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Science & Tech., National Importance
Mahesh

23/08/22 04:00 AM IST

Number of Women in Science

In News 
  • As per the Department of Science and Technology data, the number of women scientists has gone up in over the past two decades.
Major Findings 
  • More than a quarter — 28% — of participants in extramural R&D projects in 2018-19 were women, up from 13% in 2000-01 due to various initiatives taken by successive governments.
  • The number of women principal investigators in R&D had risen more than four times from 232 in 2000-01 to 941 in 2016-17.
  • The percentage of women among researchers went from 13.9% in 2015 to 18.7% in 2018, the data show.
  • The increase in women’s participation, especially in research, is due to a combination of government programmes and natural progression.
  • Results of the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019 showed a 53% and 55% participation of women in science education at the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels respectively, numbers that are comparable with many developed countries. But at doctoral level, women graduates (44%) lagged behind men (56%).
Concerns 
  • World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked India at 135 out of 146 countries in its Global Gender Gap (GGG) Index for 2022.
  • The 2019 All India Survey on Higher Education shows a significant lag in female participation at doctoral levels, partly owing to the pressures of marriage and family planning.
  • Loneliness of being an outlier in a male domain, where biases are rampant and getting oneself heard, a constant struggle, glass-ceiling effect.
  • Women scientists often have to shoulder a disproportionate burden of academic housekeeping in comparison to their male counterparts.
Measures taken by Government 
  • Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy 2020 target of 30 per cent of women at a post-doctoral level by 2030.
  • GATI (by DST) a grading system for institutes based on the enrollment of and impetus to the careers of women in its ranks (it is based on the UK’s Athena Swan Charter)
  • The Athena Swan Charteris a framework which is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research.
  • KIRAN (Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through nurturing) Scheme to encourage women Scientists
  • CURIE: For infrastructure in women’s universities
Source- The Hindu 

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