Gender stereotypes lead a large number of girls to opt out from IITs every year

Hyderabad: Engineering at IIT is the dream of many students when they give the Joint Engineering Exam (JEE) but social pressures and notions of ‘safety’ often lead girls to opt for engineering colleges in their hometowns.

Last year, only 38 per cent of girls accepted their seats in IIT. They gave very limited options during counselling for courses available in their hometown IITs. According to an analysis done by the IITs, when girl students do not get admission in IITs in their hometowns, they opt out. The small number of girls studying in IITs are those who have had to convince their parents to let them study at the prestigious institute.

IIT-Hyderabad, which has a comparatively better gender ratio, conducted a ‘webinar’ for girl students from rural areas so that they could express their concerns regarding safety and doubts about courses.

Dr Jasine Baby, IIT-Palakkad faculty and warden at the ladies’ hostel, said, “When we started our campus, parents called in and asked us questions regarding the safety of girl students. In our previous batch, we had seven girls out of 117 students. Parents fear the unknown, so any place away from their hometown is not desired. But it shouldn’t lead to loss of opportunity for the girls.” 

She said that IIT hostel rules of students having to return by midnight and strangers not being allowed into hostels goes a long way to ensure safety.

Parents raise concerns about sending their children to IITs in fear of ragging. However, a faculty member of IIT Bombay says that with separate hostels for seniors and juniors, the number of ragging cases have dropped considerably. 

Ms Ramya Narayana-samy, the 1st ranker among girls in JEE, said, “My parents’ concerns revolve around who will take care of me if I fall sick and so on. But they are still supportive of me going to Mumbai. Many parents prefer not to send their daughters far away, largely due to the alarming news that we hear every day.”

The gender ratio in IITs begins with the skewed ratio of those who appear for the JEE: Only 20 per cent girls cleared the exam this year. “There were only 20 girls in my coaching centre, which had about 150 students. Parents do not push their girl children for engineering as much as they push boys. Girl students are not sent to Kota and other popular coaching places for fear of their safety,” said Parvathy N, an IIT aspirant.

“Residential hostels are always a worry for parents. Today, girl children demand education on par with their siblings but parents still prefer not to send them away from their hometowns due to the widespread notion that a girl living alone may have problems,” said Ms Maya Suresh, a parent.

Gloomy scenario

• Fear among parents about ragging  and  safety inside hostels prevent girls from enrolling at distant IITs 
• 62% Girls declined their seats in IIT despite being qualified for the same in 2016.

Streams where girls are more 
 Software
 Civil
 Biotechnology 

Less 
 Mechanical 
 Electronics

• Only 20% girls cleared JEE in 2017
• There is always a high number of girls in arts stream because it is believed to be a safe career for them