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Are Indian girls and women weak in STEM? - Impact of Women in STEM

Tanisha Gupta
Apr 11, 20226 min read

Updated: Apr 14, 2022

Ever wondered why girls perform great in boards but take a dip when it comes to engineering entrances? For example, in 2021, a total of 1.5 lakh students took the JEE-Advance entrance test, with roughly 41 thousand candidates passing the exam, of which only 6452 (15.41%) were females.

It's not as if girls perform worse in every subject than boys. Girls outperformed boys in reading tests, according to research. But why do girls perform worse in these entrances than boys, and why does it matter? Analyzing the marks disparity in India In rural India, the graph below contrasts the mathematics scores of boys and girls. The disparity suggests that girls have consistently scored lower than boys. In some media publications, it has been stated that girls are not as proficient in math as boys. In math, girls scored lower than boys in pink-colored states, whereas blue-colored states showed girls scoring higher than boys.


Source : Ideas for India


The map clearly illustrates that the states with the lowest social standing for women are also the states where females scored lower in math than boys. Purdah and ghunghat, according to the report, deny women a chance to develop as they act as social barriers. The practice of ghungat and purdah is very common among Hindu households in northern India.


Economic impact of women in STEM

If women aren’t doing well in math then most of them will not choose to become engineers and will not take up a job in the STEM (Science, Technology, engineering and Maths) stream.

Reduced gender disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education could help close the skills gap, enhance women's employment and production, and minimise occupational segregation. In the end, this would promote economic growth by increasing both productivity and labour market activity.

Closing the gender gap in STEM would result in a 2.2 to 3.0% rise in EU GDP per capita in 2050. In terms of money, eliminating the STEM gap will boost GDP by €610 to €820 billion by 2050. IMF’S research has suggested that reducing this gap can increase India’s economic output by nearly 20% and we can only achieve this economic potential when we understand the problem.


Why do women take a dip in STEM ?


Lack of female Role models


The dearth of female role models in mathematics is the first cause. BrahmaGupta, Bhaskara, Aryabhata, Sridharcharya, and Ramanujan are only a few examples of great mathematicians who lived in ancient India. Despite the fact that Indian mathematics has a long history, we do not discover any contributions by female mathematicians. According to research, the lack of female role models in STEM fields makes females hesitant to pursue such occupations.

A study across 29 countries found that daughters whose mothers were pursuing careers were almost 21% more likely to be employed and had a 1.21 times higher chance of having higher annual earnings. This is partly due to the fact that mothers are more influential role models for daughters than fathers. Basically, mothers serve as role models for such daughters, but in India, female students pursuing math do not find many role models, which is why they may probably never pay much attention to math assuming that they can never excel in this field.

A 2021 survey led by Avishkaar, a robotics, coding and edtech provider, found that 95% of children in India have males as their role models in the STEM field. In the STEM field, you may talk about Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella or Parag Agarwal, but you may not come across many female role models in India. A 2021 report by World Economic Forum shows that a mere 29.2% technical roles are held by women in India.


Maths Anxiety


The second cause is due to a fear of mathematics. Math anxiety, according to University of Chicago researchers, is a concern that people have when studying math. This is more common in women than in men, according to the study. The amount of anxiety is depicted in these graphs.



This is the fear that prevents girls from pursuing a career in mathematics. These factors may explain why just 57 percent of Indian girls want to pursue STEM careers compared to 85 percent of boys, and why this disparity exists. Since their school system emphasizes rote learning, many people lack the confidence and abilities necessary to advance in their careers.


Discrimination


The discrimination that females endure from everyone, including their parents and teachers, is the final main cause of this problem. According to the Avishkaar poll, parents are more supportive of boys who choose engineering courses since they believe this field is not suitable for ladies. According to a study conducted by Upasak Das and Karan Singhal, many Indian parents feel boys are better at arithmetic than girls. In this respect, it has been discovered that girls who grow up in such discriminatory environments perform worse in math.

According to the findings, teachers, in addition to parents, contribute to gender bias, with girls bearing the brunt of it.


Women's underrepresentation in science and technology, in particular, makes them more vulnerable to being displaced by technology. According to the International Monetary Fund, due to unequal ownership of STEM skills and competencies, around 11% of the female workforce is at risk of losing their employment to automation.

“The lack of women in STEM is not only due to talent inadequacies, but also a result of prescribed traditional gender norms," according to an ORF report. Women are more likely to suffer from the 'dual role' phenomenon, in which their career choices are heavily influenced by their family duties.


Thankfully, things are changing, and more women in India are choosing STEM careers in the years 2017-18 to 2019-20. In comparison to the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, India generated more female STEM graduates in 2020, according to World Bank data. However, the difficulty is that many women who earn these degrees are unable to find work. Even if they do get work, unlike the boys, they are unable to advance.


However, it is critical that they serve as role models so that future generations of youngsters do not experience a lack of role models in the field of mathematics. The prestigious Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians was presented to Neena Gupta, a professor at the Indian Statistical Institute, in 2021. Along with Neena Gupta, India has a list of renowned Indian female mathematicians, including Shakuntala Devi, who had a popular movie based on her journey and achievements. We must recognise that such films not only have a positive impact on the box office, but also bring inspiration to young women in India's tiny towns and villages.


According to a 2016-17 NITI Aayog report aimed at "understanding the reasons for the loss of trained female scientists from scientific manpower in India." More women scientists want age relaxation in eligibility criteria, an expansion of institutional provision of non-academic infrastructure like housing, transportation, and medical help, and flexibility in employment contracts allowing for choice regarding time commitment.

Given the critical role of technology in future growth and innovation, programmes targeted at training and keeping women in STEM fields must be supported. Giving women equal opportunity would not only help close the gender wage gap in the workplace, but will also improve their economic security and well-being, allowing the country's competent female workforce to reach its full potential.


By:-

Tanisha Gupta

(2nd year)


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