Not fair: Only 11% women V-Cs in Indian univs

THE highest echelons still remain inaccessible to women in education, a field predominantly dominated by the female workforce, with only 11.18% occupying the Vice-Chancellor (VC) positions in universities across the country, data shows.

- S LALITHA @ New Delhi

Out of 1,073 universities under the ambit of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), just 120 have women VCs, Secretary General of AIU, Pankaj Mittal, told this newspaper. "Of this figure, 16 hold the top job in universities where the post is exclusively reserved for female appointees," she said. India has a total of 1,200-odd universities with 90% of them affiliated to the association.

Women are increasingly occupying mid-level leadership roles like the Heads of Departments or Controller of Examinations. "However, gender parity at the top remains elusive. The positive aspect is that the present situation is much better compared to the trend in our country three years ago when only 7% of universities had women VCs," Mittal elaborated.