When I heard comments like ,’ Why should we study, these topper girls are going to marry us!” I was enraged. But as I sat to think what they were saying was also true! The most clever girls are going to be married & her husband need not be always a topper! What is more unsettling is the attitude. It needs correction.
In jest or seriously I cannot leave it . It needs to be dealt with seriously. When Shalaka Kulkarni among the toppers says she got equal treatment in class at IIT, it’s good. But she is stressing the point means she has come across inequality in the past! But the participation of boys in the class was more. That is again very true.
To raise hand & ask a doubt or question the teacher rarely happens. A clever girl may be a book worm or shy but is rarely an active participant in class. Many girls felt they may be wrong & refrained from answering. Inhibition may be due to being educated in Marathi Medium & competing with the English Medium students or Convent educated ones.
Pune univ or M S Baroda encourages students to have a free dialogue with the students. The teacher will not feel challenged even when he is interrupted in class. I haven’t yet mastered the art. I lose my thread & feel that queries may come when I finish talking. I have quoted two names where I know the teachers welcome interruptions.
It is a typical western way of thought I believe. In traditional teaching, the teacher is the leader & the students follow. Or are expected to follow. Literally & figuratively.
Choice of subjects by male toppers is science by default 96% whereas by the girls is 71%. 10 women choose commerce as against only 2 of the 51 toppers among the boys.While choosing family over aspirations is a common trend among girls. So the boys are seen to have more freedom of choice.
One girl said her father had asked her to score good marks & he looked after the rest. Later her father-in-law was very supportive & she could do what she wished. Not everyone so lucky. I wouldn’t say lucky or not . It depends on the circumstances. For the family she has to compromise & only then does the family thrive.
The research will require to be updated every year. With the Pandemic this year, it has a great impact on every field. The intake in every institute has been affected. A separate paper or a thesis will be ready by the end of the year.
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