Rural girls want to be engineers, docs but end up in arts courses | Data

Girls and boys in rural India have almost equal aspirations to become doctors or engineers, but their choices differ in higher education, with more boys opting for STEM courses and more girls choosing arts and humanities.

Girls and boys in rural India are almost equally aspiring to become doctors or engineers. In fact, the number of girls aspiring to get into these professions is marginally higher than boys, according to the recently released survey data published by the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). Their roles reverse when it comes to choosing a stream for higher studies. In grade XI and higher, more boys end up studying Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses; in contrast, more women choose arts and humanities, the data shows.

Overall, 18.2% of girls and 16.7% of boys aspired to become doctors or engineers. Among boys, 36.3% ended up choosing STEM courses, while only 28% of girls did so. The conclusions are based on ASER’s survey among rural students aged 14-18 in 28 districts conducted last September-November.

Chart 1A | The chart shows the share of boys aged 14-18 who aspired to become doctors or engineers (in %).

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Also read: Over half of youth struggling with basic maths: ASER study

Chart 1B | The chart shows the share of girls aged 14-18 who aspired to become doctors or engineers (in %).

A high share of students in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir aspired for these professions, leading all the districts surveyed, among both boys and girls.