Despite Increasing Women Enrollment In IITs, Gender Gap Rises In STEM

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, observed every year on February 11 by UNESCO, is meant to celebrate women’s contributions to science while nudging institutions to confront an uncomfortable truth: progress is visible, but parity is still far off.

Female enrollment across five Indian Institutes of Technology has nearly doubled over the last seven years, rising from 1,621 in 2018 to 3,247 in 2025. The growth rate among women has consistently outpaced that of men. And yet, the gender gap has not narrowed, but widened. Over the same period, the difference between male and female candidates increased from 7,007 to 9,153.

The figures are drawn from the seat allotment data of five IIT regions as mentioned in the report. These are IIT-Bombay, Madras, Delhi, Kanpur, and Kharagpur, often seen as bellwethers for trends in engineering education because of their NIRF ranking, legacy, reputation, and academic influence.

In 2018, these five IIT regions admitted 8,628 male and 1,621 female candidates, leaving a gap of 7,007 candidates, with women accounting for just under 16% of the total intake. In 2019, female admissions rose to 2,164, but male intake climbed faster in absolute terms to 9,520, expanding the gap to 7,356. The pandemic years did little to disrupt this trajectory. In 2020, women crossed the 2,700 mark, yet the gap widened further to 7,817 as male admissions crossed 10,500.

By 2021, female numbers dipped marginally to 2,698 while male intake remained above 10,500, pushing the gap close to 7,900. The post-pandemic rebound in 2022 and 2023 saw steady increases in women’s intake — from 2,854 to 3,048 — but male numbers rose in parallel, stretching the gap from 8,164 to 8,724. In 2024, despite female admissions holding steady at just over 3,000, the gap crossed the 9,000 mark for the first time. By 2025, even as female intake touched a seven-year high of 3,247, the gender gap peaked at 9,153 candidates, with women making up roughly one-fifth of the total intake.

UNESCO’s global data places India’s IIT story within a wider pattern. Women continue to represent less than one-third of the world’s researchers, a figure UNESCO has repeatedly highlighted as a structural concern for science systems worldwide. Closing the gender gap, the organisation notes, is not just about fairness but about improving the quality, relevance, and impact of science, technology, and innovation. Drawing on disaggregated data from public, private, higher education, and non-profit sectors, UNESCO points to three persistent global gaps. Young women are more likely than young men to enroll in higher education overall — 46% compared to 40% — yet they account for only 35% of science graduates. Just one in three scientific researchers globally is a woman.

And while women are approaching more equitable representation in academia and the public sector, men continue to dominate research roles in the private sector in most countries. UNESCO has also placed special emphasis on women’s participation in emerging and critical fields such as quantum science and water sciences, areas where gaps in early stages can have long-term consequences.

A closer look at institute-wise data offers nuance without altering the broader picture. IIT Madras region has consistently recorded the highest absolute number and proportion of female students among the five, with female intake rising from 519 in 2018 to 1,173 in 2025. IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi regions also show steady increases, with Bombay admitting 721 women and Delhi 767 women in 2025. These three institutes have typically had a relatively higher share of female candidates compared to IIT Kanpur and IIT Kharagpur, where female numbers have grown more slowly and remained under 300 in several years.

However, across all five IIT regions, male admissions continue to dominate each year. Even in IIT Madras region, where women’s participation is comparatively stronger, the gap remains substantial because male intake has expanded alongside female admissions rather than being offset by them. Admissions to all IITs are conducted through the Joint Entrance Examination, one of the most widely taken and competitive exams in India, making IIT intake patterns a useful proxy for understanding access to elite STEM education. Focusing on the top five also allows for a consistent comparison among the country’s most prestigious engineering institutions, where shifts in enrollment often signal broader trends in science and technology education.