The proportion of female students in higher education in India will hit an all-time high of 2.07 billion in 2021-2022, and the latest All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) shows that in fact, the total enrollment Women account for 48% of the total. The report was released on Thursday.
The survey conducted by the Federal Ministry of Education covers higher education institutions across the country and collects detailed information on multiple parameters such as student enrollment, teacher data, infrastructure and financial information, among others.
According to the report, female enrollment has been steadily increasing over the years. “The number of registered women has increased from 2.01 billion in 2020-21 and 1.74 billion in 2017-18 to 2.07 billion in 2021-22. Enrollment increased by 18.7%. From 2014 to 2015, female enrollment increased by approximately 5 million students. From 2014 to 2015, female enrollment increased by 157,23,018. the report states.
The proportion of female registrants is 55% of the total registrant increase (91 million) since 2014-2015. According to the report, this means a larger increase in enrollment for women compared to men.
University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar said this signifies a paradigm shift in access to higher education for female students. “This shows that the Indian education system is aimed at enabling women to carve their own path in their career journey.Targeted scholarships, girls hostels, flexibility There is no doubt that initiatives such as advanced learning options play an important role in fostering this inclusive environment,” he said.
At the undergraduate level, there are 1.13 billion students in the arts, of which 51% are women and 49% are men. There are 49.18 million students enrolled in science, of which 50.8% are women and 49.2% are men. There are 44.08 million students enrolled in the commerce sector, of which 47.2% are female students and 52.8% are male students.
“It is heartening to witness more young women embracing STEM fields in higher education,” said Sonal Kapoor, founder director of Protsahan India Foundation, a non-governmental organization (NGO). “This shows a trend towards gender inclusion in a traditionally male-dominated field.” But the true measure of progress lies not only in enrollment numbers but also in translating these educational outcomes into meaningful career opportunities and economic independence for young women. ”
Female participation rates continued to be high in various undergraduate programs, including Bachelor of Arts (male/female ratio: 113), Bachelor of Science (male/female ratio: 108), and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) – Bachelor of Arts (Honours) (male/female ratio: 108). 124), Bachelor of Education (male/female ratio: 176). In medical courses, 17.05 million students were registered, of which 57.6% were female students and 42.4% were male students.
At the graduate level, female participation is very high in programs such as MA – Master of Arts (170 women per 100 men), Master of Science (157 women per 100 men), and M.Com. . Commerce (174 women per 100 men), Master of Education (202 women per 100 men).
These are also the programs with the largest enrollments at the graduate level.
At the doctoral level, women enrollees account for 47% of the total student population of 212,000,000. In fact, the number of women enrolled in doctoral programs doubled from 47,717 in 2014-15 to 98,636 in 2021-22, the report said.
However, women remain underrepresented in engineering and technology courses: 29.1% compared to 70.9% for male students.
