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The HinduJuly 11, 2026

Over and above: On the All India Survey on Higher Education data

With more Indian women entering university campuses, the gender gap in college classrooms has narrowed. The latest All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) data for 2023-24 reveal that absolute female enrolment rose by 42% over the past decade, climbing from 1.57 crore in 2014-15 to 2.24 crore. In comparison, male enrolment grew from 1.85 crore to 2.26 crore during the same period. Women have comfortably surpassed the male growth rate of 22.16%, pushing total higher education enrolment to a record 4.5 crore . They now account for nearly half (49.7%) of all students in Indian universities and colleges. With a Gender Parity Index of 1.08, 108 young women now enter higher education for every 100 men. This marks a hard-won victory, especially for marginalised communities, where female enrolment among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes rose by 51.4% and 75.7%, respectively. Yet, a deeper look at the data demands caution. High enrolment numbers are a superficial veneer if the pipeline of employment opportunities beyond the college gate remains broken. While women make up 44% of STEM students, this number is heavily skewed toward the “S” (general sciences such as biology and chemistry), where they hold a 54.6% majority. In contrast, engineering and technology remain male-dominated, with women making up just 31.1% of enrolment. By clustering in traditional sciences, women are isolated from the future-proof economic drivers of artificial intelligence and software engineering. Educational institutions remain largely patriarchal. While the student body reflects a 50-50 split, there are only 82 female teachers for every 100 male teachers. Women remain absent from top-tier leadership roles. Further, the influx of students has coincided with an explosion of private and low-tier colleges, which face acute faculty shortages and poor infrastructure. India also faces a disconnect between higher education and the formal job market. The Female Labor Force Participation Rate remains low due to societal expectations, domestic responsibilities, and safety barriers. According to the 2025 PLFS report, men dominate the regular salaried workforce (26.5% versus 18.2%) and earn more. Average monthly earnings stand at ₹24,217 for men, compared with ₹18,353 for women. While 64.2% of women are classified as self-employed, this categorisation is vague and the statistic often includes unpaid household or farm labour, failing to show where women students go after they exit lecture halls. As 2.24 crore young women claim their place on campuses, the burden shifts to policymakers, institutional heads, and industry leaders to ensure that these women stay on in fruitful paid employment aligned with their degrees. Published - July 11, 2026 12:10 am IST Read Comments Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit READ LATER SEE ALL Remove Related Topics gender / India / university / universities and colleges / survey / education / students / Caste / minority group / science (general) / technology (general) / engineering / mathematics / chemistry (education) / software / Artificial Intelligence / higher education / employment

Key GK Takeaways for CLAT
  • 1The sharp rise in Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women's enrolment, up 51.4% and 75.7% respectively, reflects affirmative action enabled by Article 15(4) of the Constitution, which permits special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes, and Article 46, a Directive Principle obligating the state to promote the educational interests of SCs and STs. Regulatory bodies like the University Grants Commission and the All India Council for Technical Education oversee reservation implementation in admissions across public higher education institutions. Translating these enrolment gains into meaningful policy outcomes, however, still depends heavily on state-level implementation and monitoring.
  • 2India's push to expand higher education access aligns with the National Education Policy 2020's target of raising the Gross Enrolment Ratio to 50% by 2035, up from around 28% at present. The stark gender skew toward general sciences over engineering and technology, with women holding just 31.1% of engineering enrolment, undercuts India's ambitions to build a competitive workforce for artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing under initiatives such as the India AI Mission. Closing this gap is increasingly framed as a matter of economic competitiveness, not simply gender equity.
  • 3The persistent wage gap, with men earning an average of ₹24,217 a month against ₹18,353 for women per the 2025 Periodic Labour Force Survey, sits alongside India's Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, later subsumed into the Code on Wages, 2019, which mandates equal pay for equal work regardless of gender. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which conducts the PLFS, has long flagged the ambiguity of the 'self-employed' category as a measurement challenge. Enforcement of equal-pay provisions remains especially weak in the informal sector, where most self-employed women are concentrated.
  • 4Female enrolment climbed from 1.57 crore in 2014-15 to 2.24 crore in 2023-24, a 42% rise that outpaced male enrolment growth of 22.16% over the same decade, pushing total higher education enrolment to a record 4.5 crore students. Yet women hold just 31.1% of engineering and technology seats compared to a 54.6% majority in general sciences, and only 82 women teach for every 100 male faculty members. The Female Labour Force Participation Rate remains structurally low, with only 18.2% of women in regular salaried jobs against 26.5% of men, showing education gains have not yet closed India's employment gender gap.

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