4 JUNE2022Editor NoteInstitutional Support & Women Mentors can Help Improve Female Representation in the Field of Education A mother is the very first teacher for every child. Other than nurturing the child with love and affection, she instills the very first life lessons about basic skills such as language, motor skills and social skills. Gradually, her presence also facilitates more complex learnings such as core values and decision-making and so on. In many ways a woman influences the child's growth and learning majorly. Stepping out of the familiarity of home a young child enters the world of education, where he/she is again out under the care of women at theplayschool or kindergarten. As the child grows and moved ahead in the field of education, he/she encounters several other educators who create a lasting impact on the child's growth & development. Incidentally, a majority of these educators are also females. This goes to show how critical women are in a child's early life and growth. India's new National Education Policy (NEP) emphasized on the key role played by women in the society. The policy also highlighted that while education for women would be encouraged, equal emphasis would also be given to education being imparted by women. Over the years there has been rising concern over participation of women in higher learning and academic roles in higher educational institutions. Lately there has been a steady increase in the number of women enrolling in master's and doctorate programs. Today women outnumber men when it comes to enrolling in post-graduate courses, diplomas and MPhils. However, representation of women is comparatively lower than their male counterparts when it comes to senior positions in varsities and other educational institutions. According to the All India Survey of Higher Education, women held 27.3 percent of professor and equiva-lent faculty positions across India. While 36.8 percent of reader & associate professor faculty positions were held by women, the number of women holding lecturer/assistant professor faculty positions it was 42.6 percent. Although the percentages tell a promising story yet there does exist a gender divide. Oneof the most prominent challenge affecting the number of women leaders in education is the phenomenon where a vast majority of women scholars and researchers quit their academic careers in order to devote time to their families. Women academicians must be provided with ample encouragement from the government and institutions to motivate them to continue as academicians. Having strong and inspirational women mentors who have charted the path to success in the field of education can be another factor to motivate more women to not only foray into the field of education but to also thrive in it. The current edition of Women Entrepreneur magazine brings to the foresome such inspirational women leaders from the field of education. Their stories have inspired us and we hope they also inspire the next generation of women leaders to take the education world by storm. Do let us know your thoughts.Rachita SharmaManaging Editor
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