E-Paper
This year, only 1 in 5 students in Panjab University engineering courses are female
As per data available with Panjab University officials for the 2023-24 academic session, 582 students in engineering courses are male and only 170 are female, constituting only 22.6% of the total strength
Even though 47.7% of overall new enrolments at Panjab University (PU) this year are female, the gender divide is much higher in engineering courses, where 77.4% of total students are male.
As per data available with PU officials for the 2023-24 academic session, 582 students in engineering courses are male and only 170 are female, constituting only 22.6% of the total strength.
Even in the engineering courses already underway, only 374 of the total 1,977 students are female, forming a mere 19%.
The engineering courses are offered at University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), Dr SSB University Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology; Sophisticated Analytical Instrumentation Facility, CIL and UCIM.
Speaking about this, PU registrar YP Verma, who is also an associate professor at UIET, said, “Admission to engineering courses is merit-based and we give admission to whichever students come based on their merit in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main. Girl students are sometimes more motivated to study medical sciences, even as the students themselves are very bright and many of the toppers of our engineering courses are girls.”
He added that the university provided female students with infrastructure, including separate hostels and other facilities, to ensure their safety so they can come forward to study.
Apart from engineering, the percentage of male students is also higher in the faculty of business management and commerce courses, where 64.8% of the total students are male and 35.2% are female. For the faculty of languages, overall 60.2% students are male and 39.8% are female in the new batch.
Dean faculty languages Yograj Angrish said while more male students may apply for the courses, it was seen that more female students actually finished the courses and further went on to do research. He added that over the years, the number of female students coming for language courses had increased and the number of female students who studied English was much higher than male students.
Meanwhile, for other popular courses of PU, such as law and pharmaceutical sciences courses, the number of girl students is higher than boys. Under the faculty of pharmaceutical sciences courses, 59% of the students are female. Even in law courses, 54.2% students are female.
Rather than going for engineering, girls are opting for pure science courses, the numbers reflect. Under the faculty of sciences, 68.8% of the new enrolments are female, while only 31.2% are male.
A total of 7,190 students enrolled in PU in the 2023-24 session, which includes 2,977 male students and 2,712 female students. One transgender student also enrolled in the university.
