Roorkee (The Hawk): Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) hosted an online event today at CII Hive, "Women in STEM Summit: Pioneers leading the way across Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics". The Summit featured the release of a Compendium titled, "Women in STEM: Vanguards of India@75",which included the accomplishment and stories of 125 Indian Women, and the list includes five faculty members from the Indian Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee), namely Prof. Kusum Deep, Prof. Debrupa Lahiri, Prof. Millie Pant, Prof. Mahua Mukherjee, and Prof. Pranita P. Sarangi. The event was graced by Prof Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India who released the Compendium at the Inaugural Session of the Summit.
The event commemorates the glorious 75 years of a progressive India and recognizes the role of Women in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics. It is noteworthy to point out that the event was hosted on Pie approximation Day, July 22, 2022.
Women in STEM: Vanguards of India@75' is an initiative to promote gender equality in the field of STEM from the tertiary level to the professional level of education. And where women’s representation in the field of STEM is but a small fraction worldwide, in India women are well represented in tertiary education with almost 43 percent of the total graduate in Stem. However, the number reduces when it comes to a job for women in STEM. Thus, 'Women in STEM Summit' with its multiple stakeholders from the Government, Corporates, and Scientific research facilities showcase and applaud the contribution of women in a compendium to further facilitate the role of women in STEM.
Among the panelist in the Summit were prominent personalities like Mr. Vipin Sondhi, Chairman, CII National Mission on Technology, Innovation & Research; Ms. Sindhu Gangadharan, Chairperson, Women in STEM Summit & Senior Vice President and Managing Director, SAP Labs India and Dr Renu Swarup, Former Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, among others.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the development of India, partnering Industry, Government, and civil society through working closely with Government on policy issues, interfacing with thought leaders, and enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and business opportunities for Industry.
Taking about the Compendium, Prof. Ajit K Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee, said, I am delighted that five of our women colleagues have been recognized by this unique distinction. This is also a recognition of the impact IIT Roorkee is creating towards facilitating women faculty in STEM disciplines to give their best."
While launching the Compendium of Women in Stem, Prof Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, highlighted,"With just 16 percent women workforce in Stem, we need to step up our efforts in this direction. Initiatives by the Government included in the National Education Policy, Policy for Science and Technology, and the current summit is in the right spirit. Moreover, through the office of PSA, a cluster mechanism is formulated including corporates and academia to address the concern of Women in Science in general and Women in Stem in particular."
Prof. Kusum Deep, Professor (HAG), Department of Mathematics and Joint Faculty, Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, IIT Roorkee, said,"The compendium featuring success stories is a great endeavor to make aware parents of the future prospects of their daughters in Stem".
Prof. Millie Pant, Head, Department of Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computing and Joint Faculty, Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, IIT Roorkee, said,"These success stories featuring women from different social strata of the society will outline the fear of failure prevailing among our women and will motivate them towards learning."
Prof. Debrupa Lahiri, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and Joint Faculty in the Centre for Nanotechnology, IIT Roorkee, said,"The initiative will encourage creativity and innovation and instill a sense of leadership in Women who want to pursue their careers in Stem by allowing them to bring their own unique experiences and perspectives to the table."
Prof. Pranita P. Sarangi, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering. IIT Roorkee, who is the nodal officer for IIT Roorkee for two major initiatives of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, namely Vigyan Jyoti and Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) which aim at promoting gender equality in STEM said that, "In recent decades, although women's participation in engineering and science has increased globally it is still far from a situation of equity. There is a need to encourage girls to take STEM disciplines; gender-inclusive policies; and reward female role models."
Prof. Mahua Mukherjee, Department of Architecture & Planning, Joint Faculty in the Centre for Disaster Mitigation and Management, and Chair, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, IIT Roorkee said, "This Compendium will serve as the door of opportunity that will drive women to take leadership in building the sustainable and resilient world, and motivate women to choose Science in general and Stem in particular as the way forward."
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About IIT Roorkee (https://www.iitr.ac.in/)
IIT Roorkee is an institute of national importance imparting higher education in engineering, sciences, management, architecture and planning, and humanities and socialsciences. Since its establishment in 1847, the Institute has played a vital role in providing technical human resources and know-how to the country.
