Parliamentary Report on Women Researchers' Career Progression
The Government of India, through the Ministry of Science & Technology, provided a comprehensive assessment of women's participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research careers in response to a parliamentary question. According to the Department of Science and Technology's Research & Development Statistics 2025-2026 report, women's participation in STEM research careers has shown consistent growth, increasing from 13% in 2000–01 to 18.6% in 2020–21 and further reaching 29% in 2023-24.
Identified Barriers to Career Progression
Multiple studies conducted by policy and research institutions including NITI Aayog, DST, and CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research have identified significant structural, institutional, and socio-cultural barriers that impede women's career progression despite many women completing postgraduate and doctoral education. Key challenges include career interruptions due to caregiving responsibilities, inadequate childcare infrastructure, limited availability of structured returnship programmes, insufficient flexible work arrangements and mentorship opportunities, work-life balance pressures, and negative impacts on health and well-being.
Government Support Schemes and Outcomes
The Government is implementing several targeted schemes to support women scientists returning to research after career breaks. The Department of Science and Technology's Women in Science and Engineering-KIRAN (WISE-KIRAN) scheme includes multiple components: WISE-PhD, WISE Post-Doctoral Fellowship (WISE-PDF), WISE-Societal Challenges with Opportunities (WISE-SCOPE), WISE Internship in Intellectual Property Rights (WISE-IPR), and WIDUSHI, supporting women in doctoral and post-doctoral research, translational research, intellectual property rights training, and continued research engagement for senior women scientists.
The Department of Biotechnology implements the Biotechnology Career Advancement and Re-orientation (BioCARe) scheme to facilitate re-entry of women scientists into biotechnology and allied research after career breaks. The Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, implements the Women Scientist Scheme (WSS) under the Central Sector Scheme Human Resource Development for Health Research to support women researchers returning to biomedical and health research after career breaks due to motherhood or family responsibilities.
These initiatives have yielded significant measurable outcomes: under WISE-KIRAN, over 4,000 women scientists have received research support, while 942 women have been trained in Intellectual Property Rights, with 413 becoming registered patent agents. The BioCARe scheme has supported 415 women researchers across research institutions and universities nationwide, facilitating their successful re-entry into research careers.