Nagaland higher education profile: Third in women faculty, second lowest in GER

Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 12

Nagaland has emerged as one of India’s leading states in gender representation among higher education faculty, ranking third nationally in the number of female teachers per 100 male teachers, even as it ranks among the country’s lowest in Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), according to the latest All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2023-24.

As per the report, Nagaland has 143 female teachers for every 100 male teachers, placing it behind only Kerala (182) and Punjab (162). Chandigarh was ranked fourth (135), followed by Meghalaya (135).

At the national level, India has 82 female teachers per 100 male teachers.

However, the state’s participation in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) presents a contrasting picture.

Nagaland’s GER for the 18-23 age group stood at 18.4, the second lowest among the states after Bihar (17.7), and well below the national average of 30.0. Only a few Union Territories recorded a lower GER.

Female GER in the state was 21.1, compared to 15.9 for males, continuing the national trend in which women have higher participation rates than men in higher education.

Among the North-East, Sikkim led with 42.5 GER, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (34.3), Mizoram (31.5), Manipur (30.7), Meghalaya (29.1), Tripura (21.8) and Assam (19.8).

The time-series data indicated that Nagaland’s overall GER improved gradually from 16.4 in 2019-20 to 18.4 in 2023-24, although it dipped slightly from 18.9 in 2022-23.

Nationally, the female GER increased to 31.2, marking the seventh consecutive year in which women’s participation exceeded that of men.

Apart from faculty, women outnumbered men across all three major levels of higher education, undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD, in Nagaland.

Enrollment profile 
As per the report, out of estimated 49,924 students enrolled during the 2023-24 academic year, 27,441 were female and 22,465 were male, accounting for 55% of the total enrolment. There were 18 transgender students.

Of the total students, 39,588 (around four out of every five) were pursuing undergraduate courses, comprising 21,754 women and 17,834 men.

At the postgraduate level, enrolment stood at 7,031 students, including 4,126 women and 2,905 men, while doctoral studies had 796 scholars, comprising of 440 females and 356 males.

Even in diploma and certificate courses, female enrolment was slightly higher than that of their male counterparts.

Consequently, Nagaland’s Gender Parity Index (GPI) or the ratio of female GER to male GER stood at 1.33, significantly higher than the national average of 1.08.

HEIs overview 
There were 104 HEIs in Nagaland including 6 universities, 73 colleges and 25 standalone institutions. All institutions participated in the survey, giving the state a 100% response rate.

Of the state’s six universities, one is a Central University (Nagaland University), one is an Institute of National Importance (National Institute of Technology Nagaland), while the remaining four are State Private Universities: Global Open University (now The International University), ICFAI University, St. Joseph University, and North East Christian University.

Nationally, a total of 1,278 universities, 46,468 colleges and 11,787 standalone institutions participated in the survey. The survey recorded 4.5 crore students enrolled in HEIs across the country and a teaching workforce of 17.3 lakh, of whom 44.9% were women.

Participation in AISHE is voluntary, and the data are self-reported by higher education institutions through the AISHE web portal.