Last Updated: December 1, 2023
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham is committed to fostering diversity and inclusivity within its academic community. One significant initiative in this pursuit is encouraging and promoting women’s applications in underrepresented subjects. Historically, fields such as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) have seen a gender imbalance. By actively encouraging and facilitating women’s applications in these subjects, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham aims to bridge this gap and create a more balanced, representative learning environment.
Direct tools like University outreach and collaboration, online women forum, women students’ testimonies are currently implemented as well as indirect tools like active communication on existing Amrita field projects tackling this issue and research on the root cause of women’s under-representation.
“In India, according to the World Bank data, nearly 43%of STEM graduates are women, as opposed to other developed nations like the United States, Canada, and the UK, where there are fewer women – 34%, 31%, and 38%, respectively – studying STEM at the tertiary level
It is one of the highest in the world albeit there is only 14% of scientists, engineers, and technologists in research development institutions and universities”. (Economic Times 8 March 2022).”
Through university outreach, and collaboration at regional and national with the government, industry partners, and NGOs, Amrita is actively addressing the under-representation of women applicants in STEM.
As part of its efforts to encourage young women to engage in problem-solving and competitive programming, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham launched a unique Competitive Programming Contest. Following its successful debut in 2021, Amrita hosted the ICPC Algo Queen 2023, a competitive programming contest specifically for school girls. Endorsed by the ICPC Foundation and sponsored by IBM Quantum, Algo Queen provides an inspiring platform for young women to explore and excel in programming.
In 2022 and 2023, The School of Social and Behavioural Sciences and its research centre Ammachilabs organized a series of workshops aimed at promoting STEM education among school children, encouraging girls to participate. These efforts saw the participation of 103 schoolgirls in 2022, representing 25% of the participants, and increased to 264 schoolgirls participating in 2023, making up 50% of the total participants. The workshops covered a variety of themes and initiatives to foster technical skills and innovation.
These initiatives collectively empowered girls and young women by providing them with the tools and confidence to excel in STEM fields, contributing to a more equitable future in technology and innovation.
The Second Foundation Workshops aimed to teach 21st-century skills, focusing on game development, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). Conducted in schools across rural India, these workshops emphasized hands-on, practical learning in a peer-to-peer environment.
The Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) Marathon is an annual innovation challenge by NITI Aayog, encouraged students to identify community problems and develop working prototypes as solutions. Organized in 2021, 2022, and 2023, the program helped students, including many girls, engage with real-world challenges and hone their problem-solving abilities.
Leveraging the ATAL Marathon, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham organized The STEM Exhibition 2023 & Civic panel “Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) for Social Good”, a Civil20 Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment Working Group initiative, was hosted on April 1st 2023, by Amrita Vidyalayam Thalassery. This initiative was led by Dr Bhavani Rao, Dean of Amrita School of Social and Behavioural Sciences. The discussion was moderated by Dr Gayathri Manikutty, Assistant Professor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
The purpose was to showcase the importance of gender equality and disability inclusion in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields, and inspire the student community to take action towards creating a more inclusive and equitable society.
The event was a big success, with the Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) students attending and engaging in lively discussions about their ATL Marathon projects and gender equality and disability inclusion.
We had a diverse group of speakers including:
They shared their personal experiences and perspectives on the topics and interacted with students during the exhibition. ATL Marathon is Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog’s flagship innovation challenge, where school students identify community problems of their choice and develop innovative solutions in the form of working prototypes.
The impressive display of STEM projects and innovations showcased at the exhibition included the work of 74 children, 40 girls and 34 boys. Over the past three months, 27 teams from Amrita Vidyalayam Thalassery worked diligently on their ATL Marathon 2023 projects.
In collaboration with the IEEE Education Society Kerala Section, we conducted the IEEE STEAM for Social Good program in September 2022. This included a summer camp and a Makeathon focusing on IoT and app development. Over ten days, participants applied a design-thinking approach to create prototypes addressing societal issues aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, inspiring many girls to develop innovative solutions for real-world problems.
For International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11th, 2023, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham co-organized the launch of the “Women in STEM Caravan”, in collaboration with the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) and P&G Shiksha. Held in New Delhi, the event took place as an initiative of the Civil 20 (C20) Working Group on Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (GEWE).
The Caravan visited several locations in India to examine potential barriers to women in STEM education and careers, provide policy recommendations for India’s G20 Summit in September, and gather best practices (Udaaharan) for education and skill development in this area.
The initiative kickstarted with a powerful roundtable conference. Dr. Bhavani Rao R, Dean of the School of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, UNESCO Chair on Gender Equality, and Co-Coordinator of the C20 GEWE Working Group, played an active and pivotal role in the discussion, demonstrating a deep commitment to the vision.
Unlocking the potential of women and young girls, which also reaches others living on the margins, enables them to become thriving members of society. In India, this is crucial to bring alive the dream of Amrit Kaal for Bharat.
Between February and March 2023, events for the Women in STEM Caravan were held in Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Baddi in HP.
For further information on the Women in STEM Caravan
ShaktiCon is a free global conference organized by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham focused on inspiring, training, and upskilling women in cybersecurity.
Born out of an understanding that cultural circumstances do not always encourage women to flourish in male dominated fields, ShaktiCon is committed to creating a suitable environment to showcase the range of talented women in cybersecurity.
Our objective is to train a new generation of women to be more actively engaged in the field and enter the cybersecurity workforce. ShaktiCon is all about women role models inspiring and encouraging young and aspiring women hackers to attain their goals without any fear.
For further information: Click here
ShaktiCon communication on Facebook: Click here
On April 8, 2023, Haryana’s Chief Minister Manohar Lal inaugurated the Amrita School of Medicine in Faridabad, marking a new milestone for medical education in the state and inviting young women to join the field.
Amrita School of Medicine, sprawling across an area of 5.2 lakh sq. ft, offers 150 MBBS seats for the academic year 2023-24. Indian and international students seeking admission need to appear for the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (UG).
Amrita has also built a one lakh sq.ft. Simulation Learning and Development Centre which would cater to robotic training, haptic-based training surgical training simulation, cadaver, and high-fidelity training for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Amrita School of Medicine is the 8th campus of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
Dr. Sanjeev Singh, Medical Director, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad said, “At Amrita Hospital campus in Faridabad, we now host a Medical College and a Nursing College. We are also operating an Allied Health Sciences College that offers 20 to 30 courses that help build capacity and skill sets and supports the clinical teams at the adjacent hospital.”
This event was communicated in social media and printed press to our women prospective students and parents.
For further information: Opening ceremony: Click here
Examples of communication in social media and education portals:
Over the past few years, the Center for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham developed a specific gender sensitization curriculum in alignment with India’s University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines and recommendations on women’s rights. Its purpose is to create a safe and healthy environment within Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) for women students and employees, essential for fostering quality education and research.
Components of the curriculum include: Self-portraits; Gender Status Quo and Safe Spaces; Gender & Sex; Gender Roles Identity and stereotypes; Gender Spectrum; Role of Toys; Universal Motherhood Value; Movies and Media; Language Matters and Self-Confidence.
The curriculum was deployed for the first time for the Amrita School for Dentistry in Kochi, India, on July 19, 2022. Trained beneficiaries included the Principal, Vice-Principal, and Heads of Departments of the School.
In June 2023, we started a new phase of training directly with the students, especially girls. This initiative was started because we realized that despite having a higher enrollment of female students, very few of them pursue careers as practicing dentists upon course completion, with their male counterparts often outnumbering them and earning better salaries.
To address this disparity, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Center for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality started a pilot intervention aimed at promoting gender harmony and responsiveness within the educational environment. The pilot study was conducted with 29 students from the June 2023 cohort. It aims to cultivate a gender-sensitive atmosphere for female students and identify key barriers hindering their path to financial independence and pursuing careers in dentistry.
For further information: Click here
Online women forums and thematic videos with women experts and Amrita women faculty who succeeded in their field serve as compelling inspirations. These videos showcase the extraordinary accomplishments of women, igniting motivation in prospective applicants to break barriers and embrace these fields under-represented by women confidently.
Example: Women Scientist Forum at ACNSMM (Nanosciences)
At Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, we recognize that the experiences and achievements of our women students are powerful testaments to the transformative power of education. Hearing the voices of our women students in STEM, their challenges, success, and the opportunities they’ve embraced, is invaluable for prospective applicants aspiring to join Amrita for higher studies.
Below are some examples of online testimonies:
Examples:
Amrita’s UNESCO Chair on Gender Equality, along with researchers from the Center for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality, collaborated with UNESCO to author The Braided River: The Universe of Indian Women in Science. Released by the UNESCO New Delhi office in September 2022, the book, authored by Dr. Christopher Coley, Christie Gressel, Abhijit Dhillon, and Dr. Bhavani Rao, explores the barriers and challenges faced by women in science within the Indian context. It also offers actionable recommendations to support and retain women in science education and careers.. Click here to read the book
Although India has achieved significant progress in supporting science education for girls at the school level, easing Indian women’s entry to higher-level science studies, and assisting them in their scientific careers throughout the last few decades, Indian women continue to encounter numerous visible and invisible barriers and challenges in their personal lives and professional pathways.
The publication was made as a reference tool for relevant stakeholders to mainstream gender inclusion in the Indian science, Technology and Innovation (STI) ecosystem.
In this publication, the authors provide a summary of accomplishments to date, identify ongoing obstacles, and offer suggestions for further progress. The team has also introduced new ideas and translated them into actionable recommendations aimed at better retaining and promoting Indian women in science education and careers.
For further information on the Braided River: Click here
Since the book’s publication, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has sustained its efforts to address barriers and challenges to women’s careers in science in India.
In 2023, as part of the Civil20 India Working Group on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, we established a dedicated subgroup on skills and education, with a focus on STEM, and collaborated with hundreds of civil society organizations to develop robust policy recommendations aimed at reducing gender inequality in higher education.
For more information about our policy recommendations (pages 21 to 61 on education and skill development, including STEM initiatives)
These recommendations were given to the G20 leaders as part of the C20 Policy Pack
We are also exploring collaborations with the Government of India on initiatives to support women pursuing careers in science.
According to World Bank data, Indian women represented 12.7% of those employed in senior and middle management roles in 2023. The BT-MDRA Survey 2022 reported that female students represented 34.5% of entrants in the country’s top 25 management schools for the 2021-22 academic year. Additionally, women constituted 27.5% of graduates in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and veterinary programs at the tertiary level, as per World Bank data.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham systematically communicates about major field projects related to women’s empowerment and gender equality contracted with prominent governmental and private institutions. Managed by faculty and students, these projects aim to inspire students to explore underrepresented fields and pursue related career paths. Below is an overview of some active Amrita projects from July 2022 to December 2023.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Govt of India and the World Bank, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has implemented a national skills development program to provide 4,500 people women and transgender individuals with vocational and life skills training.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, rural India grappled with unparalleled. Women and transgender people were hit especially hard as job opportunities dwindled, pushing them further into economic uncertainty.
As one of the responses to this crisis, Amrita University was entrusted on April 1st, 2022, to implement the Government of India’s SANKALP project—Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion, in collaboration with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), and the World Bank. The purpose of the project is to support these communities and promote their socio-economic development.
SANKALP primarily focuses on training and certifying women Self-Help Group (SHG) members and transgender individuals in vocational trades of their choice. By fostering collective enterprises, they can leverage their new skills to establish businesses, enabling members to build resilience, earn a livelihood, and thus make a significant step towards fostering a more inclusive society.
Overall, we conducted training for 4,500 individuals in six states—Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh.
Participants engaged in specialised training for diverse job roles, including organic farming, mushroom cultivation, seaweed cultivation, tailoring, hand embroidery, beauty therapy, general duty assistance, and beekeeping. Graduates were able to receive official MSDE certification and guidance on how to form collective enterprises.
Our Amrita Master of Social Work (MSW) students actively participated in this project in the different centers, for example Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu, to help the women achieve their goals.
In November 2023, 19 MSW students from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, along with the team from its Reserch Center for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality, held meetings with various public, municipal, development and health care instances in the Thirupalaikudi area, to better assess various needs. They also held 3 community events at the Thiruppalaikkudi village: An awareness program on health and hygiene, a cleanup drive, and planting a sacred tree by the village head.
For further information on SANKALP:
The WADI project is an ideal model for developing community independence, including women, and resilience in isolated tribal areas. Throughout India, Indigenous Peoples live disconnected from mainstream culture and survive through their traditional ways. However due to environmental destruction, many now face serious issues such as endemic poverty and lack of essential resources—even food and water.
Under the WADI project, the Center for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality and School of Social and Behavioural Sciences students work with farmers and landless people of tribal communities in the Hindol Block of Dhenkanal District, Odisha. The poorest of the poor from the villages are the prime recipients. WADI also promotes the participation of women in all sorts of activities and encourages them to actively participate in decision-making processes.
The core approach is to strengthen income generation in a sustainable way by developing agri-horti-forestry in small underutilised plots of land and developing wastelands, with a combination of fruits, forestry, and agriculture interventions, alongside using the latest technologies to address the most complex challenges.
Across six villages, seven cooperative community groups have been established, with approximately 500 direct beneficiaries. The leaders are provided with capacity-building training and then manage all the field activities like plantation, pit digging, care of the saplings, water resource development structures, etc. They then independently keep track of all activities done and process the relevant payment for the services rendered by the beneficiaries of the project, thereby building communal ownership over the process of plant care.
WADI is supported by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Finance, Govt of India.
In November 2023, several Amrita Social Work students went to Tentichira village in Odisha on different occasions to actively contribute to the implementation of the project, along with local communities.
For Further Information on WADI: Click Here
In 2023, the Chancellor of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, was appointed Chair of Civil20 India, the official Engagement Group of G20 India focusing on civil society. Through Civil20, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham collaborated with over 6,000 civil society organizations and participants from 154 countries, developing policy recommendations across various fields, including education and support for underrepresented areas. Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham submitted a policy pack to the G20, with these policies recommendations. Parents and students can review them to understand Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s commitment to these crucial initiatives. Below are examples of some key recommendations:
For further information: Click here