Women in Science

GS Paper 3 

Syllabus: Science and Technology

Source: Indian Express

Direction: Keep a rough note on women in various fields such as women in defence, women in the judiciary, women in parliament, women in the social sector, women freedom fighters, women revolutionaries, and so on. For this article, no need to remember data, just know the trend and a few schemes related to women.

Context: As per the Department of Science and Technology data, the number of women scientists has gone up in over the past two decades.

Findings:

• • Women among researchers: Increased from 13. 9% (2015) to 18.7% (2018)
  • Good number of participation of women till post-graduate level and then there is a drop at the post-doctoral level.
  • Women in Engineering (14.5%) < Women in natural Science (22.5%) < Women in Health (24.5%)

 Issues:

• •  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.
  • Other issues: 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.

Some famous names: Tessy Thomas, Soumya Swaminathan, Gagandeep Kang, N Kalaiselvi, and Annapurni Subramaniam.

Government measures:

• • • 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
    • Vigyan Jyoti Scheme: Encourage girls in high school to pursue STEM
    • Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM (STEM and Medicine)

Conclusion:

While policies and leadership roles are excellent incentive models, the further benefit could come from a system of mentoring and availability of funds, especially for those who want to get back into the workforce after a hiatus.

Insta Links

Mains Links

Link it with women’s contribution in various fields and challenges they face e.g., last year UPSC asked Qn on Women in the judiciary.

Q. Counting more women in science and applied technologies is dire for the progress of society. Discuss. (15M)

Prelims Links

Link it with various schemes for women.