Kolkata: Masquerading as a boy to get admitted to school or being rejected by the community for staying in a Muslim family's house to write her exams - they bravely fought all odds decades ago to pursue their science dream and are now top women scientists in the country. They will be the role models for thousands of girls keen to pursue a career in science.

The stories of 21 pioneering women scientists have been woven together in a book, "The Balancing Act", by the union Ministry of Science and Technology to inspire girls to take up science as a career.

The book was released by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the inaugural session of the centenary of the Indian Science Congress in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

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"This book is to introduce young girls to many early pioneering women scientists in India. This book is about stories of their life and work," said Vinita Sharma, head of the Science for Equity, Empowerment and Development (SEED) division, Department of Science and Technology.

"The aim is to inspire young students to pursue careers in science," Sharma told IANS.

The initiative holds importance as the government had expressed concern over stark gender disparity at the level of senior scientific positions in India. Women scientists form a mere 15 percent of the full-time research and development professionals, said the government.

According to the book, one of the pioneer women scientists, Rajinder Jeet Hans-Gill, who retired as mathematics professor from Punjab University, had to dress up as a boy by tying a turban and wearing shorts so that she could join the boy's school, as there was no school for girls in Nawashahr district of Punjab in the early 1950s.

She graduated in mathematics from a boy's college.

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