Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
MP Satnam Sandhu raises issue of women's participation in STEM fields in Parliament
At 43 %, India boasts of one of the highest proportions of female graduates in the world in STEM
Babushahi Bureau
New Delhi, February 11, 2025: To enhance the scientific temperament of women in the country, Union Government has supported more than 2,076 Women Scientists and Technologists under the Women in Science and Engineering - KIRAN (WISE-KIRAN) scheme by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) to pursue research in basic or applied sciences in frontier areas of science and engineering in the past last 10 years, this information was shared by Minister of State (MoS), Ministry of Science and Technology & Earth Science in response to a question asked by Member of Parliament Satnam Singh Sandhu during the on-going Budget session of Parliament regarding the steps being taken by the union government to encourage women’s participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields through scholarships and mentorship.
Stating further, MoS Science and Technology said that Union Government has introduced slew of measures to encourage women to pursue STEM and support women entrepreneurs and help women scientists to continue their career through initiatives such as WIDUSHI (Womens Instinct for Developing and Ushering in Scientific Heights & Innovation) - to help senior women scientists, including retired and unemployed professionals, continue their research careers, WISE-KIRAN (Women in Science and Engineering) – to improve gender equality in STEM, WOS-A (Women Scientists Scheme) - Women Scientists Scheme - A – to promote research in basic and applied sciences for women scientists, WISE Fellowship for Ph D (WISE-PhD), BioCARe Fellowship – to support women scientists in biotechnology and allied fields, WISE-IPR – provide 1 year on-the-job training in Intellectual Property Rights for women, NIDHI (National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations scheme to provide incubation facilities, mentorship and early stage funding support for Start-ups and Vigyan Jyoti programme to mentor meritorious girls from 9th standard to 12th standard to encourage them to pursue STEM careers.
Rajya Sabha Member Satnam Sandhu in his question asked in the parliament, had sought details regarding the steps taken by the union government to encourage women’s participation in STEM fields, steps taken to support women-led innovations and startups in the technology sector and the funding mechanisms available, initiatives introduced to increase the representation of women in research and development roles in Indian institutions and impact of the Women Scientist Scheme (WOS) in creating opportunities for women in the field of Science and Technology.
In a written reply by the Minister of State, Ministry of Science and Technology & Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has implemented a holistic scheme ‘Women in Science and Engineering-KIRAN (WISE-KIRAN)’ to encourage women’s participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields. Under this scheme, the WISE Fellowship for PhD (WISE-PhD) programme supports women to pursue research in basic and applied sciences.”
“In the last 10 years, 2076 women scientists and technologists have been supported under WoS-A program. Out of these supported women Scientists about 40 per cent beneficiaries completed their PhD and around 5000 research papers were published by WOS-A beneficiaries. Women scientists especially from tier-2 and tier-3 cities provided various S&T solutions relevant to the society under the WOS-B programme. Moreover, in the last 10 years under WOS-C prorgramme 523 women scientists and technologists were supported and about 40 per cent of these trained women are registered as Patent Agents with the Indian Patent Office,” added the MoS for Science and Technology.
Dr Jitendra Singh further said, “To support women-led start-ups, the department of Science and Technology has established Technology Business Incubators in women universities including Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW), Delhi and Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam (SPMVV), Tirupati for incubating startups, primarily women led startups. DST has also supported setting up of NIDHI-Inclusive Technology Business Incubators (iTBI) to strengthen entrepreneurial inclusiveness in terms of gender, caste and geographies.”
“Moreover, WISE-Post Doctoral Fellowship (WISE-PDF) and WISE-Societal Challenges with Opportunities (WISE-SCOPE) programmes encourage women to pursue post-doctoral research in STEM fields. The DST is also implementing the ‘WIDUSHI’ programme that enables senior women scientists under two categories retired (Category-A) and not in regular employment (Category-B) to continue their scientific careers. Another programme ‘WISE Internship in IPR (WISE-IPR)’ provides one-year on-the-job training in the field of Intellectual Property Rights.
Further, the Vigyan Jyoti programme encourages meritorious girls of 9th standard to 12th standard by mentoring them through various year-round activities to pursue higher education and careers in STEM, especially in the areas where the participation of women is low. The BioCARe Fellowship programme enhancing participation of women scientists in India to carry out research projects in biotechnology and allied areas,” added the MoS.
Rajya Sabha Member Satnam Singh Sandhu said, “Union Government under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undertaken several initiatives to empower women in the fields of science and technology in the last 10 years. Modi government’s resolute commitment to encourage maximum participation of women in fields of science and technology can be gauged from the fact that the total budget allocation under the flagship WISE scheme has seen a substantial 206 per cent increase in last 10 years. As against a budget allocation of Rs 44 Crores under the flagship scheme in 2014, the budget has now increased to Rs 135 crore in 2024 that in turn has ensured substantial increase in enrolment of women in STEM .”
Sandhu added, “Women’s leadership in cutting-edge space research programs such as the Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1 solar missions underscores the ongoing gender transformation in specialized scientific fields under PM Modi’s leadership. According to World Bank data, India now boasts one of the highest proportions of female graduates in the world in fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at 43 per cent. Today, India ranks third globally in the growth rate of women researchers with women now comprising 33 per cent of active researchers. Of the total enrolment in UG, PG, PhD, and MPhil levels, 57.2 lakh students are in the science stream with 29.8 lakh female students outnumbering the 27.4 lakh male students. Moreover, Vigyan Jyoti program, launched in 2020 to address the underrepresentation of girls in science and technology courses for grades 9 to 12, has enrolled about 21,600 female students from 250 districts as of December 2023.”