Women in STEM fields: An Indian perspective
India has a rich history of women scientists and mathematicians, including: Rukhmabai (India’s first practicing lady doctor, 1894); Janaki Ammal […]
Anushruti Singh February 1, 2019
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India has a rich history of women scientists and mathematicians, including: Rukhmabai (India’s first practicing lady doctor, 1894); Janaki Ammal (Masters in Botany, 1925); Asima Chatterjee (doctorate in organic chemistry, 1944); Kamla Sohonie (doctorate in biochemistry, 1939); and, Rajeshwari Chatterji (degree in engineering, 1943). But despite the great opportunities in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), it has been observed that women (especially in India) are not too keen on opting for science and technology in academics or as a profession.The “double-burden syndrome”—which makes women quit jobs mid-career, especially in technical careers—is still a big problem in India and needs to be tackled sooner than later. A Kelly Global Workforce Insights (KGWI) survey on Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), found that women in India tend to drop out of workforce at key phases in their lives, notably around childbearing years and later at mid-management levels.This trend is visible especially in the information technology/information technology enabled services (IT/ITES) sector according to a Belong report which shows that women comprise a measly 26 per cent of the STEM workforce in the country. The facts and statistics in both the KGWI and Belong report come at the time when the state women’s education in India is significantly improving, though the last census revealed a woman’s literacy rate of 65.46 per cent in the country, significantly lower than the corresponding global figure of 79.7 per cent.The scope of the problem
The low participation of women in India’s STEM workforce can be attributed to a few region-specific problems across the whole of Southeast Asia. Geetha Kannan, Managing Director at AnitaB.org India, says that she often hears from women technologists who, despite support from their husbands, face pressure to leave their jobs from their extended families. Kannan writes in her blog, “For many in India, the ideal woman is, first and foremost, a doting wife and mother. She must also represent the family outside the home, especially at the countless religious and cultural functions that are omnipresent in Indian society. These responsibilities leave little time to develop and hone an ambitious career in technology.” Kannan also points out in the blog that even today Indian society has some conservative rules of disparity.At the recent Women Science Congress, Textile Minister Smriti Irani pointed out societal flaws assist gender biases, “Of the 2.8 lakh engineers and scientists employed in research and engineering institutions across the country; only 14 per cent are women, which is 39,000.” These numbers are disheartening because women STEM professionals can really make a mark for themselves given that the flourishing Indian IT/ITES sectors in which women employees are preferred over their male counterparts. A NASSCOM survey on gender diversity and inclusivity trends in the IT-Business Process Management (IT-BPM) sector confirms this and states that women applicants have far higher success rates than men. Currently, women get hired for more than 50 per cent of all entry-level jobs in the sector, but then the double-burden syndrome comes into play and they quit mid-career or even earlier. Reasons for this high attrition rate include conservative societal norms, work–life balance, anti-women biases at work and stereotyping.At a recent Very Large Scale Integration Design (VLSI Design) conference on Jan 8, Pamela Kumar, Director General at Telecommunications Standards Development Society, asked, “Though we are moving forward, are we treating our daughters in laws in the same manner as our daughters?” and goes on to say that “available data shows that 81 per cent women in STEM say there is gender bias in performance evaluation. How will you be paid more when those who evaluate you have disinclination towards your gender?”Kumar’s view is supported by government data compiled in “Men and Women 2017” which shows that there are significant differences between what men and women get paid for working at the same job. The report says that women who are at least graduates earn 24 per cent less than their male counterparts. also, the percentage of men in mid- and upper-tier jobs also increases along with pay gaps, according to a 2016 Korn Ferry Haygroup report that reveals that India women in top positions earns 18.8 per cent less than men.The biases women are up against
A recent survey conducted by the Society of Women Engineers and the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law revealed that there are four patterns of global biases against women working at technical jobs, which are:
- Prove-it-again bias:76 per cent of women engineers reported having to prove themselves over and over to get the same level of respect as their colleagues;
- Tightrope bias:77 per cent of women engineers reported that they were confined to a narrower range of acceptable behaviours than their colleagues;
- Maternal wall bias:40 per cent of women engineers reported bias against mothers at their workplaces; and,
- Tug of war bias:45 per cent of women reported that they had to compete with their female colleagues to get the one “woman’s spot” available.