India has 4.8M women learners on platform, second highest globally: Coursera

Edtech major Coursera on Thursday said India accounts for the second-largest base of women learners on its platform, with 4.8 million registered women learners.

Women in India are learning online at higher rates compared to pre-pandemic, representing 44 percent of new learners in 2021, up from 37 percent in 2019, according to Coursera data.

"With 4.8 million registered woman learners, India ranks second worldwide for the highest number of registered women learners on Coursera," the company said in a statement.

Coursera released a new study that examines the pandemic's impact on skills and learning trends among women. The 'Women and Skills Report' compared pre-pandemic enrolment and performance data with trends observed on the Coursera platform since the onset of the pandemic through June 2021.

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"Our research suggests that gender gaps in online learning narrowed during the pandemic, even as gender employment gaps widened. We are encouraged by how women are embracing online learning to develop new skills that can help accelerate their return to work and promote economic mobility," Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda said.

According to the report, a peak of 44 percent of new registered Indian learners were women in 2020, and the growth continues to sustain through 2021.

Overall, 38 per cent of total learners in India today are women, up from 24 percent in 2016, it added.

The median age of Indian women learners on Coursera is 27, four years younger than the global median age of 31.

Also, more women are enrolling in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses and entry-level professional certificates.

In India, the share of overall course enrolments from women increased from 26 percent in 2019 to 36 percent in 2021.

For STEM courses, the gender gap narrowed from 23 percent enrolments from women in 2019 to 32 percent in 2021. Women's enrolments in entry-level professional certificates have gone up from 22 percent in 2019 to 30 percent in 2021, as per the report.

These certificates, from industry leaders such as Google, IBM, and Facebook, are designed to prepare learners without a college degree or technology experience for a wide range of high-demand digital jobs, Coursera said.

Coursera has previously stated that India is its fastest-growing market with the addition of 7.5 million learners (overall) since 2020. Of the 87 million registered users on Coursera's platform (as of June 30, 2021), 12.5 million were in India.