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Opinion Breaking the bias: How India’s daughters are recasting success in science and innovation

History of Indian science demonstrates that when women are included, the country doesn’t just achieve equity, it achieves excellence

International Daughter’s Day is therefore more than symbolic. It serves as a reminder that every girl can become a scientist, innovator, or leader if given the opportunity. ( Express photo by Deepak Joshi)

Kishore Paknikar

September 29, 2025 01:19 PM IST First published on: Sep 29, 2025 at 12:00 PM IST

On September 28, India observed International Daughter’s Day, a day created to challenge the long-standing belief that a son is a blessing and a daughter a burden. For generations, this bias shaped families, politics, and even empires, leaving scars that still remain. Yet, the India of today tells a different story. Across laboratories, universities, and industries, daughters are breaking barriers and redefining what the nation can achieve. Their rise in science and technology is more than a story of personal triumph — it reflects how far India has come and how much further it can go when every daughter is given the opportunity to succeed.

The story is not new. In the twelfth century, the mathematician Bhaskara composed Lilavati, a poetic treatise on arithmetic that tradition links to his daughter. Whether legend or fact, its problems addressed to a girl signalled that a daughter could stand at the centre of mathematics, too. If Lilavati symbolised the possibility of daughters in the world of ideas, the colonial Doctrine of Lapse, centuries later, revealed how power was tied almost exclusively to male heirs. Under this policy, states without a natural-born son were annexed by the East India Company, as in the case of Jhansi. Such measures deepened the cultural obsession with male heirs, an anxiety that still lingers in many homes.

Against this background, the rise of women in Indian science is both impressive and meaningful. Kamala Sohonie fought to gain entry into the Indian Institute of Science in the 1930s and became the first Indian woman to earn a PhD in biochemistry. Her achievement paved the way for future women researchers. Soon after, Janaki Ammal in botany, Asima Chatterjee in chemistry, Bibha Chowdhuri in cosmic rays, and Anna Mani in meteorology followed. Each demonstrated that Indian women could make contributions at the highest levels of knowledge, even when society hesitated to accept them in laboratories and universities.

Post Independence, the numbers began to shift. In 1951, women formed only a small fraction of higher education, but today they account for nearly 48 per cent of enrolment, with near parity in many undergraduate science courses. The share declines at advanced levels; yet, about one in six R&D personnel in India are now women, and the share of women principal investigators is on the rise. The “leaky pipeline” remains, but the flow is stronger than ever before.

Equally striking are the fields where women now lead. In space science, Ritu Karidhal and M. Vanitha guided the Mars Orbiter Mission and Chandrayaan-2, while women scientists played a central role in the Chandrayaan-3 landing on the lunar south pole. In biotechnology, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw built Biocon into a global company that delivers affordable drugs, and Gagandeep Kang became the first Indian woman elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for her work in vaccine research. In defence, Tessy Thomas led India’s missile programmes. In medicine, Indira Hinduja achieved India’s first test-tube birth in 1986. In mathematics, Sujatha Ramdorai advanced number theory, while in physics, Rohini Godbole became an international voice in high-energy research.

Beyond science, women have made significant contributions to shaping engineering and industry. Sudha Murty was among the first female engineers on a factory floor and later expanded opportunities through the Infosys Foundation. Shalini Kapoor, India’s first woman IBM Fellow, exemplifies the rise of female leadership in artificial intelligence. Vandana Shiva brought scientific rigor to environmental activism. Lila Poonawalla and Anu Aga showed that technocrats can combine industrial leadership with education and philanthropy. These are not isolated exceptions but indicators of a deeper shift.

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Still, challenges remain. As of 2025, no IIT in India has ever had a woman as its regular director. The only exception is the overseas IIT Madras campus in Zanzibar, where Preeti Aghalayam was appointed director in charge, making her the first woman to lead any IIT. The lack of women in top positions at India’s leading technical institutions highlights how much progress still needs to be made. In India’s top science academies, women make up roughly 5 to 10 percent of Fellows, a statistic that shows how far there is still to go toward achieving equality. Government programmes like the Department of Science and Technology’s Women Scientists Scheme and KIRAN (Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing) are aimed at closing these gaps by supporting women’s research careers. These initiatives remain important, but they need to expand to meet the scale of the challenge. Institutional barriers such as limited childcare support and uneven recognition continue to prevent women from reaching the highest levels.

However, societal attitudes are changing. Families that once discouraged girls from pursuing science now celebrate their achievements. It’s now common to hear parents proudly say their daughter is at ISRO, AIIMS, or a leading startup. Many daughters now balance family responsibilities while engaging in rigorous research, quietly challenging the idea that only sons can provide security.

International Daughter’s Day is therefore more than symbolic. It serves as a reminder that every girl can become a scientist, innovator, or leader if given the opportunity. The history of Indian science demonstrates that when women are included, the country doesn’t just achieve equity; it achieves excellence. The story of Lilavati shows that centuries ago, a daughter could be envisioned at the center of mathematics. The story of the Doctrine of Lapse illustrates how colonial rule made male heirs appear essential. The story of modern India proves that such dependence is neither natural nor unavoidable. Celebrating daughters today, especially those making advancements in science and technology, is not just about rectifying the past but about unlocking the full potential of human talent. When every daughter has the freedom to learn, discover, and lead, India doesn’t just move toward equality — it moves toward greatness.

The writer is former director, Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, and visiting professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Views are personal