Less than 5 Pct Indian Women Seek Medicine as a Career

Bangalore: The interest to pursue medicine among women in India is quantitatively declining with the increasing number of women applying for higher education. The recent University Grants Commission (UGC) Report claims that just 4.68 percent of women have applied for medicine in 2010-2011 out of 41.5 percent women who applied for college education. Even then the UGC report shows a positive trend in the number of women seeking higher education which has increased significantly since independence.

The number of enrollment in 2010-2011 for various university courses in colleges and institutes was estimated to be 169.75 lakh students, including both men and women, out of which 70.49 lakh were women applicants forming 41.5 percent as reported by Garima Prasher for TOI.

Across the country the number of women applicants enrolling for higher education varies, Goa shows the highest percentage at 61.2, Kerala follows with 56.8 percent and then comes Andaman and Nicobar with 52 percent. Karnataka has 42.9 percent women applying for higher education.

The majority of these applicants took Arts for higher education which makes 41.21 percent on the list of various education sectors. Science was preferred by 19.14 percent, Commerce and Management received 16.12 percent applicants. Engineering and technology got 11.36 percent women applicants. Then there is agriculture, veterinary science, law which received 1 percent or less than 1 percent applicants.

Women preferred other streams for higher education than medicine due to the difficulties related in the medical field, not in terms of the subject but in terms of the time and energy it consumes to complete the course. Most of them find the duration of the course too lengthy, some even drop out before completing the course. Whoever finishes MBBS plans to go for post graduation which adds more years to study.