This story is from July 15, 2019

Girls’ enrolment rises in new IIMs this year

Proactive admission policies, flipped classrooms and better placements and infrastructure have made the new Indian Institutes of Management more women-friendly
Girls’ enrolment rises in new IIMs this year
Proactive admission policies, flipped classrooms and better placements and infrastructure have made the new Indian Institutes of Management more women-friendly
Gender diversity is clearly the focus of new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) where a rise in the enrolment of girls is seen this year. At IIM Sambalpur (IIM-S), Odisha, for instance, around 50% of total 98 students enrolled in the fifth MBA batch (2019-2021) happen to be girls.
Similarly, IIMs in Kashipur and Kozhikode are also noticing a rise in female candidates.
“We have 46 girl students enrolling in our MBA programme from around 16 states. Most girls who clear CAT tend to choose the established IIMs. It is a challenge to get girls to enrol in the new ones,” says Mahadeo Jaiswal, director, IIM Sambalpur.
“IIM Sambalpur, started in 2015, gave 5% relaxation in the cut-off marks to girls in the interview round,” says Jaiswal, adding how zero enrolment of girls in 2018 served as a wake-up call. “We have moved from a remote location to an educational hub in Sambalpur, introduced flipped classrooms for experiential learning and a girls’ hostel close to the academic building to address the safety concerns. Since most corporates tend to recruit candidates from gender-diverse campuses, it was important for us to focus on this aspect, says Jaiswal.
At IIM-Kashipur too, there has been an increase of 383.33% in female students with as many as 29 girls enrolled for admission out of a total student intake of 264. In 2018-20, total enrolment was 254 students, of which only 6 girls took admission. “In an effort to attain diversity, IIM-Kashipur has modified the admission policy without compromising on quality and norms. It has reached out to prospective students and parents, and offered campus tours before the admission process,” says Mayank Sharma, chairperson, Admissions, IIM-Kashipur.
“We have given 5 points under the head of gender diversity in our admission policy besides implementing the supernumerary quota for women candidates (limited to 15) under which 8 women candidates were registered,” says Sharma.
According to Shubhasis Dey, chair Admissions, IIM-Kozhikode (IIM-K), which among the older IIMs was the first to implemented gender diversity in 2012 by enrolling 53% women, there are solid economic reasons for improving gender diversity in classrooms. “The ability to critically evaluate a business case from multiple perspectives is a requirement in today’s world. Gender diversity is one of the most important perspectives in the business world,” Dey adds, stating that the present batch at IIM-K has 30% (144) girl students out of 483 students with a 4% increase since last year. The introduction of 60 supernumerary seats for female students in 2019, have contributed towards making IIMK a sought-after destination for female students.
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