Alliance to push number of women in STEM edu in India

WASHINGTON: A top India-centric American business advocacy group, in collaboration with various US government agencies and a prestigious university, has announced an alliance to increase the number of women in STEM education and the workforce in India.

The launch of the US-India Alliance for Women’s Economic Empowerment STEM Collaborative was announced by Mukesh Aghi, president and CEO of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum during the US-India Alliance Shatter Summit.

“India and the US tech synergy is well evinced in India being an IT powerhouse and the US having the most robust tech economy. However, there is still a lacuna in the number of male and female STEM graduates,” Aghi said.

“For India to unleash its full potential, there needs to be a concerted effort to get more young girls and women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths),” he said. The US-India Alliance for Women’s Economic Empowerment is a public-private partnership between the State Department, USAID, USISPF, and George Washington University designed to catalyse transformational commitments to foster women’s economic advancement and inclusion in India, he said.

One of the priorities has been to accelerate women in STEM education and the workforce, the USISPF said, adding that the new catalytic US-India Alliance for Women’s Economic Empowerment STEM Collaborative aims to identify barriers and create opportunities for advancing women and girls in STEM in India.

Radhika Shah, co-president of Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs and Collaborative Founder and Co-Chair, in her remarks, said as a product of both the Indian and US STEM education systems and having grown up in Ahmedabad under the influence of a Gandhian grandfather, it is her honour to co-found and co-chair the catalytic collaborative.