29 January 2026·PIB

PARLIAMENT QUESTION: WOMEN IN STEM

In this note

1. At a Glance

Parliament Question answered by the Ministry of Science & Technology on 29 January 2026 disclosing female participation in STEM education and R&D in India [1].
Key headline: women = 43% of STEM enrolment in higher education but only 18.6% of the R&D STEM workforce — classic "leaky pipeline" issue [1][2].
Aspirant relevance: intersects GS-I (women issues), GS-II (welfare schemes), GS-III (S&T); high MCQ value on scheme names and the WISE-KIRAN umbrella [3].

Reply tabled in Parliament on 29 Jan 2026 by Ministry of Science & Technology citing AISHE 2021–22 and R&D Statistics Report-2023 (DST) [1].
Government reiterated targeted interventions to plug the higher-education-to-workforce drop-off for women in STEM [1].

2014–17: Earlier "Women Scientists Scheme (WOS-A/B/C)" run by DST for career-break re-entry [3].
Dec 2019: Vigyan Jyoti launched for Class IX–XII girls to pursue STEM in under-represented streams [4].
2020: GATI (Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions) pilot launched with 30 institutions modelled on UK's Athena SWAN [3].
2021–22: Consolidation of various women-focused schemes into the umbrella WISE-KIRAN [3].

Implementing Ministry: Ministry of Science & Technology — primarily Department of Science and Technology (DST) [1][3].
Umbrella scheme: WISE-KIRAN (Women in Science and Engineering–KIRAN) [3].
Data sources cited: AISHE 2021–22 (Ministry of Education); R&D Statistics Report-2023 (DST) [1].
Key numbers:
43% women STEM enrolment in higher education (AISHE 2021–22) [1][2].
18.6% women in R&D STEM workforce [1].
Sectoral split of women in R&D: Government 45.87%, Higher Education 27.62%, Industry 26.51% [1].
Vigyan Jyoti reach: ~250 districts, 34 States/UTs, ~25,000 girls enrolled in 2023–24 [3].

Social / Gender: Strong enrolment (43%) but workforce attrition (18.6%) signals dropout due to marriage, child-care, lack of mobility — addressed by Women Scientists Scheme for career-break women [1][3].
Scientific / Technological: Gender diversity correlates with research productivity; CURIE programme funds R&D infrastructure at women's universities [3].
Administrative: GATI charter modelled on Athena SWAN seeks institution-level reform across IITs/IISc; only 30 pilot institutions so far → scale-up challenge [3].
Geopolitical: Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM (WISTEMM) facilitates research stints in US labs — soft-power S&T diplomacy [3].
Constitutional: Aligns with Article 15(3) (special provisions for women) and Article 39(a) (equal right to means of livelihood) [general constitutional context].

29 Jan 2026: PIB release on Parliament Question reaffirming WISE-KIRAN architecture and statistical snapshot [1].
11 Feb 2025: International Day of Women and Girls in Science — DST announced expansion of Vigyan Jyoti phase-2 to additional districts [4].
2024: Number of women scientists supported by government schemes reported to have doubled since 2014 by Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh [5].

AISHE 2021–22 → women = 43% of STEM enrolment [1].
R&D Statistics Report-2023 → published by DST, women = 18.6% of STEM R&D workforce [1].
Largest share of women in R&D works in Government institutions (45.87%), NOT industry [1].
WISE-KIRAN = Women in Science and Engineering–KIRAN (umbrella, DST) [3].
Vigyan Jyoti launched December 2019, targets Class IX–XII girls [4].
GATI = Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions; modelled on UK's Athena SWAN; 30 pilot institutions [3].
CURIE = Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities — R&D infra at women's universities [3].
WISTEMM = Indo-US Fellowship for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine [3].
Women Scientists Scheme (WOS-A/B/C) addresses career-break re-entry [3].
Implementing Ministry: Ministry of Science & Technology (DST), NOT Ministry of Women & Child Development [1].
AISHE is released by Ministry of Education [6].

GS-I: Role of women & women's organization; issues related to women.
GS-II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections; mechanisms for protection and betterment.
GS-III: Science & Technology — indigenization, R&D ecosystem.
Plausible question stems:
"Despite 43% female enrolment in STEM, women's share in R&D remains under 20%. Examine the structural reasons and evaluate the WISE-KIRAN response." (GS-I/II, 250 words)
"Discuss how schemes like GATI and Vigyan Jyoti seek to transform India's research institutions towards gender parity." (GS-III, 150 words)
"The 'leaky pipeline' is a bigger problem for Indian science than the gender gap in enrolment. Critically analyse." (GS-I)

AISHE Report — primary data source on higher education [6].
Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), 2023 — overarching R&D push.
STIP 2020 (Science, Technology & Innovation Policy) — explicit equity targets.
Athena SWAN Charter (UK) — comparative model for GATI.
NEP 2020 — gender inclusion fund, STEM access for girls.
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao — adjacent girl-child scheme (MoWCD).
NIRF / QS rankings — institutional benchmarking context.
Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) — female labour-force participation rate.

Confusing WISE-KIRAN as a MoWCD scheme — it is DST [3].
Mixing Vigyan Jyoti (school-level girls) with KIRAN (women scientists) — different target groups [3][4].
Wrong sector-share: largest R&D employer of women is Government (45.87%), NOT higher education [1].
Reading 43% as workforce share — it is enrolment, not employment [1].
AISHE is by Ministry of Education, while R&D Stats Report is by DST — two different parents [1][6].