UN Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality

SDG 5: Gender Equality

UPES report · 2. Women students

2Women students

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

Impact

UPES opens doors to higher education for women through scholarships, mentoring and careful tracking of their progress.

5,000+scholarships for girls offered, 2020–2022
50%of merit scholarships reserved for women since 2022
1,000tuition-free online MBA places for women, 2026
49schoolgirls supported by Project Payal
  • Shakti scholarships combine fee support with leadership sessions, industry exposure and mentoring.
  • UPES tracks applications, admissions, enrolment and graduation by gender.
  • Girls from poor families in nearby villages get financial help, mentoring and time on campus.
  • 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.