Girls are for biotech, boys for engineering
In that signature red building of University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE) near the Vidhana Soudha, classes are on in full swing. Walk into the first year mechanical engineering class and 107 faces will stare back at you. All boys. Change the venue to PES Institute of Technology. Out of the 184 students in the classroom, three are girls. Move on to RV College of Engineering. There are 556 boys and a mere 15 girls enrolled here for mechanical engineering.
If the premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are frowned upon for the skewed gender ratio, the engineering colleges in the state are no better. Their classrooms are largely dominated by male students.
Many top rung engineering colleges in the city have more boys than girls, many of them almost thrice as much. True, the number of boys who take the Common Entrance Test (CET) is slightly more than the girls. But the trends in preferences for subjects which lead to the number gaps cannot be overlooked.
Mechanical, civil and chemical engineering continue to be perceived as a male domain. Boys dominate these branches in every college. BMS College of Engineering, one of the best aided institutions in the state, has 29 girls and 110 boys in its first year civil engineering class. RVCE has 136 boys and 39 girls in chemical engineering.
Biotech, architecture see reversal:
For girls, the clear favourites are architecture and biotechnology and that shows in their numbers too. It's a reversal of sorts in these two fields. RV School of Architecture has 65% girl students. "It was a trend that picked up ten years ago. In recent times, it has just got firmer," says K S Anantha Krishna, college principal, adding, "Architecture is a creative work. The biggest advantage is the flexibility of timings. One can sit in any place and think. When it is a question of convenience, women always prefer it."
On the other hand, biotechnology is preferred by girls for the biology connect. "Many girls are interested in Biology. Those who have missed out on a medical seat would prefer to do something related to it. Many of them go for higher studies," says M Rajyalakshmi, head of the department at BMSCE.
But experts say that the stereotyping of a branch has to change. "It is a myth that needs to be busted. Parents and girls need to know that mechanical engineering is not a difficult field for them. Things have changed and there have been so many advancements in the field. Girls are academically as good as boys when it comes to these subjects. We have even had girls topping the class," said K Shreedhar, HoD in PESIT.
Things are slowly changing. "One can see girls open up to civil branch. This was after the IT bubble burst and core sectors began to grow. Civil also started becoming attractive because of the job offers from public sector. Overall intake of girls has begun to grow after higher education became accessible to them," said Rana Pratap Reddy, principal, Reva College of Engineering.
Branches like Computer Science, Electronics and Communication and Information Science have better sex ratio, with many colleges having 30%-40% girls in their classrooms.
YAWNING GENDER GAP
A peek into the classrooms of RV College of Engineering, one of the best in the state, is symptomatic of the skew in male-female ratio in most engineering colleges:
|
Branch-------------------------------------- Boys------- Girls Civil engineering-------------------------- 265--------- 24 |
Mechanical engineering ---------------- 556-------- 15
Electrical and electronics-----------------231---------- 53
Electronics and communication engg-- 550--------- 138
Industrial engg and management-188------ 67
Instrumentation technology------ --------------179----- 92
Chemical engineering------------------------- 136------- 39
Computer Science and engg--------- 492--- 162
Telecommunication------------------------------ 175------100
Information Science and engg---------186---- 99
Biotechnology---------------------------------------- 80-----123
Architecture----------------------------------------- 169---- 320
QUOTES
Perceptions must change
Many concepts in mechanical engineering are related to Physics. You get to know how things work. In other branches, it may not be as tangible. In my batch, there are nine girls and 150 boys. But class is fun. Being a girl is no way a disadvantage in learning mechanical engineering. There is absolutely no difference. It is just a societal perception that mechanical involves a lot of physical labour. It is not so. Most of it is designing and the little of it that involves physical labour is not difficult for girls
Spoorthi Subramanya, final year, mechanical engineering, PESIT
Creativity in architecture
I chose architecture because it was a blend of Science and creativity. It is a mean between the two. It has a lot of Science, is very analytical and logical. At the same time, it gives you freedom that has a scope of creativity. It is indeed popular among girls. It could be because of the flexibility it brings in with it. Being an architect is an employment where one can choose how busy one needs to get
Divya Mudhra, sixth semester, RV School of Architecture
Much scope in environmental engg
Initially, I was just curious to know about environment. But once I plunged into it, I started loving it. It is a field with so much of scope now. There are great avenues in research in it and I would like to pursue it further
Pallavi R, environmental engineering, BMSCE
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