Promise of Science Nobels for Women

Context: Three women have recently won the Nobel prize for Chemistry and Physics, which is good news for women as well as global prosperity.

Significance of Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths);

• Positive feedback by inspiration: Women in STEM inspire more girls to take up such disciplines, and adding to the pool of knowledge worker who will create new products, technologies, etc. 
• Boosting Economy: Raising women’s participation in the workforce to the level of men can boost the Indian economy by 27%.

Challenges Faced by Women in STEM:

• Culture of Stereotypes:  STEM streams are considered as a male domain. Culture in these streams keeps the women out, irrespective of the innate ability or preference of women.
• Women shunning STEM would be disastrous for the world’s prosperity since the world would be deprived of a huge workforce of engineers and researchers.  
• Declining Labour Force: Women’s participation rate in the labour force has steadily fallen to 20.5% in 2019 from 30.3% in 1990. 

Way Ahead:

• Women’s Contribution beyond Teaching: The contribution of women in STEM must be enhanced at the doctoral and professional stages, beyond teaching science and maths in schools and colleges.
• A higher proportion of women in R&D roles will enhance their status, bringing in positive social change, vastly raise economic output and make available more talent to the world at large.

Conclusion: India’s girls should be able to shed the shadow of physical danger that follows them around and step into a world of promise and achievement.