Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in India Lack Gender Diversity

The Author, Kalpesh Banker is the Managing Partner at EduShine Search Partner

There is a pressing need to include more women in leadership positions as the ratio of female heads in HEIs stands abysmally low at 11.24 per cent. The higher education scenario in India today is at a crossroads. While employment generation, competency mapping, and entrepreneurship development are critical, equally pressing is the need to have more women in leadership positions.

Survey Findings: The Alarming Gender Gap

A survey conducted by EduShine Search Partners found that out of 1352 HEIs in India, including IITs, IIMs, public private, and deemed universities, only 152 are headed by women. This translates into an abysmally low ratio of 11.24 per cent, clearly understanding the lack of gender diversity in the leadership positions in HEIs.

The low participation of females in HEIs indicates the structural flaw and deep bias that continues to run through our society. In a similar survey in 2021, EduShine found the ratio of female participation in leadership positions at 9.56 per cent. The current survey shows an increase of around two per cent, although at 11.24 per cent, even today, much is left to be desired. Especially when one starts making comparisons.

Global Comparisons: How India Stacks Up

In the US, UK, and Australia, 25 per cent of the women head the HEIs with Brazil standing out at an exceptionally low ratio of 47.3 per cent.

Just so you know, around 25 per cent of the world’s top 200 universities are headed by women. There is a pressing need to undertake structural reforms and project their success stories so that the next generation gets inspired to achieve excellence in the field of education”.

Bright Spots in Government Institutions

One bright spot in the results of the survey is the performance of the Government Institutions. Central Universities with 14.04 per cent, women leaders outperformed deemed universities at 13.76 per cent and state public universities at 13.2 per cent. The performance of private universities is just about average 9.18 per cent, while Institutes of National Importance (INIs) are stacked at the bottom with 8.53 per cent.

The Technical Education Gap

The worrisome statistic from the survey is the complete absence of women’s leadership in the technical domain - not even a single IIT is headed by a women leader. The scenario is not very different in the case of premier management institutes, with only 2 out of 21 IIMs headed by women.

The low enrollment of women in technical education explains the complete absence of women leadership in technical institutes. This means that out the 120 IITs, IIITs, NITs, and IISER, only two (One NIT and One IIIT) are headed by women.

Steps to Improve Gender Diversity in HEIs

A multi-pronged approach is required to increase the women leaders ratio in HEIs in India. This entails combining policy measures with socioeconomic reforms to push for enriching the diversity at top leadership positions. Summarily, the time has come to join forces and put in decisive efforts so that gender diversity in HEIs in India reaches a respectable figure.