In a major initiative to motivate and empower young girls to join the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi recently hosted the fourth edition of its flagship programme, Manasvi: STEM Mentorship Program for High School Girls. The five-day residential programme, organised from May 13 to 17, 2025, brought 100 excited schoolgirls from classes IX to XII, mostly from government schools, to the IIT Delhi campus.

Organized by the Office of Academic Outreach and New Initiatives at IIT Delhi, Manasvi is aimed at closing the ongoing gender divide in the field of STEM through providing mentorship, exposure, and practical learning experiences to girls studying at the high school level. The program aims at fostering curiosity, career counseling, and boosting confidence among young female students to seek higher education and a career in STEM streams.

The program started with an orientation session conducted by Prof Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT Delhi, who greeted the students warmly with his words of encouragement and motivation. “We want to make you aware of STEM careers and show you how doing STEM can enable you to use your ideas to make society a better place,” said Prof Banerjee, initiating an environment of a week of discovery and learning.

The five-day calendar was carefully designed to incorporate informal and formal activities. Informal bonding sessions, conducted by IIT Delhi student volunteers, were a warm setting where the girls felt at ease sharing their aspirations, dreams, and even insecurities. Not only did these sessions help in creating an ice-breaking environment, but they also promoted peer learning and friendship among the participants.

The formal proceedings were complimented by a series of motivational talks, technical sessions, and panel discussions involving gurus and role models across different fields. A major highlight was a session on motivation with Nozomu Hagiwara, a well-known social activist and founder of the Nozomu Foundation. Hagiwara addressed the topic of mental toughness and resilience, urging the girls to have faith in their unlimited potential and bounce back with confidence in the face of adversity.

A third panel discussion featured three eminent medical experts: Dr S Arulselvi, professor of laboratory medicine at the JPNATC; Dr Urvashi Yadav, senior resident in laboratory medicine at AIIMS, New Delhi; and Dr Lily Khosa, chief medical officer at IIT Delhi Hospital. The panellists discussed their career paths in the medical field, the value of scientific research, and the role of women in healthcare and research.

Professors and students of different departments of IIT Delhi also helped with the programme, providing sessions on their research topics and current projects. These sessions provided the schoolgirls with a useful insight into applied STEM concepts and the academic life at one of India’s top institutes.

Experiential learning was an integral part of the mentorship programme. Under the guidance of Prof Jay Dhariwal from the Department of Design and the MakerSpace team, at the MakerSpace Lab, every participant worked on a hands-on activity to build a solar lamp kit. This hands-on activity helped the students produce a concrete and useable object with their own hands, highlighting the excitement and applicability of STEM learning in one’s daily life.

The series climaxed into a keynote speech by eminent ISRO scientist Ritu Karidhal, popularly known as one of the prime movers of India’s Mars and Moon expeditions—Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan. Karidhal discussed her motivating experience during India’s historic space missions and encouraged the young learners to reach for the stars and become professionals that can take science and technology to new heights. Her words resonated deeply with the students, many of whom cited her story as the most motivating part of the programme.

Prof Shilpi Sharma, Associate Dean (Outreach and New Initiatives), delivered the closing vote of thanks. As the driving force behind the Manasvi programme, she expressed her gratitude to all the contributors and reaffirmed IIT Delhi’s commitment to supporting girls in STEM. She also declared that the same set of students will go through their learning process again in the second and third stages of the programme, to be held in October and December 2025. All additional information regarding these stages will be communicated on the official website: https://academicoutreach.iitd.ac.in.

With programs such as Manasvi, IIT Delhi is not just attempting to minimize the gender gap in STEM but also cultivating the seeds of leadership, innovation, and self-belief among young women who have the potential to define the future of science and technology in India and the world.