Women on campus: An uphill climb at top B-schools

The gender ratio in India’s top business schools has been a mixed bag the past five years, with several premier management institutions struggling to ensure that at least half of their students are women.

- Pratishtha Bagai

While the percentage of women students enrolled at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in Lucknow and Calcutta has dropped since 2020, other centres of India’s premier business school have reported modest increases.

“I have observed that having mentors, seniors, role models, like, in this case, more women faculty, attracts younger women students,” said Narayanan Ramaswamy, partner and head of the education and skill development practice at KPMG in India.

“Older IIMs have a legacy and established procedures to follow. This makes any change to their current status more gradual compared to their newer counterparts. So while the established B-schools are making efforts to improve women enrolment, it is taking a tad longer for them,” Ramaswamy added.