THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has the highest proportion of women among tertiary level teachers (assistant professors and above) in the country, a report released by the Union government said. However, while the state has nearly double the number of women assistant professors at the entry level compared to their male counterparts, their numbers are lower than men at higher levels such as associate professor and professor.
According to the report titled ‘Women and Men in India 2024’, the representation of women in teaching jobs at college and university levels in the state was 61.33% compared to the national average 41.59%. The proportion of women in tertiary level teaching posts in neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka was 49.38% and 45.16% respectively.
Kerala had close to 30,000 women assistant professors/lecturers at the entry level, which is almost double the number of their male counterparts. However, the disparity is noticed from the next level of associate professor/reader onwards where men outnumber women by a narrow margin. The gap is more pronounced at the professor or equivalent level, the statistics reveal.
Senior women academics from the state agree that the statistics are a reflection of the trend in the higher education sector where women fall out of the career race owing to a number of reasons. According to them, the pressure to balance work and family is more on the women, making them forego various career progression avenues to be eligible for higher level posts.
“After completing the specified years as assistant professor, promotion to higher levels mandates publication of a particular number of research papers in reputed journals, besides numerous other requirements, This is an area where women teachers may not be able to devote enough time and energy without solid backing from the family,” said J Letha, former vice-chancellor of Cochin University of Science and Technology.
Jancy James, former vice-chancellor of MG University and founder VC of the Central University of Kerala, said women, who try to balance work and life are not offered any support in the workplace in the form of a creche or work-from-home options that are provided in a corporate environment.
“Naturally, they settle with the entry level posts and do not opt for career advancement,” she said.
Meanwhile, experts in the domain of gender and development see it as a manifestation of the ‘glass ceiling’ phenomenon that is seen in other careers as well. The glass ceiling refers to an invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from advancing to top leadership positions, even with equal or superior qualifications.
“In the work environment, women are generally kept out of informal circles that also matter a lot when it comes to career progression. The informal network may include men of various hierarchies in an organisation but not women, owing to the prevailing social norms. Besides, there is a patriarchal tendency not to give key responsibilities to women across all careers,” said Prof Vinoj Abraham of the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) who specialises in gender and development.
Overall representation of tertiary level teachers (Kerala)
Male: 21,528
Female: 34,142
Total: 55,670
Kerala female: 61.33%
All-India female: 41.59%
Career level-wise representation
Male Female
Assistant prof/lecturer 15,536 29,264
Associate prof/reader 2,841 2,820
Professor/equivalent 3,151 2,058