courses. The aim should be to ensure that every educational stream and course has the right gender balance. It is also a welcome prospect to have the gender balance tilted in favour of women, because an educated woman creates more social capital than an educated man, and the economic gains are also greater.