Faculty Publications
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Item Perception of Engineering Among Girls in India: Implications on Career Decisions(Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited, 2025) Geethalakshmi, P.M.; Thomas, V.V.; Sumam David, S.S.India is witnessing a steady growth in the enrolment of girls into engineering education. There has been a change in the enrolment status from 9% in 2012 to almost 20% in 2023. This positive movement may be attributed to the affirmative actions taken by the Indian government in promoting engineering education among girls. These actions were conceived with a hope to reach critical mass to maintain the momentum. The vision thus is to facilitate participation of girls in technical domain as an organic movement. Taking this development into cognizance, this study examines the current perception of engineering among female science students (those opted for Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry in senior secondary classes) and their intended direction of higher education. Senior high school female science students from seven different high schools (n=150) were administered an open-ended question seeking their understanding on engineers and engineering. 137 students responded. The responses were analysed using content analysis. The analysis resulted in four categories viz., ‘Impression of engineers’, ‘Impression of engineering career’, ‘Association of utilitarian value, and ‘Association of income’. The theme which ran across these categories was ‘relate, recognize and requirement’. The study revealed that largely female students have expressed their intention of higher education, without exploring or seeking more clarity on the image which they hold to be correct. It could also be seen that there was no explicit mention of the gendered nature of engineering although it was implicit in their perception. We, thus propose interventions aiming at providing a comprehensive view on engineering field making it as an attractive and possible career option for female science students. © the authors, 2025. All Rights Reserved.Item Choice of engineering education among girls in India - the journey so far(Rajarambapu Institute Of Technology, 2021) Geethalakshmi, P.M.; Sumam David, S.; Thomas, V.V.Gender disparity in engineering enrolment is quite significant although there is only a very narrow gap in girls’ enrollment in higher education in India. The overall enrolment of girls in engineering programs is 27.5%. By affirmative action of introducing supernumerary quota for girls, Ministry of Education targets to increase the enrolment of girls which was 8% and 14 % respectively in IITs and NITs in 2016-17 to 20% in 2020-21. Therefore, it is essential to explore the reasons behind the reluctance of girls in choosing engineering education, even when the nature of engineering jobs has evolved to be gender neutral. It is even more significant now when National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is targeting to achieve a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 50 % by 2035 from the current 27 %. This paper reviews the existing studies to understand the nature of influence of both external and internal factors and their interaction on the girls’ choice of higher education. Literature review of the research articles for two decades was conducted. It includes both published and unpublished work on the subject. There are no studies conducted nationwide, post 2004 to address the reasons for disproportionate representation of girls in engineering education in India. It is found that the findings are contextual in nature with respect to culture of the society. In, particular, the influence of parental perception influences the association of gender with engineering studies, among the girls. Awareness and exposure of the nature of engineering jobs among parents and the girls can bring in the desired change. © 2021, Rajarambapu Institute Of Technology. All rights reserved.Item Choosing engineering education: understanding the motives of Indian young women-a narrative inquiry(Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2025) Geethalakshmi, P.M.; Thomas, V.V.; David, S.Young women in India are now seen choosing engineering education in the institutes of national importance, marking the beginning of inclusivity. With the aim of sustaining this positive momentum, this study explores the experiences of young women which led them into engineering education. Polkinghorne’s Two kinds of analysis–‘Analysis of narratives’ and ‘Narrative analysis’ are adopted to understand the narratives. The study revealed a nuanced understanding of their motives and triggers. The stories of nine students are shared under two narrative types–‘Engineer by choice’ and ‘Engineer by chance’. ‘Engineer by choice’ captures the narratives of those women who employed their agentic self in realizing their dream, while ‘engineer by chance’ captures the stories of those women who used engineering education as a fallback option when their dreams did not materialize. McAdam’s Narrative identity theory and Gotfredson’s theory of circumscription and compromise are used in analysis to understand the nature of contextual support needed in the growing years. Interventions at the school level by career counselling cells are proposed. Exposure to potential careers, awareness of favourable policies in organizations, and conduct of workshops with opportunities to solve real-life challenges, are proposed to create favourable disposition towards engineering among girls. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.