Bureaucratic tangle holds back women from leading two of India’s top educational institutes

Recent procedural objections that have paralysed executive transitions at two of India’s most venerated higher education institutions put the spotlight on how bureaucratic oversight has prevented women from taking over top leadership roles.

In May, the Supreme Council of St Stephen’s College announced that Susan Elias, an eminent computer scientist, had been selected as its 14th principal. Elias was slated to become the first woman principal in the institution’s 145-year history.

Yet, within days, the Delhi University ordered a freeze on her appointment, saying it was not in compliance with the University Grants Commission Regulations, 2018.

The Delhi University argued that because St Stephen’s is fully funded by the Centre, its selection panel should have included university-nominated higher education experts and a nominee of the Vice-Chancellor.

This standoff is a reminder of the gridlock last year at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. In October, the 156-year-old Jesuit institution appointed Karuna Gokarn, a distinguished microbiologist with over three decades of academic service, as its first female principal.

Like with the St Stephen’s case in Delhi, approval for Gokarn’s appointment was withheld by Maharashtra’s Joint Director of Education and the University of Mumbai. In response, St Xavier’s moved the Bombay High Court a few months later, asserting that protected minority institutions possess an unassailable right...

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