International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

E-ISSN: 2582-2160   •   Impact Factor: 9.24

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Volume 8 Issue 5
September-October 2026

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A Comparative Analysis of Gender Representation Across Scientific Education and the Active Research Workforce in India

Author(s) Arnav Rai
Country India
Abstract Women constitute 43.0 percent of total enrolment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines in Indian higher education, yet they account for only 18.6 percent of the country's active research and development (R&D) workforce. This paper examines this 24.4 percentage-point gap using two official secondary data sources – the All-India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2021–22 and the Department of Science and Technology's (DST) Research and Development Statistics Report-2023 – alongside the sector-wise distribution of women R&D professionals reported by the Government of India in Rajya Sabha in January 2026. It is argued that this pattern reflects a “leaky pipeline,” a phenomenon in which the production of qualified women scientists is not matched by institutional capacity to support their progression into active research careers. Three structural drivers are examined: institutional gatekeeping in recruitment and promotion, the absence of institutional childcare support, and the career-interruption barriers associated with marriage, childbirth and re-entry. Existing government interventions – including Vigyan Jyoti, WISE-KIRAN, BioCARe and ASPIRE – are reviewed and found to address financial barriers more effectively than structural workplace barriers. Because national datasets cannot capture local, lived experience, primary data was collected through 48 structured in-person interviews conducted across institutions in Sonipat, Haryana, and these field findings are analysed alongside the national statistics.
Keywords LEAKY PIPELINE, WOMEN IN STEM, RESEARCH WORKFORCE, HIGHER EDUCATION
Field Sociology
Published In Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On 2026-09-27
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E-ISSN 2582-2160
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CrossRef DOI prefix of IJFMR is 10.36948/ijfmr

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