The document discusses strategies for empowering women and achieving gender parity. It begins by providing context around International Women's Day and its 2022 theme of gender equality for a sustainable future. It then discusses concepts like the glass ceiling and barriers that women face in leadership roles. Specifically, it notes disparities in leadership positions in higher education in India based on AISHE reports. The document also shares the author's personal experiences overcoming barriers and their efforts to promote women through programs like mentoring and multiple pathways in education. Overall, the document advocates for deliberate efforts to support women's leadership and break down barriers like the glass ceiling.

1. Dr. Vasudha Kamat
Member, NEP Draft Committee
International Women’s Day (March 8, 2022)
Breaking the Glass Ceiling
Gender Equality and Women Empowerment

2. International Women’s Day-2022
The theme of IWD 2022 is
“Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”
17-03-2022 Empowering Women, Building Gender Parity: Prof. Vasudha Kamat 2
https://www.unwomen.org/en

3. International Women’s Day-2022
“Gender equality today
for a sustainable tomorrow”
Recognizing the contribution of women and
girls around the world, who are leading the
charge on climate change adaptation,
mitigation, and response,
to build a more sustainable future for all.
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https://www.unwomen.org/en

4. Gender Equality
Building bridges for gender equality, UNESCO
https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/2019genderreport
UNESCO prioritizes gender equality in and
through education.
The stakes are twofold:
1. The education of girls and women is a
fundamental human right
2. It is also an essential lever for sustainable
development and peace.
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5. Glass Ceiling
(in Education Sector)

6. Enrollment in Higher Education
Ref: AISHE Reports for 4 years
https://aishe.gov.in/aishe/home
Year Boys Girls Total
enrolment
2016-17 19.0
53.2%
16.7
46.8%
35.7
2017-18 19.2
52.4%
17.4
47.6%
36.6
2018-19 19.2
51.4%
18.2
48.6%
37.4
2019-20 19.6
51%
18.9
49%
38.5
Figures in Millions
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7. Gender Parity Index (GPI) of HE
GER
%
GER of Boys
%
GER of Girls
%
GPI
2016-17 25.2 26.0 24.5 0.94
2017-18 25.8 26.3 25.4 0.97
2018-19 26.3 26.3 26.4 1.00
2019-20 27.1 26.9 27.3 1.01
https://aishe.gov.in/aishe/home
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GER: Gross Enrollment Ratio

8. Gender difference at P.G. & Ph.D. levels
Ref: AISHE Reports for 4 years
https://aishe.gov.in/aishe/home
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Year Boys % Girls %
2016-17 660749 44.7 817170 55.3
2017-18 656776 43.7 847627 56.3
2018-19 637265 42.2 862799 57.8
2019-20 656690 41.6 921014 58.4
Year Boys % Girls %
2016-17 16274 56.5 12505 43.5
2017-18 20179 58.7 14221 41.3
2018-19 23765 58.2 17048 41.8
2019-20 21577 55.3 17409 44.7
Pass out at Postgraduate Level
Pass out at Ph.D. Level

9. Faculty members in Higher Education
Male Female Total
N % N % N
Vice Chancellor 534 92 49 8 583
Director 3,362 83 682 17 4,044
Pro- Vice-Chancellor 73 76 23 24 96
Principal 24,946 72 9,783 28 34,729
Professor & Equivalent 57,635 73 21,369 27 79,004
Associate Professor
+Reader+ Selection
Grade
1,10,840 63 64,165 37 1,75,005
Assistant Professor
+Lecturer (Senior Scale)
+Lecturer
5,19,329 57 3,92,291 43 9,11,620
Total 7,16,719 59 4,88,362 41 12,05,081
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Source: NIEPA Database, 2018-19

10. Disparity in Leadership Positions (Glass Ceiling?)
Men Women
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Vice-Chancellor
Director
Pro Vice-Chancellor
Principal
Professor & Equivalent
Associate Professor
Assistant Professor
92%
83%
76%
72%
73%
63%
57%
8%
17%
24%
28%
27%
37%
43%
Source: NIEPA Database, 2018-19

11. Glass Ceiling
 Globally, women face barriers from being recruited to
receiving promotions for no fault of theirs.
 Women in leadership roles are still in minority.
 Globally women hold only 24% of senior roles.
 In India, the current percentage of senior roles held by
women is only 20% (increased from 17% in 2017)
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12. 17-03-2022 Empowering Women, Building Gender Parity: Prof. Vasudha Kamat 12
 Independent Directors of Companies (Companies Act 2013)
Second proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 149 prescribes
that certain class of companies as prescribed shall at least
have one woman director on its board.
 Most companies appoint ONE Woman Director
Ms. Swati Piramal: “I’ve always found myself being the only woman on many
boards. In fact, I was the first woman in 90 years to be the president of
Assocham, the apex chamber of commerce.”
(2020, https://www.forbesindia.com/)
Glass Ceiling: Examples

13. Glass Ceiling: Examples
 Selection of Vice Chancellor of a University
3 Member Committee
All three or 2 out of 3 are men.
Men generally choose men.
 Women in leadership roles for bringing women on board (e.g.
in selection committees) are still in minority.
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14. My personal experience
with the glass ceiling

15. 1. I was fortunate to get educated in schools which did not
distinguish between boys and girls, we were sitting in separate
rows but that is all. All other treatments were same.
(I studied in 7 schools for 8 years of schooling.)
2. Four colleges where I studied (For B.Sc. Degree) also were
really not thinking about gender.
3. One thing strikes me that none of my college teachers and
Principals were women (this was during 1967-71, more than 50
years ago)
Schooling and Higher Education
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16.  After teaching in school for 3 years, I studied for my B. Ed.,
M.Ed. and Ph.D. I had planned to earn Ph.D. before completion
of 30 years and I was awarded Ph.D. at the age of 28 years.
 Deciding on life mission, purpose and planning accordingly
requires efforts. To achieve the goals requires determination.
I learned these values from my parents. My father was an
armyman during WWII, a very disciplined medical professional
and with high values for life! My mother who is also Doctor by
profession instilled high values in her children.
Professional Education
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17. I do not have any severe experience of Glass Ceiling (may be
because I did not project myself as “Women Professional” but just a
professional.
 I was deeply interested in my work
 University organized a 3-month Management Development
Programme with ACU-CIDA grant which helped me to prepare
myself for leadership role
 I developed expertise required for the leadership role
 I was Proactive and not Reactive
 I strongly believed in ‘together we win’
Experience of Glass Ceiling
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18. My first severe experience of Glass Ceiling.
 It was the first meeting of JBVC (Joint Board of Vice Chancellors)
after I took charge as Vice Chancellor of SNDTWU in 2011.
 I was the only woman VC.
 Hon’ble Chancellor, Chief Minister, Minister of Higher and
Technical Education were present.
 SNDTWU had introduced Semester and Credit System and was
exploring CBCS. Chief Minister suggested to constitute a
committee for CBCS with me as Chairperson. Half the VCs said it
will not work, we (read Men) can do it better. It was shocking!
Experience of Glass Ceiling
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19.  Social and Cultural
 Psychological
 Organizational structure
Barriers in Glass Ceiling Effect
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 Family responsibility, gender role
stereotypes, Parent’s attitude
towards education of girls
 Decision making,
responsibilities, Confidence,
 Competition, Bigger challenges,
male dominated world, men’s
stereotyping of women, Politics

20. Helping women
to break the glass ceiling

21. 3-4 year undergraduate degree with
multiple entry- multiple exit options
Exit
Exit
Flexible Masters
degree programmes
1 Year:
Diploma
2 Year:
Advance
Diploma
3 Year:
Bachelor
Degree
4 Year:
Bachelor
degree
4 Year:
Bachelor
degree with 1
year research
Masters in
2 years
Ph. D.
Masters in
1 years
Integrated and Duel Degree programmes
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Multiple Pathways to Learning

22. With the funding from Ford Foundation, SNDTWU
developed 2 Foundation Courses for women students
1. Women in Changing India
2. History as Heritage
The first one was taught through experiential learning
which helped girls tremendously.
SNDT Women’s University’s efforts
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23. There are 6 officers of the University
1. Vice Chancellor (VC)
2. Pro-Vice Chancellor (PVC)
3. Registrar
4. Director, Board of College and University Development (BCUD)
5. Controller of Examination (CoE)
6. Finance and Accounts Officer (FAO)
4 out of 6 of my team members were women.
I was the only VC in Maharashtra who could get PVC
appointed within 15 days of appointment as VC
Deliberate efforts for Leadership Team
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24.  Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Canada instituted a
programme called Commonwealth Wise Women.
“One strategy to build a foundation for successful leadership is
to engage young women and girls at an early age in their career
and create networking opportunities through mentoring”.
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Mentoring Programme for Women

25. The first cohort of mentees included 82 women and girls from 10
Commonwealth countries (2020).
Over 25 prominent women Mentors from the Caribbean to Africa, to
Europe, Asia and the Pacific participated in the project.
I mentored 5 women, 2 from India and 3 from Tanzania, for 6
months. Helped in training in ICT to Indian women to support their
professional activities. Counselling/discussion/sharing of
opportunities for women from Tanzania.
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Mentoring Programme for Women

26. The Common Service Centres (CSC) Academy of Ministry of
Electronics and IT provides IT training to youth to provide IT
related services to villagers.
The CSC Academy had focused on women in villages who
have started their own small business
Such endeavours go a long way in helping women break the
glass ceiling in their own fields.
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CSC Academy, GoI
https://www.cscacademy.org/

27. Dr. Vasudha Kamat
kamatvasudhav@gmail.com
Thank You!