Diversity and Women in Science: The Indian Perspective

The challenges of women in science and engineering in India stand distinct from that of the West and other developed countries. There are problems, some of which are similar and some that are distinctly different. It is seen that over the years, girls continue to outperform boys at school and college level. Gender inequality in science, in India has shifted from student participation in higher education to the workplace. The need to unfold the complexity of multiple institutions that impact functioning of work spaces and its interconnectedness with gender requires a dynamic theoretical framework to capture the shifting multiple realities of women in science in India. What ails Indian women in science is the invisible resistance to acknowledge that gender in science is a specialised field of knowledge. This requires building of scholarship in the discipline through an intense engagement in theory and practice and cannot be extrapolated by individual experiences or/and experiences of one's peers.