SDG 5: Gender Equality

1Research on women's health and equality

UPES researchers work on health problems that affect women most, study women's finances, enterprise and work, and examine the barriers to justice and equality that women face.

The figures below cover UPES research publications on gender equality from 2021 to 2025 (source: Scopus, October 2026).

What the research covers

Number of 2021–2025 papers on each theme (a paper can appear under more than one).

Most cited work on women and gender

1. Modelling the critical success factors of women entrepreneurship using fuzzy AHP framework (Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 2018), cited 76 times.
2. Digital Financial Literacy and Its Impact on Financial Decision-Making of Women: Evidence from India (Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2024), cited 75 times.
3. A systematic review of investment confidence, risk appetite and dependence status of women (International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, 2024), cited 45 times.
4. Financial well-being of women self-help group members: a qualitative study (Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2025), cited 36 times.
5. Shades & shines of gender equality with respect to sustainable development goals (SDGs): The environmental performance perspectives (Total Environment Research Themes, 2023), cited 29 times.

The full list of 67 publications since 2013, with links, is on the gender equality research publications page (also available as a spreadsheet).

Research spotlights

AI wearables for PCOS and endometriosis

With an ANRF Early Career Research Grant, Dr Divya Tripathi is developing an AI-enabled wearable to help diagnose and manage polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis.

R&D Newsletter Jul–Dec 2025

Cervical cancer screening women can reach

Reema Rawat and Prof Ashish Mathur developed a low-cost, portable DST-funded device to screen for cervical cancer in remote areas, and an aptasensor to detect the HER-2 breast cancer marker.

R&D Newsletter Jan–Jun 2025

Women, food and nutrition

Dr Shikha Saxena studies how household food security shapes the nutrition of women in low-income urban communities, and leads nutrition outreach in the community.

Why sexual assault goes unreported

At India HCI 2023, hosted by UPES, a student presented a paper on the underreporting of sexual assault in India in the Women in HCI track.

LinkedIn post

2Women students

UPES uses scholarships, outreach and tracking to bring more women into higher education.

• Shakti scholarships. Launched in 2020 to take young women "from classrooms to boardrooms", Shakti gives a tuition scholarship to girls who score above 60% in Class XII. In 2022 UPES reserved at least half of its merit scholarships for women, and girls from Uttarakhand can combine Shakti with the state domicile concession.
• More than a scholarship. Since UPES declared 2020 its Year of Women Empowerment, Shakti has combined fee support with skill-development and leadership sessions, industry exposure and close mentoring for women students.
• 1,000 Women – 1,000 Dreams. For International Women's Day 2026, UPES announced 1,000 fully tuition-free online MBA scholarships for women across India.
• Tracking progress. UPES monitors applications, admissions, enrolment and graduation by gender, including the share of women applicants and graduation outcomes.
• Daughters of UPES. Project Payal supports 49 schoolgirls from poor families in nearby villages with financial help, mentoring and time on campus.

3Women at work

UPES develops women leaders among its staff and supports working parents.

• Shakti leadership programme. Women employees receive nine months of training in adaptive skills, emotional intelligence, business communication and team management to prepare for leadership roles. The fourth cohort trained 12 women faculty members and managers.
• Super Shakti. From December 2024 to June 2025, this programme for women employees who want to grow into business management and leadership roles helped participants identify their strengths, build key competencies and confidence, with sessions led by Padmaja Korde, Roshni Patel, Yoshita Swarup Sharma, Sandeep Jain and Vansh Chopra.
• Who took part. In 2024–25, Super Shakti modules each trained 3 women faculty members and 4 women staff, and a Shakti refresher trained 6 faculty and 4 staff, alongside UPES's wider UDAAN, LEAP, SPARX, SOAR and Disha development programmes.
• Project Swavalamban. Class IV women employees, including housekeeping staff, learn English, digital skills and communication, and about their legal rights and health.
• A creche on campus. A child-friendly creche on the Bidholi campus supports staff and students with young children.
• Fair recruitment. The Recruitment and Selection Policy bans discrimination by gender, marital status or sexual orientation, among other grounds.

4Policies for women's progress and safety

UPES has clear policies and committees to prevent sexual harassment and discrimination, and makes sure women feel safe on campus.

• Policy. The Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy covers every student and employee and bans discrimination by gender, sexual orientation and marital status.
• Internal Complaints Committee. Handles sexual harassment complaints under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013, confidentially and within set time limits.
• Prevention, Monitoring and Gender Sensitization Committee. Women faculty, a woman HR officer and two women students from each school check how safe women feel in classrooms, labs, libraries and hostels, recommend improvements such as better lighting, and work with the Dehradun Police Women Cell.
• Transgender inclusion. The Anti-Discrimination Cell and the Recruitment and Selection Policy protect transgender students and staff from discrimination on grounds including gender and sexual orientation.
• Maternity leave. Women employees get up to 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave for up to two children, as the Maternity Benefit Act requires, which can be extended by up to six months. There is six weeks of paid leave after a miscarriage, and mothers returning to work get two nursing breaks a day until their child is 15 months old.
• Paternity and adoption leave. Fathers get 15 days of paternity leave, which can be split, within 30 days of a birth or adoption. Adoptive mothers and single fathers get 90 days of paid adoption leave.
• Childcare. Employees with children under six can use the day-care facility on campus, and mothers may visit to care for their children. The creche on the Bidholi campus is also available to students with young children.
• Safe travel for women staff. Women working after 7:30 pm get a cab home, and women travelling on duty at odd hours get pick-up and drop by UPES cab and, if needed, an extra night's hotel stay.
• Safe to report. UPES's Code of Conduct requires reports of misconduct to be treated confidentially and promises complete protection to complainants against retaliation, and the leave policy forbids discrimination against anyone for using their leave entitlements.
• Training every year. Prevention of sexual harassment training is mandatory for every employee and every Internal Complaints Committee member, held each year face to face and online, and covers the PoSH Act, workplace conduct, reporting and redressal. New employees are also introduced to grievance channels at their HR induction, which reached more than 500 joiners in 2024 and 2025. In addition, the Internal Complaints Committee runs gender sensitisation workshops for staff, new hires and students. Awareness workshops reach interns too.
• Women's groups. The policy sets up women's groups within the university to build a supportive workplace and spot concerns early.
• Easy and fair to complain. Complaints can be made in writing, orally with help from a committee member, or anonymously in a sealed envelope; late complaints can still be heard; a committee member who is connected to a case steps aside; and no settlement may involve money.
• Health care for women. Female doctors are available at the campus medical centres, and sanitary napkin vending machines are installed in girls' hostels.

5Women and girls in the community

UPES reaches women and girls around Dehradun with health, education and livelihood programmes.

• Ending period poverty. Project Lakhon Khawahishen, with DivIn Pro, gave reusable menstrual cups, training and 90 days of follow-up to about 1,200 women from the ground staff and villages such as Bakarna, Kharakhet, Pulsani and Dhaulas, with ASHA and Anganwadi workers volunteering.
• Girls in school. The student group GS3's Project Sakhi gave 1,200 sanitary pads and menstrual-health sessions to more than 1,000 girls in 10 government schools, and UPES ran an awareness drive on equal rights in 16 government schools.
• Keeping children safe. Under the Srijan programme, the School of Law's Legal Aid Clinic and the UPES CSR team ran "Good Touch, Bad Touch" body-safety sessions for students of government schools in Kharakhet, Misrapatti, Kandoli and Harriawala villages.
• Women's livelihoods. Project Vikalp has trained more than 625 rural women since 2015; Project Artisan supports women weavers in Ladakh; HILL builds skills and livelihoods for women across the Himalaya; and Mulya Creation, a Dehradun start-up, trains local women artisans to make eco-dyed fabric.

Events and activities

12 events from UPES schools and departments support this goal. Each links to the original LinkedIn post.

School of Law

Legal Odyssey 2025: Where Every Journey Begins with Connection

As our newest batch of future legal minds steps into UPES School of Law, Legal Odyssey 2025 presents two dynamic events that capture the spirit of inclusion,…

SDG 5SDG 10SDG 16

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School of Law

We are proud to celebrate the outstanding achievement of Ms. Anushtha Srivastava, a distinguished alumna…

We are proud to celebrate the outstanding achievement of Ms. Anushtha Srivastava, a distinguished alumna of UPES School of Law, who has successfully qualified the…

SDG 5SDG 7SDG 16

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School of Law

Heartiest Congratulations to Aditi Sharma - B.A.

LL.B. (Energy Laws) 2015-20 on her remarkable achievement of securing the 9th Rank in the Chhattisgarh Judiciary! Aditi’s journey of academic and professional…

SDG 5SDG 7SDG 16

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School of Law

Legal conversations over chai, empowering women one discussion at a time!

On 28th Feb, UPES Dehradun’s Legal Aid Clinic hosted Chai Pe Kanooni Charcha, shedding light on crucial laws like workplace safety, domestic violence, and gender…

SDG 5SDG 16

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School of Law

Gender, Curriculum, and Change: A Panel Discussion at UPES School of Law

The Gender Champions Committee of UPES School of Law hosted a thought-provoking #panel #discussion on “Gender Inclusivity and Curricula: Ideas for Reimagining and…

SDG 4SDG 5SDG 16

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School of Liberal Studies and Media

From Theory to Global Discourse: UPES Faculty Shapes Conversations at IPSA World Congress

We are delighted to share that Dr. Kaustav Padmapati, Assistant Professor in the Social Sciences and Humanities cluster, SoLSM, represented UPES at the 28th…

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School of Liberal Studies and Media · 20–22 October 2025

UPES Faculty Leads the Dialogue on Youth & Democracy at #ACPC25

Dr. Harshika Varma, Assistant Professor at School of Liberal Studies and Media, was invited as a Speaker at the Asian Conference for Political Communication 2025…

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School of Liberal Studies and Media

Breaking Barriers, Building Voices | International Colloquium on Gender & Social Justice

The International Colloquium on Gender and Social Justice, hosted by School of Liberal Studies and Media, UPES, in collaboration with the University of Bologna,…

SDG 5SDG 16SDG 17

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Department of Social Outreach and NSS

Anemia-Free Campus: “Anemia – An Unconquered Battle”

Low hemoglobin level indicates that the person is anemic. In India, more than a half of all women at reproductive age have anemia. Failure to reduce anemia consigns…

SDG 2SDG 3SDG 5

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Department of Social Outreach and NSS

UPES Health, Wellness and Nutrition Outreach

Welcoming onboard Padma Venkat as the Dean for the School of Health Sciences and Technology. She brings with her 31+ years of experience in the fields of…

SDG 3SDG 5SDG 9

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Student well-being

Posh Awareness Workshop — Summer Internship 2025

Awareness is the key towards the prevention of sexual harassment. In that direction, we have conducted the awareness workshop for the interns of Summer Internship…

SDG 4SDG 5SDG 8

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Student well-being

India HCI 2023 — Underreporting of Sexual Assault

Excited to share my experience as a Student Chair at India HCI 2023 held at UPES, Dehradun! As a student chair, I had the incredible opportunity to immerse myself in…

SDG 5

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See all UPES events mapped to the SDGs

All sources

Every website and document used in this report, and the sections it supports.