Women in Indian engineering: a preliminary analysis of data from the graduate level engineering education field in Kerala and Rajasthan

Engineering has been associated with development ever since the origin of human civilization and it has always been included as an important agenda in the development discourse of the nation states especially in the context of their infrastructure growth. Participation in engineering by genders- numerically as well as qualitatively- is taken as an indicator of not just gender equality but as development of the society and the nation as well. Since the definition of infrastructure also has moved on from ‘hard’ objects like dams and bridges and so on to ‘light and soft’ things like computers -software and internet- engineers and engineering also underwent certain image changes. This image change is reflected in women being included as engineers in ‘a profession that has been dubbed as masculine’ (Carter and Kirkup 1990). Nevertheless images apart, are there substantial changes in the relationship between women and engineering? This is a fascinating question to explore considering that so little is studied on women engineers especially in India, situating them within the context of women’s status and their role in the national development. This study is trying to understand the trends and changed relationship in India, using the resources available from the engineering education field mainly in the states of Kerala and Rajasthan.