Analysing Vigyan Jyoti Initiative for Girls in STEM

In India, women’s representation across various domains of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) remains disproportionately low compared to men. Addressing this disparity, the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, announced the Vigyan Jyoti initiative in 2019. This initiative aims to bolster female participation in STEM fields by offering comprehensive support to girl students from class 9 through post-doctorate across 550 districts from 2020-2025.

Mind the Gap: Policy, Discourse and Status of Women in STEM in South Asia

South Asia as a region performs the most poorly on the gender gap when compared with other regions around the world—having closed only 62.4% of its gender gap in 2022. Women are not just underrepresented in the political sphere in South Asian countries, they are also largely absent from leadership roles among key ministries dealing with Science and Technology. A leaky pipeline phenomenon is visible in most parts of the region, as women start dropping out (leak out) of the potential STEM workforce.

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