Celebrating women in innovation is crucial to have role models

Celebrating women in innovation is crucial to have role models

Coimbatore-based Avinashlingam Institute of Home Science and Higher Education for Women tops in newly introduced women category in ARIIA 2020

c-Sheetal.Banchariya@timesgroup.com

24.08.2020

TOI Education Times 

In a first, the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievement (ARIIA) 2020 ranked women institutes separately under a special category. The ranking is implemented by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Education Ministry’s Innovation Cell. The Avinashlingam Institute of Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, has ranked at the first position in the category, followed by Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical Education for Women, Delhi.

“Though the ranking was launched last year, there has been minimal participation from women institutes. Besides, those who apply do not find top spots in the ranking. Seeing some institutes featuring at the top of the ranking will certainly motivate others to participate and will provide the much-needed encouragement to women in the field of innovation,” says Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman, AICTE.

Premavathy Vijayan, vice chancellor of Avinashlingam Institute of Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, says, “For a long time, only IITs or premier institutes have dominated rankings, especially in the domains of entrepreneurship and innovation. The introduction of the special category may improve the ecosystem and young girls will have more role models. It will also have a positive impact on admissions and placements.”

There is certainly a lack of awareness among the allwomen institutes regarding the importance of ranking as not many participate in global or national rankings.

Amita Dev, vice chancellor of Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical Education for Women, believes that the achievement will open doors for collaborative projects and training. “Getting opportunities to enter the professional space through projects or internships while in college will improve the job and research prospects for young girls, which will eventually, foster gender equality in workplaces.”

“The move will help build the confidence of all-women institutes. There was no provision to apply in the special women category this year, but it was introduced during the final result preparation to encourage more women colleges to apply from next year onwards. We may continue the special category or revoke it after a few years, the decision is not final yet,” he adds. Though the number of women institutes that participated in the 2020 ranking has not been revealed by the ministry, a total of 674 institutions participated in the ranking this year as compared to 496 last year.