PremiumNEW DELHI: A break in career due to family responsibilities or social reasons should not deter women from pursuing their long-term professional dreams, and the Department of Science & Technology (DST) has devised a way for this.
Under its Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN) division (now WISE-KIRAN), the DST supports women with break-in careers to return to science through the Women Scientists Scheme (WOS).
The department recently documented, in a book, inspiring journeys of 100 women scientists who returned to their career path after a break. The women scientists featured in the book had to discontinue their pursuit of career. Their journey back to work can be a beacon of hope for others in similar situations.
"Through various components of Women Scientists Scheme (WOS), DST addresses challenges confronted by those women who had a break in their career and desire to return to mainstream science. The booklet presents select stories of women who completed their training under WOS-C component of this scheme and are now achieving greater heights in their careers," said Professor Ashutosh Sharma, secretary, DST.
"Booklet contains 100 success stories of women scientist scheme trainees which captures the lives of women who succeeded despite all odds in life. Booklet is available in both digital and print versions. I know there are many more success stories in the scheme which will be made visible to all in coming years," he said.
WOS-C is a flagship scheme of the department and a recipient of Nari Shakti Puraskar, 2015 (Rani Lakshmibai Award) conferred by the President of India. WOS-C is implemented by TIFAC, New Delhi, an autonomous organisation under DST. In the programme, one-year long training is provided to women, having qualifications in science/engineering/medicine or allied areas in the field of IPRs and their management. Selection is through an all-India level online examination followed by an interview.
Women of 27 to 45 years can avail the benefit of this scheme, and are trained in nuances of patent filing and prosecution as well as other patent-related work.
About 800 women have been trained in 11 batches, and about 270 are registered patent agents.
According to a National Task Force on women in science, in 2019 only 15% of the Indian research and development workforce comprised of women, while the global average is 30%.
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