Increase in enrollment of women in higher education also had an impact on the choice of subjects. Science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) subjects also attracted a large number of women as their professional choices. However, employment for women in STEM domain has largely remained inadequate and contributed to the overall declining employment trend for women. There are several socio-cultural barriers seriously impeding women's development as professionals in the field of STEM. The government facilitated re-entry of women in science through dedicated women scientist schemes, but domination of life sciences indicates professional gendered segregation. Women in India are largely employed in the unorganized sectors, and improving women participation in the STEM domain can enable women's participation in the organized industry sector institutions. The emergence of Industry 4.0 provides an opportunity to not contribute further to the widened gender disparities and gender stereotypes. This will be a big leap for the emergence of a gender-inclusive work culture in the industry sectors.
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The overall increase in enrollment had an impact on access to higher education for women as well as a choice of subjects. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) subjects also attracted many women as their professional choices (UGC, 2012). However, only a small percentage of women pursuing science can convert their choices into a career in science (INSA, 2004). There are many women engineers, Ph.D. degree holders, and master’s degree holders in science who did not end up having a career in science. Women who managed to join the scientific community had to struggle hard for their visibility. Employment for women in the STEM domain has largely remained inadequate and contributed to the overall declining employment trend for women in the country for the past two decades now. Several socio-cultural barriers seriously impede women’s development as professionals in the field of STEM as a result increased enrollment of girls in science has not led to an increase in employment for women in science (Sinha & Sinha, 2011, SED’s report on status of women Scientists, 2011). Low female participation in STEM studies and consequently STEM careers has been a concern voiced by countries around the globe (UNICEF, 2020).
Science, Technology, and Innovation policy, 2013 (STIP, 2013) envisaged gender parity by addressing mobility challenges and re-entry of women into R&D. Government of India started schemes to facilitate re-entry of women in science through dedicated women scientists Scheme/programs since 2015-161. Women Scientist Scheme-A (WoS-A) is meant to promote women in STEM by granting projects for research in Basic /Applied sciences. There has been an overall increase in several projects in most of the sub-disciplines covered by the scheme but domination of life sciences indicates professional/gendered segregation. Over the years (2015-16, 2016-2017, and 2018-19), the trend of projects in various sub-disciplines has been - life sciences (362 projects), Physical & Mathematics (134 projects), Engineering & Technology (110 projects), and Earth & Atmospheric Sciences (39 projects). The numbers of these projects are low as compared to the need for a large pool of unemployed women qualified in STEM.
With the rapid digital transformation required to meet Industry 4.0 goals, demand for a technologically competent workforce is rising. Research has indicated that STEM-related jobs will grow and play a critical role. India’s digital core sectors are expected to create 60 to 65 million jobs by 2025 (McKinsey, 2019), many of which require functional STEM skills. National Education Policy (NEP, 2020), emphasis on flexibility of curriculum and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) courses is a welcome step in this direction. It is time to use this opportunity for inclusive development and meet the goal of inclusive development by increasing the participation of women in this digital transformation. Industry 4.0 has to include gender perspectives by mainstreaming women in various technology-based sectors of the industry.