It took women 30 odd years to cross the 50,000 mark, in terms of participation in the Common Admission Test.
The number of women writing the Common Admission Test to gain admission to IIMs has finally crossed the 50K mark.
BANGALORE: It took women 30 odd years to cross the 50,000 mark, in terms of participation in the Common Admission Test. This year, 54,569 women will attempt CAT on November 16. In comparison, the number of male candidates writing CAT crossed the one lakh mark in 2005 itself.
"Women comprise nearly 25 per cent of the students attempting CAT every year. However, the number of female students who make it to IIMs is dismal," said an official at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. IIM-B has 47 women in the first year and 53 in the second year PGP course.
With more women entering the CAT race, competition levels are at a high. "The outlook of people towards women in the business sphere has changed drastically. Similarly, opportunities available to women in the corporate sector have gone up. So women are getting the required qualifications by attempting exams like CAT," Mrinalini Chetty, a Mumbai-based student attempting CAT told DNA.
CAT coaching centres across India have seen a rise in enrolment of women. "There has been a 25 per cent rise in the number of women joining our centre since last year," said Megha Shringari, senior student advisor at Career Launcher, a training centre in Delhi.
Girls face stiff competition from boys for the prized 1,500 IIM seats. This year 1,54,757 boys will attempt CAT. "Last year we saw 27 per cent enrolment among women. This year sees a rise of 29 per cent," said Faiz Ahmed, general manager, IMS Learning Centre, a centre specialising in training for CAT.
"We are seeing more girls attending CAT classes now, but their numbers are less compared to boys," said Anup Paul, marketing professional with Career Forum, a training centre for CAT applicants. The centre has 40 girls and 100 boys training for CAT.
This year 2,09,326 students will sit for the competitive exam conducted across 68 centres in 24 cities by the seven IIMs — Indore, Bangalore, Allahabad, Shillong, Kolkata, Lucknow and Kozhikode. CAT results will be out on January 9 and available on e-mail and SMS.
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