Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Mapping the Life Trajectories of Women Scientists in India: Successes and Struggles


Affiliations
1 School of Social Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bengaluru 560 012, India
2 Independent Research Scholar lives in Delhi, India
 

This article discusses the findings of a research report titled ‘Capturing diversity: a comprehensive report on women in science and engineering in India’. By mapping the life trajectories of 130 women scientists of India, the article highlights their successes and struggles at different levels of their lives in order to have a career in science.

Keywords

Child-Care Support, Life Trajectories, Professional Experiences, Women Scientists, Work-Life Balance.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • MHRD, All-India survey on higher education 2018–19, Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, 2019; https://aishe.gov.in/aishe/viewDocument.action?documentId=263

  • Beaman, L., Duflo, E., Pande, R. and Topalova, P., Female leadership raises aspirations and educational attainment for girls: a policy experiment in India. Science, 2012, 335(6068), 582–586; https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1212382

  • Kurup, A., The leaky pipeline: a social scientist perspective. Spoorthi: Celebrating Indian Women in Science, e-Book, IndiaBioScience, 2019; https://indiabioscience.org/media/articles/Spoorthi_AK_v1.pdf (retrieved on 29 July 2021).

  • Agarwala, T., Factors influencing career choice of management students in India. Career Dev. Int., 2008, 13(4), 362–376; https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/13620430810880844/full/html

  • Robinson, T. P., Cafe Culture in Pune: Being Young and Middle Class in Urban India, Oxford University Press, 2014; https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198099437.001.0001

  • Rajadhyaksha, U., Korabik, K. and Aycan, Z., Gender, gender-role ideology, and the work–family interface: a cross-cultural analysis. In Gender and the Work-Family Experience (ed. Mills, M. J.), Springer, 2015, pp. 99–117.

  • Doble, N. and Supriya, M. V., Gender differences in the perception of work–life balance. Management, 2010, 5(4), 331–342; https://www.fm-kp.si/zalozba/ISSN/1854-4231/5_331-342.pdf

  • Pandu, A., Balu, A. and Poorani, K., Assessing work–life balance among IT and ITeS women professionals. Indian J. Indus. Rel., 2013, 48(4), 611–620; https://www.jstor.org/stable/23509818

  • Connell, R. W., A really good husband: work/life balance, gender equity and social change. Aust. J. Soc. Issues, 2005, 40(3), 369– 383; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1839-4655.2005.tb00978.x

  • Buddhapriya, S., Balancing work and life: implications for business. Indian J. Ind. Rel., 2005, 41(2), 233–247; https://www.jstor.org/stable/27768010

  • Aldoory, L., Jiang, H., Toth, E. L. and Sha, B. L., Is it still just a women’s issue? A study of work–life balance among men and women in public relations. Public Rel. J., 2008, 2(4), 1–20; https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/Is-It-StillJust-a-Women.pdf

  • Hantrais, L. and Ackers, P., Women’s choices in Europe: striking the work–life balance. Eur. J. Ind. Rel., 2005, 11(2), 197–212; https://doi.org/10.1177/0959680105053963.

  • Duncan, S., Mothers’ work–life balance: individualized preferences or cultural construction. In Gender Divisions and Working Time in the New Economy: Changing Patterns of Work, Care and Public Policy in Europe and North America (eds Perrons, D. et al.), Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007, pp. 127–147.

  • Ezra, M. and Deckman, M., Balancing work and family responsibilities: flextime and child care in the federal government. Public Admin. Rev., 1996, 56(2), 174–179; https://www.jstor.org/stable/ 977205

  • Saltzstein, A. L., Ting, Y. and Saltzstein, G. H., Work–family balance and job satisfaction: the impact of family‐friendly policies on attitudes of federal government employees. Public Admin. Rev., 2001, 61(4), 452–467; https://www.jstor.org/stable/977507

  • IFC, The benefits and challenges of a workplace creche: employersupported childcare in India, International Finance Corporation,World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2019; https://www.ifc.org/ wps/wcm/connect/ce4ef319-4a91-455f-9dfb-a2e5cc28c665/The+ Benefits+and+Challenges+of+a+Workplace+Creche_Final+%281%29.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

  • D’cruz, P. and Bharat, S., Beyond joint and nuclear: the Indian family revisited. J. Comp. Family Stud., 2001, 32(2), 167–194; https://www.jstor.org/stable/41603742.

  • Kurup, A., Maithreyi, R., Kantharaju, B. and Godbole, R., Trained scientific women power: how much are we losing and why? Indian Academy of Sciences–National Institute of Advanced Studies, 2010; https://www.ias.ac.in/public/Resources/Initiatives/Women_ in_Science/surveyreport_web.pdf

  • Naik, S. and Megha, The curious case of missing Indian postdoc, IndiaBioscience, 2018; https://indiabioscience.org/columns/opinion/ the-curious-case-of-the-missing-indian-postdoc

  • Gupta, N., Kemelgor, C., Fuchs, S. and Etzkowitz, H., Triple burden on women in science: a cross-cultural analysis. Curr. Sci., 2005, 89(8), 1382–1386; https://www.jstor.org/stable/24110843

  • Kegen, N. V., Science networks in cutting-edge research institutions: gender homophily and embeddedness in formal and informal networks. Procedia–Soc. Behav. Sci., 2013, 79, 62–81; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.05.057.

  • Bagilhole, B. and Goode, J., The contradiction of the myth of individual merit, and the reality of a patriarchal support system in academic careers: a feminist investigation. Eur. J. Women’s Stud., 2001, 8(2), 161–180; https://doi.org/10.1177/135050680100 800203.

  • Šandl, Z., We women are no good at it: networking in academia. Czech Sociol. Rev., 2009, 45(6), 1239–1263; https://sreview.soc.cas.cz/pdfs/csr/2009/06/04.pdf


Abstract Views: 359

PDF Views: 135




  • Mapping the Life Trajectories of Women Scientists in India: Successes and Struggles

Abstract Views: 359  |  PDF Views: 135

Authors

Anitha Kurup
School of Social Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bengaluru 560 012, India
Anjali Raj
Independent Research Scholar lives in Delhi, India

Abstract


This article discusses the findings of a research report titled ‘Capturing diversity: a comprehensive report on women in science and engineering in India’. By mapping the life trajectories of 130 women scientists of India, the article highlights their successes and struggles at different levels of their lives in order to have a career in science.

Keywords


Child-Care Support, Life Trajectories, Professional Experiences, Women Scientists, Work-Life Balance.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv122%2Fi2%2F144-148