Women's enrolment in AI, machine learning programmes jumps fourfold: Report

Women's enrolment in technical education has surged to 17 per cent in 2025 from 4 per cent in 2022, with the sharpest momentum in deep-tech fields such as artificial intelligence, prompt engineering, cybersecurity, robotics, and data science, a report released on Thursday stated.

This shift is most visible in AI & Machine Learning programs, where women's participation has grown fourfold in a single year from just 5 per cent in 2024 to 20 per cent in 2025, the report by UGC education platform College Vidya said.

The report is based on 17,685 enrollments done on the College Vidya platform from January 2025 to August 2025.

"Today, one in every five students in AI and ML Master's programs is a woman, compared to only one in 20 last year. The overall demand for AI programs has skyrocketed by 500 per cent in the past two years, and women are emerging as key contributors to this wave of growth," the report claimed.

Women now make up a quarter of MCA Cybersecurity students and 15 per cent of doctoral candidates in Generative AI, it said.

Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh account for 70 per cent of enrolments, with Tier 2 & 3 towns feeding the growth, it said further.

"These numbers capture how cultural attitudes, online learning models, and industry role models are opening pathways for women in areas that will define India's technological future," Rohit Gupta, COO at College Vidya, said.