India's economic success and transformation into a $30 trillion economy by 2047 depend on a strong STEM workforce. Yet, women constitute fewer than 15% of the STEM workforce, despite high enrolment (~43%) in undergraduate STEM programs. Rural colleges, where 60% of India’s higher educational institutions are located, often lack resources and exposure to cutting-edge fields, exacerbating systemic barriers for women. This results in an alarming dropout of nearly 2/3rdof women from STEM careers.
While it is important to scale up in the urban areas, its equally important to expand and spread the reach in rural areas to bring fresh thinking to the table. With an aim to build a scalable model for various socio-cultural sensitivities, we have forged partnerships with two very different state governments – Uttarakhand in the North and Telangana in the south of India. In Uttarakhand, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for girls is 48.9%, far higher than the national average of 27.9%. However, societal constraints, limited job opportunities, and a lack of exposure to diverse career options hinder workforce participation, reflected in low worker-population ratios and female Labor Force Participation Rates (LFPR). In Telangana, a state with high inclination for STEM fields, in partnership with the tribal, social and backward castes welfare residential institutions, we are integrating She for STEM into their curriculum for girls from most marginalised communities.
She for STEM, is building a multistakeholder collaborative approach to catalyze action for successfully placing every female undergraduate and post-graduate student on a high confidence STEM path. Our online mentoring and career readiness program component is designed and delivered by global scientists and STEM professionals with a strong emphasis on the elements of Individual development plan, self-efficacy strengthening, and research grade experimental projects. Our program delivery is adaptable for it to be more inclusive for girls even with limited digital literacy and access to infrastructure. We have implemented a "phygital" model, blending physical resources with digital workshops to maximize accessibility, allowing students to benefit from both in-person support and online learning experiences.
This two-stage program comprising of an Incubator and Internship Accelerator provides over 130+ hours of group and personalized mentoring and project-based learning delivered by global STEM professionals. We further engage with industries to bring opportunities for early exposure for selected top participants and connect them to internships and scholarships for higher education.
Kalpana: She for STEM now operates through two strategic channels:
1. State-Level Curricular Integration: In collaboration with state education departments and universities, Kalpana is being integrated into official academic calendars. Faculty are being trained as co-mentors, ensuring institutional ownership and long-term sustainability. In collaboration with state education departments and universities, Kalpana is being integrated into official academic calendars. Faculty are being trained as co-mentors, ensuring institutional ownership and long-term sustainability.
With government partnerships, we are now building whole state transformational models for scale in Telangana and Uttarakhand.
2. Open Cohorts: We continue to offer pan India open cohorts through a hub and spoke model.
To improve retention and learner motivation across both pathways, we have introduced gamification mechanisms including performance-based rewards, interactive challenges, and peer learning incentives into our digital and offline modules.
She for STEM empowers aspirations of women from some of the most vulnerable and bottom of the pyramid communities with families with household income less than $3,000 annually.
VigyanShaala aims to build a systemic and transformative STEM ecosystem for women in India. Our scaling pathway includes
- forming new government partnerships to test state-wide adoption models,
-developing India’s largest mentoring platform connecting 10,000 mentors with 100000 mentees
Yes, we are building an Integrated Learning Platform (ILP) which is a unified, AI-enabled digital ecosystem designed to streamline and scale VigyanShaala’s She for STEM initiatives. It brings together currently fragmented tools learning delivery, mentoring, communication, project work, and career support into a single mobile-first platform. With features like personalized learning pathways, automated mentor-mentee matching, WhatsApp-based AI mentoring agents, real-time analytics, and multilingual access, the ILP ensures a seamless and equitable experience for students and mentors. By enabling data-driven decision-making and reducing operational friction, the ILP will empower VigyanShaala to scale its impact to millions of young women in underserved communities across India.
Young women currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in STEM particularly those who demonstrate ACT qualities (Aspiration, Commitment, and Talent) can participate in the She for STEM program through two pathways:
Open Cohort Enrollment
The program periodically launches national open calls for applications. Interested students can express intent through VigyanShaala’s website or social media channels and receive notifications for upcoming cohorts.
State Partnership Cohort
Students studying in colleges partnered with state education departments (including Telangana and Uttarakhand) are invited to join the program through information shared by their Faculty Mentors or Student Leaders.
Upon selection, participants complete onboarding, receive access credentials to the learning management platform, and engage in a structured learning journey that includes a program calendar, weekly learning modules, mentoring sessions, and a supportive national STEM community.
