More women students enrolled in STEM courses in 2021: MoS Education

The enrollment of women students in undergraduate courses of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has increased from 8 per cent in 2016 to 20 per cent in 2021, the Ministry of Education (MoE) stated in the Rajya Sabha.

Responding to a question raised, Union Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar said there has been a consistent improvement in the enrollment of female students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) courses. According to data shared by ministry sources, the number of girl students in IITs went up from 995 in 2017 to 2,990 in 2021.

“To improve female enrollment in undergraduate programmes in IITs, supernumerary seats were created from 8 per cent in 2016 to 20 in 2021-22. Similarly, the enrollment of women in NITs has increased to nearly 23 per cent in 2021-22,” he said.

As per the 2019-20 All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) Report, the number of women students enrolled in STEM courses increased from 41.97 lakh in 2016-17 to 43.87 lakh in 2020-21.

The University Grants Commission also provides special postgraduate scholarships for girl students across the country to encourage them in pursuing higher education and research. Similarly, the All India Council for Technical Education bestows 10,000 scholarships to girls pursuing technical education.