Classrooms run by women have 20% more inclusive participation. By addressing social barriers and safety concerns, the presence of female teachers enhances educational opportunities for girls. An increase in the number of female teachers led to a significant increase in female enrollment in Bihar’s Kanya Utthan Yojana.
By normalizing conversations about gender roles, child marriage, and menstrual hygiene, female teachers promote equality. Under the Udaan Yojana, adolescent girls are encouraged to seek guidance from female teachers. Female teachers are more likely to provide emotional support, improving student well-being. Academic women often lack the mentorship and strong professional networks necessary for research opportunities and career advancement. Many women take a break from their careers due to the dual responsibility of household chores, which hinders their ability to advance in their careers and produce quality research. According to Niti Aayog, female faculty in India take a longer break from their careers after giving birth, which reduces their chances of being hired permanently.
According to the UDISE+ 2023-24 report, women now comprise 53.34 percent of Indian school teachers, reflecting their growing role in education. In higher education, only 43% of faculty are women, with their representation in leadership roles even lower. Gender equality in academia is still hindered by ingrained biases, professional barriers, and institutional constraints. Increasing the percentage of women in India’s teaching workforce represents a paradigm shift in the quality of education, inclusiveness, and social equality. Gender biases in pedagogy are challenged, inclusive education is promoted, and female teachers increase the number of female students.
To ensure wider student participation, female teachers encourage greater classroom participation and gender-sensitive teaching. According to a 2022 UNESCO report, inclusive participation is 20% higher in classrooms run by women. By addressing social barriers and safety concerns, the presence of female teachers enhances educational opportunities for girls. The increase in the number of female teachers led to a significant increase in female enrollment in Bihar’s Kanya Utthan Yojana. By normalizing conversations about gender roles, child marriage, and menstrual hygiene, female teachers promote equality. Under the Udaan scheme, adolescent girls are encouraged to seek guidance from female teachers. Female teachers are more likely to provide emotional support, improving student well-being.
Significant gender disparities in higher education faculty positions are due to the low representation of female faculty members. According to the All India Survey on Higher Education, despite a higher number of men holding teaching positions, women constitute only 43% of higher education faculty. Women faculty representation in IITs and NITs is still less than 20%, reflecting gender disparities in elite universities. Women’s role in academic leadership is limited to the associate professor and professor level, where their percentage drops sharply. Less than 25% of full professors in public universities are women, which limits their ability to influence decisions. Less than 10% of vice-chancellors in India’s top 50 universities are women.
Due to socio-cultural barriers, women’s participation is higher in southern states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu, while it is lower in rural and north Indian universities. More than half of the professors in Kerala’s public universities are women, while the percentage is less than 30% in Bihar and Rajasthan. Women are less likely to take up leadership roles due to unconscious biases in appointments and promotions. Academic women often lack the mentorship and strong professional networks necessary for research opportunities and career advancement. Many women take career breaks due to the dual responsibility of household chores, which impacts their advancement and research prospects.
Ensuring equal career advancement opportunities, establishing gender quotas, ensuring the fairness of selection committees, and implementing clear promotion standards By mandating 40 percent female representation on academic appointment committees, Germany’s DFG program encourages more women to enroll in higher education. Increasing women in academia’s access to mentorship and networking opportunities: Establishing formal mentorship programs to connect female faculty members with senior academics, advising on funding opportunities, research, and leadership development.
As evidence of the value of focused mentorship and support networks, the US “Women in Science and Engineering” program has been instrumental in increasing the number of women in leadership roles. Promoting work-life balance, providing on-campus child care services, increasing paid maternity leave, and implementing flexible tenure paths helps female faculty members continue their research careers by providing a one-year tenure extension after maternity. Providing special funding to improve the administrative and academic visibility of women and running leadership development courses for them, India’s “Women Scientists Scheme” helps women researchers return to academia after a career break by providing funding. Women make up only 43% of higher education faculty, limiting their influence outside the classroom. The percentage of women faculty in IITs and IIMs is less than 20%.
UGC’s Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) program encourages women faculty to take up leadership positions. Establish equal pay guidelines, enforce labor laws more stringently, and regularize contract teachers. Strong enforcement of the Equal Remuneration Act 1976 is essential in private education. Improve campus safety protocols, transport options, and grievance procedures. The establishment of women’s safety measures in educational institutions has been funded by the Nirbhaya Fund (2013). A gender-balanced teaching staff will reduce feminization in early education and normalize caregiving responsibilities.
In early childhood education, Finland and Sweden aggressively encourage the recruitment of men. Establish anonymous grievance redressal procedures, ensure that internal complaints committees (ICCs) are functional, and implement stringent anti-harassment policies in all universities. ICCs are mandatory in universities as per the UGC’s 2023 directive; however, there are still gaps in implementation, especially in smaller and rural institutions. Strong mentoring programs, inclusive hiring practices, institutional change, and multi-pronged strategies are needed to reduce the gender gap in academia. Promoting family-friendly workplaces, guaranteeing transparent promotions, and strengthening anti-discrimination laws can help empower women in higher education. A paradigm shift toward gender-sensitive, merit-based policies will improve representation and strengthen India’s economy.
