Class XII board exam data for 2024 show science is no longer a boys' club

Indian Express

20-06-2025

Data on 2024 Class XII board exams, released by the Ministry of Education, tell a story of quiet persistence: For the first time in a decade, more girls — 28.14 lakh — cleared the board exams in the science stream than in humanities — 27.24 lakh. These figures mark a powerful shift in academic and social dynamics. As an analysis of numbers from 25 school boards between 2010 and 2023 by this newspaper in September 2024 showed, only 38.2 per cent of students clearing science in 2010 were girls. By 2023, that number had climbed to 45.5 per cent, setting the stage for the 2024 breakthrough. The reversal of the long-standing gender tilt toward humanities is an affirmation that science — once seen as a male preserve — is being actively pursued by female students across the country. In a country aspiring to be a global leader in the knowledge economy, this is welcome news: Drawing on the scientific potential of half its population is not just desirable, it is essential.
State-level results underscore the national picture. In Tamil Nadu, girls achieved a formidable 96.35 per cent science pass rate in 2024; in Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha, girls outperformed boys. This reshaping of ambition and possibility has been facilitated by growing parental encouragement and good-faith policy interventions such as the Vigyan Jyoti scholarship schemes for girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the CBSE's Udaan initiative, that helps underprivileged girls prepare for engineering and medical entrance exams through mentoring and financial aid. What happens when more girls enter higher education in STEM? According to the All India Survey on Higher Education 2021-22, women now make up 52.1 per cent of all students in science disciplines across undergraduate, postgraduate, MPhil, and PhD levels. At the undergraduate level, they constitute a little over 51 per cent of the total enrolment. In medicine, women are at par with men; in engineering and technology — fields where they have traditionally been a sliver — their representation has risen considerably. These numbers point to a future workforce that is likely to be more diverse, representative, and arguably, more innovative.
The promise of these numbers, however, will continue to come up against the shadow of unequal realities unless it is met with deeper investment in infrastructure, mentorship networks, employment opportunities and safe spaces to learn and to linger in. Girls from rural areas and low-income households still face immense barriers that cap their ambitions: Lack of resources; unavailability of laboratories and equipment; a private study space, or simply, the right to stay in school. If this moment is to make room for long-term change, it must ensure that STEM dreams that have gotten off the block are not stalled midway.