Women in Science Double Since 2014, Says Dr Jitendra Singh

Quoting the DST Research and Development Statistics 2025, Dr. Singh said that women now make up 18.6% of the workforce engaged in STEM-related sectors across both government and private institutions.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Dr. Jitendra Singh, highlighted a remarkable rise in women’s participation in India’s scientific ecosystem, noting that the number of women scientists supported by government schemes has doubled since 2014. Speaking on the sustained growth achieved during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 11-year tenure, he underlined that this transformation reflects the Government’s deep commitment to women-led development and inclusive scientific progress.

Dramatic Growth Across DST’s Women-Centric Schemes

Elaborating on various initiatives of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), the Minister shared comparative data illustrating how women’s access to fellowships and research support has expanded significantly since 2014.

DST Programme	Before 2014	2014–2025
INSPIRE MANAK	0	1,76,743
INSPIRE Scholarship for Higher Education	23,530	50,642
INSPIRE Fellowship	2,106	5,035
INSPIRE Faculty	175	439
WISE (Women Scientist Scheme)	2,713	4,419
Vigyan Jyoti	0	Significant rollout since 2014

This unprecedented expansion, Dr. Singh emphasized, demonstrates the Government’s systematic approach toward empowering women at every stage of scientific training—from school-level inspiration to research leadership.

Women in STEM: A Growing National Force

Quoting the DST Research and Development Statistics 2025, Dr. Singh said that women now make up 18.6% of the workforce engaged in STEM-related sectors across both government and private institutions. This figure is steadily rising as more women move toward careers in research, innovation, engineering, biotechnology, data science and emerging high-technology fields.

He also noted a major shift in women-led research:

• Women’s participation in extramural R&D projects, a key indicator of their role as Principal Investigators, almost doubled over two decades.

• It increased from 13% in 2000–01 to 25% in 2019–20, showing a clear rise in women leading complex, competitive research initiatives.

Building a Supportive Ecosystem for Women Scientists

Dr. Jitendra Singh explained that before 2014, women-specific schemes existed but were limited in reach, fragmented across programmes and insufficient to address the entire career lifecycle of women scientists—especially challenges such as maternity, family responsibilities and career breaks.

Since 2014, however, India has seen a systematic consolidation and expansion of women-centric initiatives:

• WISE-KIRAN programmes supporting re-entry of women into research

• INSPIRE fellowships and scholarships encouraging early scientific involvement

• Enhanced capacity-building and leadership development programmes

• Stronger institutional pathways for women to assume decision-making roles

These measures have helped create a more stable, inclusive and aspirational environment for women researchers across the country’s universities, labs, start-ups and innovation hubs.

Women as Policy Architects, Not Just Beneficiaries

The Minister stressed that India’s scientific policies now see women not merely as participants, but as leaders and architects of the country’s knowledge economy. He pointed out that with more women scientists entering the ecosystem, there has also been an increase in:

• Women serving on expert committees

• Women participating in review boards and national missions

• Women contributing to policy formulation, particularly in S&T sectors

This shift ensures that funding structures, research priorities and national missions reflect diverse perspectives and lived experiences, making the ecosystem more equitable and future-ready.

A Decade of Transformational Change

Dr. Singh credited this progress to the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has consistently championed “Nari Shakti” as the foundation of national development. When the present Government assumed office in 2014, many women scientists—despite strong academic presence—were under-represented in high-impact research roles. Over the last decade, targeted interventions have changed this landscape dramatically.

The Road Ahead: Women Leading India’s Innovation Story

The Minister said that the next frontier lies in ensuring that the growing number of women scientists transition into leadership roles in national laboratories, scientific missions, innovation councils, tech entrepreneurship and strategic research programmes.

He reiterated that a stronger presence of women in high-technology domains is crucial for India’s aspirations in artificial intelligence, space research, quantum technologies, climate innovation, biomedical sciences and next-generation manufacturing.

Concluding his remarks, Dr. Jitendra Singh expressed confidence that India’s continued investments in women-centric S&T programmes will build a more diverse and powerful scientific community—one capable of addressing global challenges while shaping the nation’s technological future.