The government’s release of the first monthly bulletin from the Periodic Labour Force Survey earlier this year marked a renewed commitment to understanding India’s employment landscape. But beyond the numbers, the report laid bare a persistent problem: a vast gender gap in labour force participation. While 77.7 percent of men above the age of 15 are part of the workforce, only 34.2 percent of women are.
This disparity isn’t new. For decades, women’s participation in the Indian labour force has been hindered by a combination of social norms and limited access to skills training. Although more women are enrolling in formal education, this has not translated into economic empowerment. Gender roles often restrict women from pursuing vocational training, narrowing their job prospects. Yet, studies suggest that women who do receive skill training—regardless of whether it’s formal or informal—are more likely to join the workforce.
Gender Divide in Vocational Education
A 2023 report by the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) on vocational education highlights how early this gender divide takes root. Among 17–18-year-olds, only 4.5 percent of girls were enrolled in vocational courses compared to 6.8 percent of boys. Furthermore, girls were often channeled into stereotypical courses like tailoring or beauty services—fields seen as “safe” and compatible with domestic responsibilities.
This is precisely where the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 seeks to make a difference.
NEP 2020: A Vision with Potential
The NEP 2020 outlines a transformative vision for vocational education, anchored in the principle of “equity and inclusion.” It promises to break the hierarchy between academic and vocational tracks and mandates vocational exposure from middle school onwards. A Gender Inclusion Fund (GIF) has been set up to specifically tackle disparities in education access, including skilling.
Under this framework, the Samagra Shiksha scheme has been revamped to support inclusive learning from pre-primary to Class XII. With an allocation of around $35.5 billion for 2021–2026, it aims to bring vocational training to more than 150 million students. States like Delhi have already begun integrating new-age skills into school curricula. In 2025, 257 government schools introduced vocational subjects such as artificial intelligence, finance, fashion, and IT.
Another promising initiative is the expansion of the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs)—residential schools for girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. In Uttar Pradesh, more than 80,000 girls are being trained in financial and digital literacy under the ‘Passport to Earning’ programme.
Ground Realities: Challenges Persist
Despite these efforts, implementation on the ground remains uneven. A 2023 evaluation by the NCERT revealed that only 27 percent of KGBVs offered certificate-based vocational training, mostly limited to gender-stereotyped skills. Technical and non-traditional training is still a rarity, hampered by poor infrastructure and lack of trained faculty. Over 45 percent of KGBVs lacked dedicated vocational educators, and more than 60 percent needed major repairs or lacked digital resources.
Moreover, the policy’s potential is being curtailed by its limited focus on gender transformation. While NEP 2020 speaks the language of inclusion, it falls short of explicitly challenging traditional gender roles. A report by the Azad Foundation noted that the lack of a gender lens in skilling strategies risks reinforcing outdated norms rather than dismantling them.
Some course corrections are underway. The launch of the pilot scheme ‘NAVYA’ under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana Kendra marks a step in the right direction, introducing girls to non-traditional skills like drone assembly and CCTV installation.
Structural and Societal Barriers
Beyond policy gaps, societal attitudes continue to limit girls’ access to vocational opportunities. Families often discourage field training or apprenticeships due to safety concerns or cultural restrictions around mobility. Data from the Skill India Mission between 2020 and 2023 shows that while 81 percent of trainees were women and 69 percent hailed from rural areas, participation from tribal communities remained dismally low at 2.7 percent. Furthermore, the lack of detailed data by caste, disability, or post-training employment outcomes hinders effective policy interventions.
Without comprehensive, gender-disaggregated data, institutional accountability remains weak, and the real barriers faced by marginalized girls remain invisible.
The Road Ahead: Four Key Recommendations
To truly harness the power of vocational education for women, India must act decisively across four fronts:
- Invest in Non-Traditional Skills: States must prioritize funding and infrastructure for high-growth, future-facing sectors such as electronics, renewable energy, and IT. Public investment should specifically aim to close the gender gap in access to these courses.
- Create Pathways, Not Dead Ends: The National Higher Education Qualifications Framework (NHEQF) must offer clear credit-transfer systems that allow girls to progress from vocational training to higher education or formal employment.
- Strengthen Industry Linkages: Partnerships with industry must be intentionally inclusive. Gender targets for apprenticeships and incentives for companies creating female-friendly training environments should be mandated. Structured internships in emerging sectors can help normalize women in non-traditional roles.
- Local Action, National Vision: States should develop skilling programmes tailored to local labour markets with a strong gender lens. Community engagement is critical to overcoming social barriers. Central support in the form of technical expertise and performance-based financing tied to gender outcomes can further boost effectiveness.
A Turning Point for India’s Workforce
India stands at a crossroads. Its economic aspirations rest heavily on bringing more women into the workforce and equipping them with relevant, future-ready skills. NEP 2020 offers a blueprint for this transformation. But for it to truly succeed, vocational education must go beyond access—it must empower. That means investing in quality, challenging social norms, and ensuring that every girl not only learns a skill but builds a career.
Only then can vocational education become a true engine of gender equality in India.
