Gender parity has always been an attention-grabbing issue in some of the most well-known educational institutions in India.

Several authorities and educational boards have believed in abolishing the concepts of gender bias with eminent strategies and approaches, thus, nurturing the concept of gender diversity in different campuses and centres.

Female candidates have always fallen prey to gender bias and neglection across their walks of lives. However, the educational institutions of the nation have always expressed their responsibility towards offering a relevant solution for the issue.

In a recent report, IIM Calcutta, Kozhikode, and Lucknow campus will be witnessing a surge in the number of female qualifiers.

However, there has also been a reported fall in the number of female candidates at the IIM Ahmedabad and Bangalore centres. The reports were based on the number of female candidates who would be joining the centres for the upcoming session or the new class.

Moreover, the statistics were also compared to the previous year graphs indicating the digits of male and female qualifiers.

The trend of qualifiers based on gender data has been flowing in different directions for different IIM campuses. Therefore, the report and qualifier trend has caught the attention of people to a great extent, thus, pushing them to think of future scenarios.

Newer campuses showing positive results in gender diversity drive 

The Economic Times reported that there had been an increase in female candidates joining the newer IIM campuses like Kashipur , Raipur and other centres like Kozhikode, Lucknow, and Calcutta as well.

There have been reports that the mentioned campuses will be seeing more females in the next session due to the extra weightage assigned to female candidates throughout the selection process.

The new IIM schools have been designed with selection guidelines ensuring that no female should be devoid of a stable career. Thus, allowing more females to opt for some of the best management and business programmes offered by the institution.

However, due to the fall in many female candidates in other campuses, the Indian Institute of Management’s drive for gender diversity is under severe challenges. 

Hurdle for IIM and unexpected challenges 

The Indian Institute of Management has always believed in bring positive results in terms of gender diversity. However, with new reports coming up, the institution has been considering it as an unexpected set-back.

The number of female applicants has not seen any downfall or increase. Therefore, people have been wondering why there has been an overall fall in the number of qualified female candidates for the next academic session.

Not only this, the joint statistics of several female qualifiers at IIM Calcutta, Kozhikode, Lucknow, and Ahmedabad have dropped by 31 per cent in the year 2015-17 from the last year.

Moreover, there has been a steep fall in the percentage of female qualifiers at IIM Ahmedabad. As per recent reports, a female qualifier at IIM Ahmedabad in the previous year was at 23.71 per cent.

However, the percentage has fallen to 21.7 for the next academic session. Errol D’Souza, Director of IIM Ahmedabad, says that the institution has not specified any gender-based quota or extra credits for the enrolling female candidates in the admission or selection process.

Therefore, the goal of gender diversity has been difficult to achieve lately. However, the authorities have been working rigorously to hunt the cause of the reports and why gender diversity goals have been difficult to achieve.

IIM Bangalore indicating an opposite trend 

Amidst the failure of the gender diversity goals, IIM Bangalore has been witnessing an opposite trend as compared to the other campuses. The well-known institution is the only exception in terms of the number of female qualifiers for the coming up academic session.

The percentage of female qualifiers have risen significantly. The institution has not altered any of its selection process vis-s-vis female applicant since the past three years.

The authorities believe that women fight for their seat alongside men through an equal and unbiased pathway. Therefore, the candidates are chosen based on their performance only. The increased percentage has surprised the authorities too.

The prevailing scenarios have made the IIM authorities look for loopholes. Despite additional support of gender diversity policies and extra scoring points, the number of female qualifiers has been witnessing an overall decrease.

The number of female applicants for CAT examination have been consistent since the past 2-3 years. Bringing improvement in gender diversity ratio has been of great importance to the Indian Institute of Management since the past few years.

Therefore, the newer campuses have successfully made changes in their selection process. Similarly, IIM Calcutta has modified its admission policy and gives additional credits for female applicants during the preliminary short-listing stage.

The IIM institution and its centres have always believed that different perspectives will assist in the maintenance of a diverse holistic outlook in the global front, making the students of IIM stand out from the rest of the future leaders. 

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