Companies like Coursera, upGrad, Simplilearn, Emeritus and Newton School are all seeing significantly higher numbers of female enrolments. Emeritus has seen double the growth in female enrolments in India compared to other parts of the world in the last two years, and on the Simplilearn platform, there has been a 78% growth in women’s enrolment compared to 2023.
These edtech firms say women are driven by the need to stay ahead in current roles, secure better career opportunities and higher earning potential, as well as transition into emerging fields like AI and data analytics.
Women form 30% of upGrad’s total enrolments coming from various geographies and across various learning formats including bootcamps, study abroad, industry certifications and university-led programmes, said Mayank Kumar, co-founder of upGrad.“While artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics and digital marketing remain top choices, there is also a growing demand for soft skills courses like career planning fundamentals and HR analytics – highlighting a strong appetite for well-rounded career development,” Kumar said.
At Simplilearn, 35-40% of the enrolments are women, and around 90% of the women on the platform are upskilling of their own volition.Communication Programmes
This reinforces the need to stay aligned with emerging digital skills, while merely 10% are funded by their organisations. Women enrolments in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning have grown by over 100% compared to 2023, said Krishna Kumar, founder. Data analytics and UI/UX categories have also witnessed steady growth among women learners.
At Newton School, women now make up 30-40% of each batch for the edtech platform’s course on data science and AI, up from 20-25% when the course first launched in 2022. Women are also upskilling themselves in business management, project management and other non-tech courses. Emeritus has seen a 10% increase in enrolments for business management courses over the last couple of years. The firm is also seeing a lot of interest for courses that teach and refine communication skills, said Ashwin Damera, CEO of the edtech firm and its parent company Eruditus.
