Hyderabad: The gender gap in the arts stream is negligible but the same cannot be said for courses like medicine and engineering where gender disparities can be seen even in coaching centres.
“One reason for the lack of girls in engineering coaching centres could be that coaching centres are very male-centered. The popular ones are at Kota and other places where parents do not want to send their daughters. However, popular medical coaching institutes can be found even in one’s hometown,” said IIT-Kanpur faculty member Dheeraj Sanghi.
Mr Kumar Veeramallu, dean of Chaitanya Junior College, said, “For medical coaching, we see six girls to three boys. In engineering, it is the reverse. Engineering has a lot of maths in the curriculum. The general notion is that girls are more suited for studying biology.”
This disparity is reflected in educational institutions too. “Parents should let their daughters stay away from home for coaching and not limit their options. Pushing a girl to medicine and a boy into engineering is an age-old trend that has started changing but not fast enough,” said engineering student Swati Jain.
