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A gradual rise in the number of female students sitting for CAT has led to a considerable increase in the women students who got through IIMs this year. The result of this is the improved gender diversity of the IIMs which earlier lacked balance between the students enrolled from both genders.
In the current academic year, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) has witnessed a rise in the number of female candidates from 1349 in the year 2017-19 to 1619. The data shared by the HRD (Human Resource Development) Ministry, last month, also revealed the percentage of admitted women candidates against the number of total students. The percentages were 25.69 per cent, 26.85 per cent and 30.61 per cent in the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Where the IIMs in Rohtak, Bangalore, Tiruchirappalli and Sambalpur saw a steady rise in enrollment, IIM Bangalore, the oldest amongst these, saw a registration increase to 165 in the batch of 2019-21 which was 114 in 2017-18. IIM Rohtak observed a significant rise too with around 6 per cent women students, 9 girls, in the year 2016 to 50 per cent in the batch of 2018 and 2019 with 119 and 124 girls respectively.
However, a steady rise of female candidates in the other IIMs could not ensure the same in the prestigious IIM Ahmedabad which noticed a sudden decline in the graph.
On the considerable rise of women students in IIM Rohtak, the Director, Prof Dheeraj Sharma commented. He said that the corporates are making diversity a priority which is leading to more female candidates showing interest in higher education. This has been noticed especially in the courses of management, where more female students are competing for CAT every year, resulting in improved gender diversity. This was evident from the number of female CAT applicants this year which was 84,350 out of the total 2.41 lakh candidates. In the year 2017, only 78,009 applicants were female which was even lower, 69,176 in the year 2015.
In addition to this, a female candidate bagged the highest offer for summer internship. She hailed from IIM Nagpur's batch of 2018-20. Companies like Amazon have also added diversity hiring programs to address the prevailing gender imbalance. Acknowledging the increase in the number of women hired, Madhu Srivastava, the Group CHRO of Vedanta Group also added her views. She said that a positive effect of the IIMs’ selection criteria which encourages diversity, was seen with better diversity percentages found on the campuses every year.
The HRD ministry brought to light the fact that the IIMs are free to build their admission policies. However, the IIMs are making additional efforts to increase the number of female candidates. Having said to modify their selection policies to take gender diversity into account, IIMs, like IIM Nagpur, have set an additional diversity score which will be considered during the shortlisting of candidates. In this regard, Prof Varsha Khandker, the admissions chairperson, said that women performed better at this level. She also added that this step was essential to ensure gender balance in the classrooms. The institute had increased its diversity weightage during stage II from 5 per cent in 2018-20 to 10 per cent in 2019-21.
Khandker also mentioned that the number of female candidates in a batch depended on two factors: the pull from other institutes and the admission policy of the institute, IIM Nagpur. This led to an increase in the number of female candidates called for personal interview from 21.73 per cent in 2018-20 to 29.78 per cent in the 2019-21. This impacted the final offers too which increased marginally from 24.68 per cent in the year 2018-20 to 25.71 per cent in 2019-21, she said.
A similar scenario came into light with a rise in the number of female candidates in IIM Calcutta. The numbers went up from 124 in 2018 to 152 in 2019-21. While the institute denies having made additional changes in their policy, they have added a few extra points during the interview for taking gender diversity into account. Prof Sumanta Basu, IIM Calcutta’s chairman of the admission committee said that an additional 4 per cent weightage was assigned this year during the second stage under the section of gender diversity while deciding the list for the interview.
On similar grounds, he remarked that the students were gauged on their analytical skills and managerial aptitude. The higher percentage of female students accounted for the fact that they met expectations on all fronts, he added.
In the current academic year, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) has witnessed a rise in the number of female candidates from 1349 in the year 2017-19 to 1619. The data shared by the HRD (Human Resource Development) Ministry, last month, also revealed the percentage of admitted women candidates against the number of total students. The percentages were 25.69 per cent, 26.85 per cent and 30.61 per cent in the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Where the IIMs in Rohtak, Bangalore, Tiruchirappalli and Sambalpur saw a steady rise in enrollment, IIM Bangalore, the oldest amongst these, saw a registration increase to 165 in the batch of 2019-21 which was 114 in 2017-18. IIM Rohtak observed a significant rise too with around 6 per cent women students, 9 girls, in the year 2016 to 50 per cent in the batch of 2018 and 2019 with 119 and 124 girls respectively.
However, a steady rise of female candidates in the other IIMs could not ensure the same in the prestigious IIM Ahmedabad which noticed a sudden decline in the graph.
More female candidates are applying for CAT
On the considerable rise of women students in IIM Rohtak, the Director, Prof Dheeraj Sharma commented. He said that the corporates are making diversity a priority which is leading to more female candidates showing interest in higher education. This has been noticed especially in the courses of management, where more female students are competing for CAT every year, resulting in improved gender diversity. This was evident from the number of female CAT applicants this year which was 84,350 out of the total 2.41 lakh candidates. In the year 2017, only 78,009 applicants were female which was even lower, 69,176 in the year 2015.
In addition to this, a female candidate bagged the highest offer for summer internship. She hailed from IIM Nagpur's batch of 2018-20. Companies like Amazon have also added diversity hiring programs to address the prevailing gender imbalance. Acknowledging the increase in the number of women hired, Madhu Srivastava, the Group CHRO of Vedanta Group also added her views. She said that a positive effect of the IIMs’ selection criteria which encourages diversity, was seen with better diversity percentages found on the campuses every year.
Policies which encourage gender diversity
The HRD ministry brought to light the fact that the IIMs are free to build their admission policies. However, the IIMs are making additional efforts to increase the number of female candidates. Having said to modify their selection policies to take gender diversity into account, IIMs, like IIM Nagpur, have set an additional diversity score which will be considered during the shortlisting of candidates. In this regard, Prof Varsha Khandker, the admissions chairperson, said that women performed better at this level. She also added that this step was essential to ensure gender balance in the classrooms. The institute had increased its diversity weightage during stage II from 5 per cent in 2018-20 to 10 per cent in 2019-21.
Khandker also mentioned that the number of female candidates in a batch depended on two factors: the pull from other institutes and the admission policy of the institute, IIM Nagpur. This led to an increase in the number of female candidates called for personal interview from 21.73 per cent in 2018-20 to 29.78 per cent in the 2019-21. This impacted the final offers too which increased marginally from 24.68 per cent in the year 2018-20 to 25.71 per cent in 2019-21, she said.
Better performance by girls in interviews
A similar scenario came into light with a rise in the number of female candidates in IIM Calcutta. The numbers went up from 124 in 2018 to 152 in 2019-21. While the institute denies having made additional changes in their policy, they have added a few extra points during the interview for taking gender diversity into account. Prof Sumanta Basu, IIM Calcutta’s chairman of the admission committee said that an additional 4 per cent weightage was assigned this year during the second stage under the section of gender diversity while deciding the list for the interview.
On similar grounds, he remarked that the students were gauged on their analytical skills and managerial aptitude. The higher percentage of female students accounted for the fact that they met expectations on all fronts, he added.
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