Women biologists in India: challenges

摘要

Literacy, being the most potent tool for erasing poverty and inequality, is simply defined as the ability to read and write. It measures the economical and technological status of a country in today's scientific world. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) world fact book, a principal intelligence-gathering agency of the United States federal government, about 79.7% women around the world in the age group 15 years and above are literate whereas in India, literate women constitute 65.5% of the population in the age group 7 years and above. Time also has witnessed many women leaders in science and their contributions to research. Today, women constitute approximately 50% of the population across the globe. Table 1 gives the percentage ofwomen calculated from the total enrolment at different stages and levels of education in India, according to a survey on education in 2009-10 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.