The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are India's premier national institutes that provide quality management education and research. Admission to these institutes is based on Common Admission Test (CAT) that is scheduled for November 26 this year.
The institutes have over the years produced leading professionals and managers that are working in reputed economies across the world. Over the years, there has been a gradual increase in the number of female students in these institutes.
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Professor Abhradeep Maiti, chairperson, Admission, IIM Kashipur, told NDTV that the number of female students in the institute has increased from 29 in 2019-21 to 180 in 2023-25 session. The number of the female students were 79 in 2020-22, 94 in 2021-23, 149 in 2022-24 and 180 in 2023-25, he added, giving an year-wise break-up of the numbers.
Explaining the reasons that led to the increase in the female ratio at the institute, the professor said, "IIM Kashipur believes in gender equality and in order to encourage future female leaders, we created 15 supernumerary seats, where seats are reserved for female candidates. This led to an increase in female numbers."
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IIM Kashipur has been proactive in developing and nurturing future female leaders, the professor added. "Special care is taken to ensure that individual interests and potential skills are identified and are helped to grow. Our tradition of encouraging female leadership has led to the growth of female students in our respective programmes over the years. We encourage the entry of female students through special consideration during the admission process in the form of gender diversity points."
IIM Kozhikode was the first institute to achieve gender parity way back in 2013, with PGP-17 recording more than 50% women MBA candidates and breaking the glass ceiling, said Professor Debashis Chatterjee, director, IIM Kozhikode.
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"In 2019, we had also led from the front and introduced 'Supernumerary' concept wherein 60 seats reserved for women was done using the same three-staged process restricted to only the women candidates. In 2020, we yet again witnessed the flagship PGP enrolling more than 50% women, owing to many such affirmative actions by the Institute and its leadership. From the time we became the first IIM to initiate a full time MBA programme merging Liberal Studies and Management (PGP-LSM) in 2020, we have been witnessing mostly female candidates opting for this unique full-time MBA programme now in to its fourth batch," said Professor Chatterjee.
As per information shared on the official website of IIM Bangalore, the number of women opting for MBA programme have increased from 15 per cent twenty years ago to 30 per cent now. Particularly with IIM Bangalore, the institute has witnessed an improvement in the overall women enrolment ratio. "This year we are looking at around 600 students in the MBA programme with a ratio of 70 to 30 men and women, and 30 per cent would mean around 180 women. The women dropouts has significantly reduced in recent years. Women are more ambitious now and have been instrumental in leading key positions in corporate world," noted the official website of the institute.
At IIM Bangalore, the number of registered female students for the PGP programme in 2014-16 was 95. This has increased to 173 female students in PGP batch in 2023-25. This number of female students increased to 110 in 2015-17, 115 in 2016-18, 114 in 2017-19, 121 in 2018-20, 165 in 2019-21. In 2020-22 the number of female students was 143, in 2021-23 it was 144, in 2022-24 it was 142 and in 2023-25 it was 173."
