One-Third of Indian STEM Conferences Lack Female Representation

Woower Echo November 17, 2023

A recent preprint shared on the bioRxiv server exposes a striking pattern in Indian STEM conferences over the past three years: a notable 35% of these conferences showcased only male speakers.

This finding is based on a study led by Dr. Shruti Muralidhar, a neuroscientist from Toronto, Canada, and Dr. Vaishnavi Ananthanarayanan, a cell biologist linked to the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

This revelation not only underscores the stark underrepresentation of women in academic discussions but also sheds light on a systemic issue hindering their active participation in crucial academic networks.

The research spanned from June 2020 to December 2021. The analysis of publicly accessible data from 98 Indian universities and institutes revealed a glaring gender imbalance in STEM faculty, with women constituting a mere 16.7% on average.

Within STEM disciplines, biology exhibited the highest female participation at 22.5%, while engineering lagged significantly behind at just 8.3%. This disparity is emphasized by a 2019 study revealing that between 33% and 54% of faculty members in the public health departments of the top 15 international science and public health universities were women, primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

The gender gap is particularly evident in India’s elite universities and institutions, as indicated by the Indian National Institutional Research Framework 2022 rankings. The top eight universities, with a median of approximately 10%, demonstrated a lower percentage of female faculty members compared to the national average.

Women and individuals from underrepresented groups often face challenges in obtaining institutional approval to attend conferences, limiting their involvement in academic networks that lead to speaker invitations. This lack of permission creates a ripple effect, hindering their academic participation.

The new discovery highlights an urgent need for collective efforts to address gender disparities in STEM fields within India’s academic landscape.

Categories: News
Tags: , ,
Woower Echo
As a content writer, my objective is to create engaging and informative content. I strive hard to keep my writing concise and easy to read, enabling a broad audience to understand my piece of writing with ease. My career has spanned many years, and I'm still seeking to improve my writing skills. I am grateful to have received an opportunity to work with Woower, an app designed to promote women's empowerment. It permitted me to delve deep into the various problems women, especially working women, encounter. It is my great pleasure to do my bit to assist women in rejoining the workforce after a career break and helping them stand on their own two feet.

Related Articles

Report

Harassment or bullying behavior
Contains mature or sensitive content
Contains misleading or false information
Contains abusive or derogatory content
Contains spam, fake content or potential malware

Block Member?

Please confirm you want to block this member.

You will no longer be able to:

  • See blocked member's posts
  • Mention this member in posts
  • Invite this member to groups
  • Message this member
  • Add this member as a connection

Please note: This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.

Report

You have already reported this .