New Delhi: India’s growth rate is not just limited to its policies, but actually to its people. If we look deeper into this, its youth or young population is the main reason. It is not fair to exclude a section of the youth from getting education in the country’s prestigious educational institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Hope by now you understand that we are talking about women’s enrollment in India.

As recently as the mid-2000s, only eight women were getting admission in BTech courses at IITs for every 100 men. Intending to increase the gender ratio in IITs, the government had set up a committee headed by the then IIT Mandi Director Timothy Gonsalves. The committee identified the reasons for the low enrolment of women in IITs – low spending on daughters’ education for coaching, and families reluctant to take admission in branches like mechanical or civil, worried about their safety on campus. Considering the reasons, the committee recommended the creation of female supernumerary seats instead of reserving seats for women. Instead of reserving seats, adding new seats only for women students.

Seven years after its introduction, supernumerary seats for women on IIT campuses have continued to increase. The number of women admitted to IITs at the beginning of the 2018-19 academic year was 14 per cent. This figure increased to 19 per cent in 2019-20. Women’s enrolment in IITs has been on a positive growth trajectory since its introduction in 2018. This is all because of the number of supernumerary seats and the number of girls confirming admissions to IITs.

Nitin Vijay, Founder and CEO, Motion Education, pointed to a positive trend for girl candidates in the current academic year and said, “The chances for girls to get into IITs are significantly higher in 2025 due to the increase in seats and the 20 per cent female supernumerary quota. With 1,364 new BTech seats added this year, taking the total to over 18,500 across 23 IITs, the opportunity for deserving female aspirants is brighter than ever.”

“It is to be noted that female admissions in JEE Advanced have averaged 22 per cent in the last three years, while male admissions have averaged around 78 per cent. The female supernumerary quota, in addition to the current female pool, continues to provide accessibility and opportunities for girls to get admitted to India’s best engineering colleges,” he added.

Almost all IITs have surpassed the target of at least 20 per cent girls’ admission. This is thanks to special efforts by institutes to encourage girls to opt for IITs through orientation sessions, which explain campus life and the benefits of studying in prestigious institutions, besides assuring them of security concerns.