Girls and women in STEM in India: what the numbers show
Are women still underrepresented in science in India, or have enrolment numbers already changed that picture? The answer depends on the subject and the stage of study or work. Women form a majority of undergraduate Science students in the official figures examined here. Their share in Engineering and Technology is much lower. Research employment gives another picture. To read these numbers together, start by asking who each figure counts.
Start with the year and the definition
The Ministry of Education released the All India Survey on Higher Education, or AISHE, reports for 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 on 8 July 2026. The figures used here refer to the academic session 2023 to 2024. Keep that session separate from 2026, the year of publication.
Across higher education as a whole, female students accounted for 49.7% of enrolment. Within AISHE's STEM category, the share was about 44%: 44,82,828 female enrolments out of 1,01,88,988. This is the female share of STEM enrolment, rather than the proportion of Indian women who study STEM.
AISHE defines this STEM total as Science, including Mathematics, together with Engineering and Technology. It covers undergraduate, postgraduate, M.Phil., integrated and Ph.D. levels. Use this definition when quoting the total. It excludes schoolgirls choosing science and may differ from what people call STEM in everyday conversation.
The overall share conceals differences
Between the academic sessions 2014 to 2015 and 2023 to 2024, the Ministry's release reports a rise in the female share of STEM enrolment from 38.4% to 44%. That is an increase of 5.6 percentage points. The overall share has grown, but participation still varies by subject.
At undergraduate level, Science had about 45.7 lakh students, of whom 53.4% were female. Engineering and Technology had about 43.9 lakh students, with a female share of 31.1%. Both streams contribute to the combined STEM figure, but their female shares differ substantially.
The differences continue within engineering. Calculating female shares from AISHE's undergraduate branch counts gives about 24.7% for Civil Engineering and 33.8% for Computer Engineering. These shares describe students enrolled in the report's named categories, rather than working engineers.
AISHE separately records undergraduate Medical Science, where 57.4% of about 21.3 lakh students were female. Keep that category separate from the report's 44% STEM calculation so that comparisons use the same definition.
Further study is a separate question
In postgraduate Science, women accounted for 61.4% of 8,62,931 enrolments. At Ph.D. level in Science, they accounted for 53.4% of 80,284 enrolments. These are snapshots of different levels during the same reporting period. Tracking progress from an undergraduate degree through postgraduate study into a doctorate would mean following the same group.
AISHE also reports about 11.4 lakh undergraduate Science pass-outs, of whom 53.9% were female. The 53.9% describes women's share of those completing their courses. To find the proportion of enrolled women who completed a degree, we would need to connect the students who entered with their later outcomes.
What the research workforce figures measure
The Department of Science and Technology, or DST, provides a different measure in Research and Development Statistics at a Glance 2025 to 2026. It reports that women represented 29% of full-time-equivalent R&D researchers in 2023 to 2024, compared with 18.6% in 2020 to 2021. Use the newer percentage when quoting the current figure in this series.
The report dates its workforce count to 1 April 2024: approximately 5.07 lakh full-time-equivalent researchers, including 1.47 lakh women. A full-time-equivalent count can differ from a count of individual people. The report's 2025 to 2026 title is also separate from the date these figures describe.
Sector differences matter here too. DST reports female shares of approximately 36% among researchers in higher education and 18% in private-sector industry in 2023 to 2024. The 36% is women's share of researchers within higher education, rather than higher education's share of all women researchers. The overall figure covers researchers, rather than every kind of STEM employment.
Why the difference is not a dropout rate
Placing the 44% enrolment share beside the 29% researcher share may suggest that the difference measures women leaving science. But the figures describe different populations, cover different activities and use different counting measures. Their difference cannot give us a dropout rate.
To find the chance that a woman studying STEM will get a research job, we would need to follow students over time and record where they go. The comparison shows why education and employment need separate attention. Understanding careers requires evidence beyond enrolment shares.
Explaining the differences also needs further evidence. These totals describe representation; they leave open questions about ability, preferences, discrimination and care responsibilities. Describing an imbalance accurately is a starting point for investigating its causes.
Read the survey's limits too
AISHE participation is voluntary and institutions report their own data. Its undergraduate discipline analysis uses actual responses. When quoting its figures, describe that scope clearly. An independently checked count of every eligible student would be a different measure.
For a reader, the habit is straightforward: ask which year, which stream, which level and which population a percentage describes. Two official numbers can differ without contradicting each other. Before choosing between them, check whether they answer the same question.
A programme description is not an evaluation
A parliamentary reply published by PIB in January 2026 describes WISE-KIRAN as providing research opportunities for women scientists, especially those who have experienced career breaks. Its scope includes basic and applied sciences, societal challenges and training in intellectual property rights.
This describes what the scheme aims to offer. Judging whether it caused the reported rise in women's representation, closed the gender gap or guaranteed employment requires evidence about outcomes. A programme description alone leaves those questions unanswered.
What this means for your next question
For students and families reading these figures, the breakdown by stream shows more than a single national STEM percentage does. Teachers can make the discussion clearer by separating enrolment, course completion and research employment. When judging policy, ask what evidence would show whether a proposed measure addresses the problem identified.
Students in Grades 9 to 12 interested in public policy can read about One Young India's programmes, which list PolicyForHer, a policy competition for girls. The same page describes Model NITI Aayog for Grades 9 to 12 as an opportunity to investigate a public policy question, weigh evidence and develop a white paper.