Supernumerary Seats at IITs Boost Female Representation in STEM

Supernumerary seats at IITs aim to bridge India's STEM gender gap, encouraging morefemale participation in top engineering institutions

Gender Gap in STEM Education

A concerning gender disparity continues to plague STEM education in India, particularly in premier institutions like the IITs. Despite academic progress and awareness, female representation remains alarmingly low, exposing a systemic imbalance that starts from early education levels and intensifies by the time students reach higher education

Supernumerary seats
STEM gender gap India

Government’s Supernumerary Seat Initiative

To address this, the Indian government introduced supernumerary seats for female students in IITs, which are additional seats exclusively for women without reducing the seats for others. This policy has significantly improved female enrolment and aims to provide an equal platform for deserving female candidates

Olympiad Results Reveal Deeper Gaps

While the initiative is showing positive results, STEM Olympiad data reveals deeper gender gaps in performance and participation. Experts suggest that equal representation needs to start early through supportive schooling, mentorship programs, and genderneutral encouragement in science and mathematics

IITs genderequality