IIM Mumbai First Batch, 47.1% Female Students, Double From Past Year

As the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Mumbai, formerly National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), welcomed its first batch earlier this month, female students have more than doubled compared to last year or the years before that. This year, the proportion of female students has jumped to 47.1 per cent against 21 per cent last year. Out of 518 students who took admission this year, the number of female students stand at 245, a significant milestone in the institute’s history, mostly dominated by male students until now. Last year, when it was still NITIE, out of 497 students who took admission, only 108 were female, accounting for 21 per cent of the entire batch.

According to the institute, apart from several initiatives taken to encourage gender diversity on the campus, changed eligibility criteria for admissions — allowing non-engineers to apply — has been a significant contributor to this jump in ratio of female students. Out of the 518 students admitted this year, 152 are non-engineers. And among the non-engineers, almost 74 per cent or 112 are female while only 40 are male. Even as students from engineering background continue to dominate admissions, with 29.3 per cent of non-engineers taking admission this year, the institute believes this may be the beginning of a new trend.

Prof Rauf Iqbal, Dean of Student Affairs at IIM Mumbai, said, “This year the institute has received participation of students, both men and women, from across multiple disciplines and this has been instrumental in opening opportunities to students, particularly women from diverse fields to apply.” After gaining the status of IIM in August last year, the institute from this academic year is offering MBA degrees instead and admission is not restricted to only engineers. These courses are — MBA (General), MBA in Sustainability and Management, and MBA in Operations and Supply Chain Management.

According to data shared by the institute, with 177 women out of a total 315 students, MBA (General) has the biggest share of female students on the campus. While MBA in Operations and Supply Chain Management has 55 female students of a total of 173 admissions; MBA in Sustainability Management has 13 women out of 31 students. According to IIM Mumbai, it was a result of their series of strategic initiatives under its “Diversity Attraction Strategy” aimed at encouraging more women to apply. These include targeted outreach programmes, scholarship opportunities patronised by industry, and mentorship schemes to support female applicants.

Institute Director Prof Manoj Tiwari said, “While a new hostel is in the making, currently there is one hostel for girls apart from two floors in a boys hostel dedicated to girls. Earlier, PhD Scholars and defence professionals would stay in the building which is now entirely made available to girls.”