Bringing Back the Missing Millions and Disappearing Female Toppers in Education and Workforce – The Unfinished Agenda

This paper examines the paradox of women’s educational achievement and their declining representation in the workforce, leadership, and STEM profession. The same is conceptualized here as the phenomenon of the “Missing Millions.” Drawing upon recent data from UNESCO GEM Report 2025, ASER 2023, AISHE 2021–22, the Economic Survey 2025–26, IMF estimates, and various national and international studies, the paper analyses how female students consistently outperform male students in school education and board examinations. However they remain underrepresented in competitive examinations, research professions, corporate leadership, and decision-making positions. The study argues that this “leaky pipeline” is not due to lack of talent, but emerges from a combination of structural inequalities in society. This includes patriarchal social norms, biased educational investments, workplace rigidities, unpaid care burdens, and institutional discrimination. The paper further highlights how skewed sex ratios, son preference, gender-biased stream selection, and early withdrawal from employment cause the erosion of women’s long-term socio-economic participation. By comparing global examples and policy interventions from India, the paper demonstrates that bridging the education-employment gap is not just a social justice matter. It is also a major economic necessity capable of increasing GDP, institutional integrity, and national productivity. In conclusion the paper proposes some radical structural reforms such as leadership reservation, women friendly workplace systems and rules, investment in care infrastructure, and long-term policy studies on impact of interventions—to reclaim the “missing millions”.

Missing Millions; Leaky Pipeline; Women in STEM; Female Labour Force Participation; Girls’ Education in India; Educational inequalities; Women Leadership; Care Economy; Gender Gap in Employment; Institutional hurdles; Viksit Bharat.

1. Anna Bonfert and Divyanshi Wadhwa, Tracing Global Trends in Education: A Tale of Old and New Gender Gaps, World Bank Group, April 18, 2024. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. ASER 2023: 'Beyond Basics', Pratham Education Foundation. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Indian paradox: rising education, declining women’s’ employment, Esha Chatterjee, Sonalde Desai, Reeve Vanneman, National Institutes of Health, Gender Data Portal. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Jenna Cook, Published Fall 2020, Educational Disparities Among Girls in India, Ballard Brief. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Maharashtra Government Resolution (July 2024): 100% Fee Waiver for Girl Students. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Maithreyi Govindula, Young Women Leaders in Public Policy Fellowship, Blog IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi, August 17, 2025. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Roshni Chakrabarty, India today, 4th February 2026. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Swamy, A., et al. (2001): "Gender and Corruption," Journal of Development Economics. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2025. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. UNFPA India: Reports on the "Male Marriage Squeeze" and Sex Ratio Imbalances. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Assessment of the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Repositioning TVET for Economic Development in Nigeria
• Teachers’ Use of Assure Model Instructional Design on Learners’ Problem Solving Efficacy in Secondary Schools in Bungoma County, Kenya
• “E-Booksan Ang Kaalaman”: Development, Validation, and Utilization of Electronic Book in Academic Performance of Grade 9 Students in Social Studies
• Analyzing EFL University Students’ Academic Speaking Skills Through Self-Recorded Video Presentation
• Major Findings of The Study on Total Quality Management in Teachers’ Education Institutions (TEIs) In Assam – An Evaluative Study