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The HinduJuly 12, 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
  • 1Higher education falls under the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule, giving both the Union and state governments legislative competence, and AISHE itself is compiled by the Ministry of Education under this shared framework. Article 15(3) of the Constitution empowers the state to make special provisions for women, forming the constitutional basis for schemes such as scholarships and hostel infrastructure that have driven female enrolment growth. Reservation policies under Articles 15(4) and 15(5) further explain why Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe female enrolment has risen faster than the national average.
  • 2The National Education Policy 2020 set a target Gross Enrolment Ratio of 50% in higher education by 2035, and rising female participation is a major driver of progress toward that goal. Schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and the National Scholarship Portal specifically target female retention from school through higher education to prevent drop-off at key transition points. However, the editorial's data suggests policy success in expanding access has outpaced parallel reforms needed in employment linkage, such as campus placement cells and apprenticeship pipelines.
  • 3The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, now subsumed into the Code on Wages, 2019, mandates equal pay for equal work and is directly relevant to the earnings gap the editorial highlights between male and female graduates. The Supreme Court's ruling in Mackinnon Mackenzie & Co. v. Audrey D'Costa (1987) affirmed that pay-parity claims are judicially enforceable, though implementation remains weak for the informal and self-employed sectors where most women workers are classified. The UGC's gender equity guidelines also require universities to constitute Internal Complaints Committees under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013, to support safer campuses as female enrolment grows.
  • 4Female higher education enrolment climbed 42% over a decade, from 1.57 crore in 2014-15 to 2.24 crore in 2023-24, pushing total enrolment to a record 4.5 crore students. Despite near-parity in classrooms, the 2025 Periodic Labour Force Survey shows men dominate regular salaried employment at 26.5% versus women's 18.2%, with average monthly earnings of ₹24,217 for men against ₹18,353 for women. Engineering and technology, among the highest-paying STEM fields, remain skewed male at roughly 69% of enrolment, meaning women's gains in STEM are concentrated in lower-wage general science streams rather than the highest-return disciplines.

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