On September 24, 2014, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) inserted a space probe into the orbit of Mars, becoming the fourth space agency in the world to do so and the first to achieve this goal on its maiden attempt. When news of the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) broke in the international media, a photo that became viral was that of a group of ISRO women scientists clad in colorful saris, bindis on their forehead and jasmine flowers in their hair celebrating this accomplishment (@Mangalyaan on Twitter). Several articles about the “Rocket women” of India [1, 2], a book [3], and even a Bollywood movie (Mission Mangal) have been inspired by it. While this may present a rosy picture of the state of women in science in India, what is the actual state of affairs on the ground?

The academic ladder

Scientific research careers in academia generally consist of a series of promotions from a graduate student, PhD student, postdoctoral researcher, project/group leader, assistant professor, associate professor to full professor. Academic researchers have to teach, conduct research, apply for grants as well as perform administrative tasks.

In 2000, women consisted of close to 40% of undergraduates, 25-30% of PhD students, and 15-20% of faculty in India [4]. These numbers reflect the attrition rate of women from academic research careers, referred to as the leaky pipeline of talent, at universities in the US and Europe as well [5, 6]. At the premier institutes in India, especially in engineering disciplines, all the above numbers are much lower. Women consisted of only 7.7% of the faculty at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (IISc) in 2008 [4]. Even today, there are departments at IISc without any or only a single female faculty [7-10]. Similar situations exist in other high-profile institutions such as the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research and the Indian Institutes of Technology.

At the very top of the Indian academic ladder are the three academies of science in the country. At the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy, the current percentage of female fellows is 8.3% and 6.6%, respectively. At the National Academy of Science, the percentage of female fellows elected in 2018 was 12%. To date, women have accounted for only 3% of the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Awardees, which is the topmost scientific award for scientists below the age of 45 in India [11].

Government and institutional policies

In order to address the low level of representation of women, the department of science and technology (DST) of the Government of India had instituted a task force for Women in Science in 2006-2010. There exist a standing committee for promoting women in science in 2016 as well as offers several research fellowships under the Women Scientists Scheme [12]. Since 2005, the Indian Academy of Sciences has a panel for Women in Science, which has organized lecture series and networking events to retain scientific “womanpower”. All women central government employees are entitled to 180 days of maternity leave.

Social attitudes to women scientists

Well-meaning initiatives by the government are wasted if women are not made welcome in science due to patriarchal attitudes. Women do require more support to stay in science. That is, the price society at large has to pay to women for taking the time and effort to propagate the human race. The demands of family, motherhood, and career are the primary reasons female talent is leaking from the research pipeline.

In addition to the issue of integrating family and work that all career women face, women scientists have to deal with the long unpaid hours, short term research contracts, travels, and sabbaticals required to be undertaken to survive in science. Although the academic research environment in India is not as grant-driven as in the US, resulting in lesser overall pressure on academic researchers, maternity breaks and an inability to break into the old-boys network can severely stunt career growth. The division of household labor in India is severely skewed and in most cases, non-negotiable [13], and as a result, women scientists have to “multi-multi-multitask” to have a shot at success.  It is instead of telling that the article in BBC News about B. P Dakshayani, the former head of flight dynamics and space navigation for ISRO, was titled “Rocket woman: how to cook curry and get a spacecraft into Mars orbit”[1].

Nobel Laureate Sir Tim Hunt’s infamous joke about women in science “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls; three things happen when they are in the lab. You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them, they cry.” [14] highlights the pervasive sexism in the scientific community. Surprisingly in India, there is a significant number of women teaching science and mathematics in schools as well as in undergraduate colleges where little research takes place [4]. Unlike in the West, where young girls have to be convinced to even take up engineering and science education, in India, the issue is to convince and facilitate women to take up scientific research careers. A book of essays about women scientists in India has several stories of personal battles fought at home to be allowed to take up scientific research [15].

How can the leaky pipeline be fixed?

A simple measure, such as on-site childcare facilities and safe spaces, enabling women to work off-hours in laboratories, goes a long way to ensure that women can remain in science. Creating awareness in society is a much more significant challenge to which there is no obvious solution. Parents should not have to choose between educating their daughters or saving for their dowries/marriage expenses. There should be less societal pressure on women to marry young and have children at the cost of their scientific careers.

Every woman supported to stay in the sciences will serve as a role model for the next generation of girls. Perhaps a movement similar to the #MeToo campaign is required to highlight the prejudices women scientists face. #WomeninScienceToo?

Footnote: At the very bottom of the academic ladder lie issues of school enrollment, girls dropping out to contribute to the domestic labour market and shortage of quality teachers in rural areas, but that is a story for another day.

References

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-45374442

[2]https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/how-these-badass-women-spearheaded-isros-mars-orbiter-mission_in_5cc05ef6e4b01b6b3efb1b26/

[3] Vaid. M, Those Magnificent Women And Their Flying Machines: ISRO’s Mission on Mars, Speaking Tiger Publishing Pvt Ltd 2019

[4] https://www.ias.ac.in/public/Resources/Initiatives/Women_in_Science/AASSA_India.pdf

[5] https://www.fix-the-leaky-pipeline.ch/index-html/about/

[6] Hechtman. L. A et al., NIH funding longevity by gender, 115(31), 2018, 7943-7948.

[7] https://materials.iisc.ac.in/faculty/

[8] http://math.iisc.ac.in/faculty.html/

[9] http://www.ee.iisc.ac.in/people-faculty.php/

[10] http://www.orgchem.iisc.ac.in/faculty/

[11] http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/AwardeeList.aspx/

[12] https://dst.gov.in/scientific-programmes/scientific-engineering-research/women-scientists-programs

[13] Luke. N. et al., J. Marriage Fam., 76(3), 2014, 620-637.

[14]https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/10/nobel-scientist-tim-hunt-female-scientists-cause-trouble-for-men-in-labs/ 

[15] Rohini Godbole et al., LILAVATI’S DAUGHTERS, The Women Scientists of India, Indian Academy of Sciences.