Progressive Education: Female Student Enrolment Soars by 76 Lakh in Five Years

Women's involvement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields has risen to 43 percent, representing a significant global high. Additionally, there has been a 28 percent surge in women's registration in higher education institutions over the past decade. Check details here

According to All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report, the participation of women in higher education in India has reached a record peak, with 2.07 crore female students enrolled in the 2021-22 academic year. This figure represents 47.8% (2,06,91,792) of the total enrollment, showcasing a significant presence of females in the higher education sector.

Girl Student Enrolment in IITs

In December 2023, Dr. Subhas Sarkar, the Union Minister of State for Education speaking in the Lok Sabha shared that for the academic session of 2022-23, a total of 3,310 women, constituting 20% of the total seats available were given admissions across the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Also, to boost female enrolment in IITs, the Government made efforts to increase female representation in the B.Tech programmes from 8% to 14% in 2018-19, 17% in 2019-20, and finally to 20% in 2020-21 through the creation of supernumerary seats. Consequently, female enrollment in IITs for B.Tech. programmes reached 15.3% in 2018-19, 18% in 2019-20, and 19.8% in 2020-21.

Programme-wise Enrolment at UG Level

More than 90% of the total undergraduate enrolment is attributed to 10 specific programmes. The field of Science, spanning undergraduate, postgraduate, M.Phil, and Ph.D. levels, boasts a total enrolment of 57,18,185 students, with females constituting 52.1% of the total.

In Arts at the undergraduate level, there are 11.3 million students, with females comprising 51% and males 49% of the total enrollment. In the Science, there is a total enrolment of 4.918 million students, with females representing 50.8% and males 49.2%.

Commerce has 4.408 million students enrolled, with 47.2% being female and 52.8% male. However, the representation of females continues to remain poor in engineering and technical courses at 29.1% against 70.9% male students. Check the table below for detailed understanding:

Programmes	Female Percent	Total	% of total UG enrolled students
BA	51	1.1 crore	34.2
BSc	50.8	49.7 lakh	15
BCom	47.2	43.4 lakh	13.1
BTech	29.1	25.1 lakh	7.6
Bachelor of Arts (Honors)	54.3	20.4 lakh	6.2
BEd	62.4	17.2 lakh	5.2
Medical Science	57.6	17.1 lakh	5

Past Trends in Enrolment of Female Students in Higher Education

The trend of female enrolment in higher education has been on a consistent rise over the years. From 2017-18 to 2021-22, there was an 18.7% increase in female enrollment, climbing from 1.74 crore to 2.07 crore. This growth is part of a larger pattern observed since the 2014-15 academic year, during which female enrollment has surged by approximately 50 lakh, starting from 1.57 crore.

Female Enrolment in STEM Courses Highest in World

While presenting the interim Budget 2024, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised that the participation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses has increased to 43 percent, marking one of the highest rates globally. Female enrolment in higher education has increased by 28 per cent over 10 years.

Indian Higher Education in Numbers

Through the table provided below, students can check the Indian higher education in number of population in age group of 18 to 23 years:

Institutions	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Universities	1,043	1,113	1,168
Colleges	42,343	43,796	45,473
Colleges per lakh eligible population	27	31	30
Teachers	15,03,056	15,51,070	15,97,688

Read More 

• Gender Ratio in IITs reaches 20%: Several initiatives to Improve Female Enrolment at Top Technical Institutes
• Education Ministry Releases AISHE 2021-22 Report, CHECK Key Takeaways