Women Participation in Higher Education: An Over View Of Indian Scenario Since Independence

Empowerment of women strongly associated with level of education i.e. higher the level of education greater the empowerment of women. Women are a backbone of a family playing multiple roles. By educating women the process of development of the nation can be accelerated. Education is the key yardstick by which the growth and development of a country can be delineated and as such it has occupied an honoured place in the society. None can deny that in the life of an individual as well as society education has a vital role. There has been significant increase in enrollment of women in higher education since independence. The present paper attempts to address the growth of women enrollment in higher education, women's choice of discipline in higher education and also focused on regional disparities in enrollment of women for higher education in states and UTs of India. There was a gradual increase in women enrollment for higher education since independence. It was increased from10% to 41.52% since 1950–51 to 2010–11. The regional variation in women enrollment in higher education shows that as per the statistics of 2011–12 Goa rank first (60.31%) followed by Kerala(58.62%) and in the bottom of the list is Arunachal Pradesh (36.69%) followed by Bihar (36.97%) except this states like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have also very less percentage of women enrolled in higher education.