75 years on, women see little representaion at SPPU

The present VC is the 26th VC of the university since 1948. Currently, the vice-chancellor, pro-vice-chancellor and registrar-in-charge are all men. With a registrar yet to be appointed, the issue of gender representation is being raised.

Unfortunately, as the 2016-17 AISHE report points out, the state of SPPU echoes the state of the nation, with only 17 per cent of vice-chancellor, pro-vice-chancellor and director positions across universities in India are held by women.

While correctly pointing out that the picture of women representation in India is not exclusively pathetic in SPPU, senate member Aparna Lalingkar told The Indian Express, “Most higher positions everywhere are not given to women. It is perceived that women have extra household responsibilities, even though it should not be that way. Women are indeed represented in SPPU, but not as much as the men are. As far as appointment to higher positions is concerned, it depends majorly on the application and qualifications of the candidates.”

Academic Staff

The picture remains similar, if not worse when it comes to academic departments. None of the deans are women. Only 12 heads of departments among almost 46 departments are women. Of them, only three are heads of departments under the Science and Technology section, which comprises more than 20 departments. The other nine women head departments under the commerce section, humanities and social science section and the interdisciplinary section.

Gade said, “Women representation was very good when I was the VC. Among the heads of departments, women outnumbered men, even in the science stream. I do not know what has happened in the last six to seven years. I see no reason as I know many qualified and capable women who are experts in their fields. The student body during my time was very diverse as well.

Students

Aa per NIRF data provided by SPPU, the difference between enrollment of men and women at the undergraduate (3–year) level in SPPU is moderate, with 212 of a total 452 students being women, which makes for 46.9 per cent. The difference is greater at the post-graduate level, with 45 per cent or 2,072 of 4,538 students being women.
This is in complete contrast to the data as per in a report released in 2021, by University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), which says that nationwide, more women than men are pursuing post-graduation, diplomas and doctorates.

While enrollment of women in higher education in India was 47 per cent, including undergraduate courses (2,06,91,792 of 4,32,68,181), the percentage of women attending SPPU has remained around 43 per cent (2,224 out of 5,163).

The 55 per cent increase in enrollment of women seen in other Indian universities in the last five years has not been seen in SPPU at such a rapid rate. Although the gap between students is decreasing steadily, the same cannot be said for administrative and academic bodies.