Even though Governments offer benefits to women in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, their representation remains low. This calls for a policy on part of the Government which must address this issue in a focused manner, writes Mohitkumar Daga
In September 2014, with the successful orbit insertion of Mangalyaan, the enormous role of female scientists in the project was widely acknowledged in the Press and the public. While this story gave a ray of hope to all women who aspire to make it big in science, it failed to give a picture of the under-representation of women in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields in India.
Even at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the executing agency for the Mangalyaan project, the number of female employees in the science and technical staff team remained less than 15 per cent in 2015-2016. The Indian Academy of Sciences, India’s premier scientists’ society, can count only 81 women in its list of 1,053 fellows. This is symptomatic of the glass ceiling encountered by women in the fields of STEM. Female under-representation in sciences has been a global phenomenon.
The pattern of under-representation starts from lower female enrollment in higher education degrees in STEM fields. The All India Survey of Higher Education for 2013-2014, which provides gender-segregated data in fields of study, noted the female share in undergraduate STEM degrees to be very low as compared to humanities. While women comprise 52 per cent of all the students studying at undergraduate level in humanities, the percentage drops to 36 per cent for undergraduate STEM degrees, with their share declining further to 28 per cent for engineering degrees.
While 13 per cent of women with undergraduate STEM degrees opt for post-graduate studies as compared to seven per cent men, the representation windles at the PhD level. Only 5.2 per cent women with post-graduate degrees in STEM continue to pursue a PhD, which is nearly half of the 9.1 per cent males who do so. Similarly, fewer women who complete their STEM degrees choose to pursue jobs in related fields as compared to men. This trend is rampant despite the average weekly wages for women in STEM fields being 100 per cent more than the average weekly wages for women across all fields.
Moreover, only a marginal gender pay gap is observed in the STEM fields, providing a further incentive to women to join the field. Notwithstanding the benefits, female participation in the field continues to remain low.
A number of reasons have contributed to this situation. Implicit stereotypes in the society which discourages them from participating in the STEM fields continue to exist. Moreover, societal biases add to the view of women preferring teaching positions over research roles.
Further, many women, who opted out of the STEM fields have lamented that STEM jobs are not accommodative enough for women who wish to take a sabbatical or re-locate during work due to marriage or motherhood. Similarly, inadequate encouragement and information about the opportunities in STEM fields drastically affects the number of women who want to pursue careers in these subjects.
While the current situation justifies a stronger policy response to improve the skewed representation, the issue has never been addressed in a focused manner. The Union Government’s Department of Science and Technology currently runs an umbrella scheme called Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN), which seeks to address the issues related to females in the STEM fields. The scheme provides dedicated fellowships for women in STEM fields to pursue research, alongwith provisions for developing the research infrastructure in women universities.
KIRAN also includes a mobility component to allow flexibility for female scientists seeking re-location or a break from regular work. However, the impact has been limited with about 139 women benefitting from the research fellowship under the scheme.
In April, the University Grants Commission announced relaxation of norms for female PhD candidates to allow for re-location or sabbaticals. In March, the Department of Science and Technology also announced the formation of a standing committee to take pro-active measures to identify and correct the gender imbalances in the sector. While these are positive steps to ensure gender parity in STEM fields, the issue needs to be mainstreamed with persistent efforts from the Government.
There is a need for the Government to take appropriate measures to ensure mandatory and pro-active reporting on female participation by research and academic institutions, in addition to providing more opportunities for participation.
Transparency and accountability in selection and promotion policies must be ensured in all public-funded research projects with added incentives for female participation. To ensure adequate encouragement and information for women who stay away from the field due to lack of role models and perceived biases, a high-profile information campaign, highlighting women who have been successful in STEM fields should be initiated.
(The writer is research and knowledge support lead at Swaniti Initiative)