incentivising girl child education through scholarships free education and fellowship schemes is creating an ecosystem of change and gender inclusivitywomen in higher education more specifically stem science technology engineering math continue to be underrepresented much as campuses have risen to the occasion to support the girls by creating supernumerary seats offering scholarships and cutoff marks relaxation girls need to be encouraged to move out of their comfort zones and challenge gender stereotypes they are conditioned with since childhood scholarships are opening the doors to a large extent women empowermentproviding monetary support right at the school level can be a big incentive for girls who otherwise have a high dropout rate at primary and upper primary level says indira nath former head department of biotechnology aiims while mindset of the people and society at large are still the pervasive reasons of gender disparity in education affordability is just one part of it there is much concern about the safety of girls often parents prefer that girls leave their education or opt for distance learning which prevents them from choosing stem says nath agrees ruchi singh scientist e national institute of pathology icmr who says that in such cases monetary help can boost the girls confidence to break conventional barriers she adds that even in middle class families investing in the future of the sons often takes precedence over that of the girl child the male child becomes the obvious choice due to the gender stereotype that girls will not be available to carry forward the responsibility of the family she says thus scholarships for women can go a long way to support them when their future is put on hold due to financial crunch however along with the monetary support inspiration selfmotivation and family support is also essential to level the playing field singh says financial support more than 65 colleges being private unaided and only 22 being government affordability to cost of education is a growing concern especially among economically disadvantaged communities with the government ngos charitable trust and corporates offering several scholarships girls are now receiving the muchneeded boost efforts are also being made to give them the flexibility to pursue their interests scholarships for girls in science is one of the ways to encourage them to enter and continue in scientific fields which have so far remained dominated by males the scholarship reduces the financial burden and helps in retaining interest in education says snehhal chitneni spokesperson for loral india which has initiated the for young women in science scholarship programme fywis to support meritorious girls from disadvantaged backgrounds through scholarships of up to rs 25 lakh each started in 2003 the programme now gives 50 scholarships for ug studies with almost 350 women from the ews category each year several girls who were given the scholarship have gone on to become engineers and doctors the candidates often directionless but brimming with talentare challenged to think about what they want to do and then guided on how