Maharashtra women power engineering shift toward computer-driven careers

Computer screens over construction sites thatrsquos the clear choice of Maharashtrarsquos female engineering students this year While overall female enrolment in engineering has risen data from the Maharashtra CET Cell reveals that most women continue to favour Computer Engineering Computer Science amp Engineering and Information Technology over traditional core branchesThese three fields alone account for the majority of female admissions in 202526 with AI and Data Science emerging as a fastrising fourth choice ldquoFor most female students the choice of field depends on market trends and job opportunitiesrdquo said a thirdyear engineering student from COEP ldquoFields like Computer Science offer better pay parity flexibility and work safety Parents also tend to prefer these for their daughters since they ensure stable safer career pathsrdquoBranches such as Electronics and Telecommunication Mechanical and Electrical Engineering followed distantly behind Meanwhile core and fieldoriented disciplines Mining Structural Metallurgy and Petrochemical Engineering saw negligible female enrolment Courses like Oil Technology Polymer Tech Civil Planning Paper amp Pulp and RailAutomobile Mechanical Engineering recorded fewer than 10 women statewideOn the other hand niche courses like Textile Technology Textile Chemistry and Technical Textiles showed steady if small female interest suggesting that traditional industries still hold some appeal Female engineering admissions in Maharashtra have risen notably this year with 62195 girls enrolling for 202526 mdash up from 38634 in 202324 The gap narrowed most in Nagpur Nashik while Pune and Mumbai continue to lead in overall admissionsFemale admissions ndash branchwise analysis1 Top preferred branches gtgt Female students continue to dominate computerdriven disciplinesComputer Engineering 10944 Computer Science amp Engineering 8205 IT 6063 together account for 25000 admissions which is the majority sharegtgt Electronics and Telecommunication 7327 and Civil 3551 Mechanical 3637 Electrical 3401 also have substantial female admissionsgtgt AI and Dataoriented programs together contribute over 7000 admissions reflecting rising female interest2 Midlevel branches moderate admissionsBranches like Electronics amp Computer Engineering 1404 Automation amp Robotics 448 Bio Technology 203 Mechatronics 203 Food Technology 156 Instrumentation 146 attract moderate but consistent female enrollmentgtgt Specialised CSE variants Cyber Security IoT Blockchain Design Business Systems show female admissions between 100ndash300 each indicating diversification3 Low female representationCore amp traditional engineering branches have comparatively fewer female candidatesgtgt Mining Engineering 50 Automobile 48 Structural Engineering 42 Petrochemical 19 Metallurgy 20 Agricultural 12 Civil Infrastructure 12 Production Engg 23gtgt Textile and allied fields Textile Technology ndash 52 Textile Chemistry ndash 21 Fibres amp Textile Processing ndash 13 Technical Textiles ndash 13 still attract some female candidates but remain niche4 Very lowminimal female representationBranches with lt10 femaleOil Technology Paints Technology Mechanical RailAutomobile Civil Planning Polymer Tech Paper amp Pulp Dyestuff VLSI CollaborationTwinning programsgtgt Only 1 female candidate each in Civil with Computer Application and Electrical Twinning ProgramOverall Insightsgtgt Computerrelated fields CSE IT AI DS dominate female admissionsgtgt Electronics and core branches Mechanical Civil Electrical EampTC attract fewer but steady numbersgtgt Emerging disciplines AI Cyber Security IoT Robotics show growing female interestgtgt Heavycore fields Mining Petrochemical Metallurgy Rail Agri see minimal participationgtgt Textile and allied streams retain small but consistent female presence