Nagaland has second-highest proportion of female tertiary education teachers or professors in India. (Representative Image via Canva)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | September 15
Women are making significant strides in the field of higher education in Nagaland, with a high proportion of them employed and holding key positions, according to a recent report by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
Among other indicators, Nagaland had the second-highest proportion of female tertiary education teachers or professors in India, highlighted the MoSPI's "Women and Men in India 2023" report, released in August.
Based on the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), the report noted that 56.96% of the total tertiary education teachers or professors in Nagaland were females in 2021-22.
There were a total of 2370 tertiary education teachers or professors in Nagaland in 2021-22, out of which 1020 were males and 1350 were females.
The year-wise data from 2018-19 to 2021-22 indicated a marginal but sustained increase over the years, from 55.19% to 56.96%.
Only Kerala had higher proportion than Nagaland at 61.33%.
At 816964 males and 581702 females for a total of 1398666 persons, the All-India average was 41.49% in 2021-22.
Punjab (56.86%), Chandigarh (56.73%), and Meghalaya (56.32%) also had high proportion as Nagaland. At 22.06%, Bihar had the lower proportion of female teachers, followed by Andaman and Nicobar Island (26.05%) and Uttar Pradesh (30.75%).
Meanwhile, apart from holding a higher proportion, the report highlighted higher proportion of females at all level of higher education employment except at ‘Professor & Equivalent’ in Nagaland.
Out of 163 holding the positions, 106 were male and 57 were females. However, the trend could reverse with few years as the status at the “Reader & Associate Professor” show 95 females and 74 males out of total 169.
More importantly, at the “Lecturer/Assistant Professor” level, at 1198, the females had definite edge over the males at 840.
The case of ‘Demonstrator/Tutor, and Temporary Teacher etc’ also depicted higher female proportion, while for ‘Visiting Teacher’ there were 9 males and 8 females.
As per the MosPI, “Women and Men in India 2023’ is comprehensive and insightful document that attempts to bring a holistic view of the situation of women and men in India and provides data on a wide range of topics such as Population, Education, Health, Participation in Economy, Participation in Decision making etc. among others.
It not only highlights the progress made towards gender equality but also identifies gaps enabling policymakers, researchers, and the general public to make informed decisions and contribute to the development of gender-sensitive policies, it added.