Science institutes' ranking to depend on women workforce under new policy: Report

In a bid to support women in science, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), under the Ministry of Science and Technology, is creating a system to rank science institutions based on the number of women employed, according to a report by The Indian Express.

The proposal, part of the new Science and Technology and Innovation Policy 2020, has been hailed by the government as "a new outlook and strategy for science, technology, and innovation."

Under the policy, both public and private institutions will be graded based on criteria such as promotion opportunities, leadership positions, and other facilities like creches, that are offered to women.

The policy is expected to be unveiled around December.

“The representation of women in engineering courses at IITs is around 10-12 per cent. Even in our own department, we have said that all the committees must have at least 25 per cent women. But the number of women in the sciences are so low, it is often difficult to fill these positions. Even when they do join the sciences, they tend to drop out at some stage due to socio-cultural reasons, family pressure, children, etc. And when that happens, those reaching leadership positions are very few,” Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology told the publication.

Committees looking at the workplace and sexual harassment would also be strengthened under the policy.

It would also aim to create opportunities for women who are unable to thrive in science due to linguistic barriers and geographical limitations.

A task force on women in science, set up in 2005, found that the growth in enrollment of women in higher education had increased from 10.9 per cent in 1950-51 to 39.4 per cent in 2000-01. However, the individual differences in the representation of women across states varied drastically. From over 50 per cent enrollment in Goa, Kerala, Puducherry, and Punjab to less than 35 per cent in Bihar, Rajasthan, Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh.

It also found the situation in the IITs to be particularly alarming as less than 15 per cent women occupied faculty positions in these institutions.