Three-fold increase in girls at IIM-A

Ahmedabad: They were a rare sight at India’s premier business schools. The number of women making it to the Indian Institutes of Management never crossed 5%. But this year, women comprise nearly 16% of new students at IIM-Ahmedabad, over three times last year’s figure. Many believe this could transform boardrooms in future. The final admission list based on the Common Admission Test (CAT) and personal interviews was declared on Friday.
The rise in number of women admitted came about because of new admission criteria. From this year, the institute gave weightage to academic performance in Class X as well as Class XII. The result: the higher the marks in school board examinations, the better the chances of getting admission in IIM-A.
Professor in-charge of PGP admissions Satish Deodhar said, ‘‘I have been looking after admissions for the last two years and the absence of women candidates used to bother me, especially when I read that girls were performing better in board examinations.’’
‘‘Apart from the CAT scores, IIMA gave weightage to personal interview and pre-bachelors academic performance. Just this change has given us 50 girls in a batch of 315 students,” he added.
Senior faculty member at IIM-A, Deepti Bhatnagar, who was the first woman fellow at IIM-A, welcomed the shift. ‘‘No candidate is selected based on gender, but news that the batch will have more women candidates is exciting and I hope the trend continues. Women have demonstrated calibre and dedication. They bring a lot of commitment to the job.’’

NEW CATs ON BLOCK

Nearly 16% girl students at IIM-A this year
Three-fold increase as girls cross 5% barrier
Weightage to Class X & XII marks in new admission system