In the academic year 2020-21, the number of female students enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has experienced a 4.5% increase, reaching 43.87 lakh, compared to 41.97 lakh in 2016-17, Subhas Sarkar, Minister of State, Ministry of Education said in a reply to the Rajya Sabha queries (Upper house of the parliament). The Ministry of Education has implemented a range of initiatives to foster the growth of STEM courses. One such initiative is – Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM)- through this platform, the Ministry claims to have created over 1,700 courses within the STEM fields. These courses cover a diverse spectrum, including technical subjects and interdisciplinary areas like Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science, he said.
The Ministry of Education has also launched a project named Virtual Labs. Under this initiative, over 1,000 web-enabled experiments have been created in the STEM disciplines, offering practical learning opportunities. Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) have introduced supernumerary seats to amplify the involvement of women in these institutions and consequently, in STEM fields. The positive outcomes of these efforts are evident in the enrollment statistics: the percentage of female students enrolling in B.Tech programmes at IITs has surged from eight percent in 2016 to 20% in 2021. Similarly, “NITs have also experienced a significant rise, with female enrollment increasing from 14% in the academic year 2017-18 to 22.12% in 2022-23. These developments represent substantial progress in promoting gender diversity and inclusion within the STEM domain,” Sarkar stated while responding to a query concerning the steps taken by the government to promote STEM courses in the last five years.
Additionally, the University Grants Commission (UGC) offers the Savitribai Jyotirao Phule Fellowship, designed to support single female students pursuing a Ph.D. in any field. Furthermore, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) administers a range of scholarships focused on technical education. These include the Pragati Scholarship Scheme, aimed at recognising the achievements of exceptional female students, the Saksham Scholarship Scheme, dedicated to aiding differently-abled students, the PG Scholarship Scheme catering to ME and M.Tech students, and the Swanath Scholarship Scheme, which extends its support to orphans, the children of parents who lost their lives to Covid-19, and the offspring of Armed Forces and Central Paramilitary Forces personnel, among others, he explained.