Reason for Low Participation
- Stereotypes – People still have a mindset that boys are better at science than girls.
- Economic concern– Science is quite costlier than arts and commerce.
- Patriarchy – A male-dominated work environment and gender bias hold women back.
- fewer women-specific science institutes- women-specific colleges are only 11% in India and the majority of them offer arts and commerce.
- Lack of Role Models– women’s achievement is a very less discussed topic, rural people still believe moving out of home will spoil them and avoid discussing people who left home for higher studies.
- Harassments– Workplace harassment is very common and it scares and keeps women out of work.
Women in the Field of Science and Technology
Even after 75 years of independence and celebrating Amrit Mahotsav, our beloved country is facing problems evident in the Vedic period. The discrimination among genders and degradation of the status of women started during the later Vedic period. Discrimination is evident in every field from the house to the workplace. The women labor force participation is 25.1 percent which is much below than world average of 46 percent.
One of the fields where discussion about discrimination is quite strong is Science and technology. A conference was held in Israel in November 2021 on the topic of India- Israel women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and mathematics (STEM). It was discussed to provide gender-neutral compensation and flexible work hours to increase women’s participation.