The fellowship is now underway

Citizen Digital Foundation (CDF) is a non-profit based in Trivandrum, Kerala working to make digital technologies safer, responsible and inclusive in India. We foster information literacy among end users of technology, and advocate responsible and inclusive innovation and development of technologies among businesses, start-ups and tinkerers.

STEM Femme Partners

Project partner: Women Inclusive In Technology (WIIT)

Knowledge partner: Aikyam Fellows

Supported by: Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies

Organisational partners:

Why STEM Femme? - Context

• India aims to become a $30 trillion economy by 2047.
• Women could contribute $14 trillion if India onboards 400 million women into the paid workforce through fractional employment.
• The Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) 2024 stands at 37%. Targeted Women FLFPR for 2047 is 70% or 400 million women.
• 200 million women in India do not step out of their homes even once.
• Nearly 30% women who reside in urban and peri-urban areas struggle with finding jobs that match their education levels, higher perceived value of domestic work compared to entry-level market jobs, and persistent wage disparities.
• In 2022-23, Kerala’s female LFPR was 31.3%.

Sources: Niti Aayog Viksit Bharat paper  (July 24) DGE FLUI report (April 23) Women in Workforce report by Magic Bus India Foundation. Kerala State Planning Board Economic Review, 2023