Breaking Barriers: Gender Disparity in Indian STEM Faculties

Gist: A study conducted by BiasWatchIndia reveals that less than one in five STEM faculty members in India are women, with only 16.6% representation overall. The gender disparity is even more stark in top-ranked STEM institutes like IITs and IISc, where women make up just 10% of the faculty.

Overall Statistics: The study shows that 16.6% of faculty members in STEM fields in India are women.

Worst in Top Institutes: Gender representation is as low as 10% in highly ranked institutions like IITs and IISc.

Field-Specific Rates: Engineering and chemistry have the worst representation, with just 8.3% women faculty. Biology fares better with a 22.5% rate.

Career Progression: The study illustrates a “leaky pipeline,” with higher attrition of women faculty as they progress in their careers.

Conference Panels: A substantial number of STEM conferences had no women speakers, perpetuating the gender disparity.

Recommendations: Among the suggested solutions are removing age limits for grants, mentorship programs, and ensuring at least 30% of panel members in various academic decisions are women.

Broaden the Recruitment Pool: Institutions should actively seek qualified female candidates for faculty positions.

Mentorship Programs: Established programs to support and mentor female faculty could help retention.

Childcare Facilities: On-campus childcare can alleviate one of the major stressors for women scientists and improve retention.

SRIRAM’s