IIM Visakhapatnam Achieves Historic Milestone with First-Ever Female-Majority PGP Batch

IIM Visakhapatnam achieves a female-majority with 51% women in its 2025-27 PGP batch. This article details the achievement, the broader trend in IIMs, and the significance of gender diversity in management education.

In a landmark moment for gender diversity in Indian management education, the Indian Institute of Management Visakhapatnam (IIM Visakhapatnam) has announced that its new Post Graduate Programme (PGP) batch for the 2025-27 academic year has a female majority. For the first time since the institute's establishment in 2015, women students outnumber their male counterparts, making up a commendable 51% of the total intake. This is not only a historic achievement for the institute but also a strong statement on the changing dynamics of aspirations among young women in the country.

The 2025-27 PGP batch, consisting of 338 students, has a female representation of 51%, a significant increase from the 40% recorded in the previous year's batch. This positive shift is a result of a concerted and strategic push by the institution, which has long advocated for an inclusive learning environment. The director of IIM Visakhapatnam, Prof. M. Chandrasekhar, emphasized this commitment, noting that at least one female faculty member was part of every interview panel for PGP aspirants this year. Furthermore, the institute's faculty demographics also show a strong gender balance, with 41% of the faculty being women, a figure that is consistently growing towards parity.

A Broader Trend of Increasing Gender Diversity

This milestone at IIM Visakhapatnam is not an isolated event but is part of a larger, positive trend across the IIM system. Several other IIMs have also made remarkable progress in fostering gender diversity:

• IIM Kozhikode: The pioneer in this area, IIM Kozhikode, has also achieved a female majority in its 2025-27 MBA cohort, with 51% women across all three of its full-time postgraduate programs. For its flagship PGP batch alone, female representation is an impressive 55%, a figure that stands in stark contrast to the national CAT 2024 applicant pool, where women made up only about 36.2% of the total.
• IIM Sambalpur: This IIM made headlines in 2024 by admitting a staggering 76% of women to its PGP batch, showcasing the potential for rapid change when specific policies are implemented.
• Other IIMs: While not at the majority mark, other top IIMs are also seeing an upward trajectory. For instance, IIM Bangalore had a 40% female intake for its 2024-26 batch, while IIM Calcutta and IIM Lucknow also reported around 36% and 30% female representation in their recent cohorts, respectively.

This widespread increase in female enrollment is a direct result of institutional initiatives. Many IIMs, including IIM Visakhapatnam, have introduced policies that offer gender diversity weightage in their admission criteria. For instance, IIM Visakhapatnam allocates 10% of the total weight in its final merit score to diversity, specifically for female and transgender candidates. This structural support, combined with targeted outreach and mentorship programs, has been instrumental in attracting and retaining a more balanced student body.

Why Gender Diversity in B-Schools Matters

The push for gender balance in management education is not just about meeting a quota; it is a strategic imperative with profound educational and professional benefits.

1. Enriched Learning Environment: A diverse classroom, in terms of gender, academic background, and work experience, leads to richer and more dynamic discussions. It exposes students to a broader range of perspectives and problem-solving approaches, better preparing them for the complexities of the modern global corporate world.
2. Innovation and Collaboration: Research has consistently shown that gender-diverse teams are more innovative and collaborative. By bringing together different viewpoints, a more balanced classroom fosters creative thinking and challenges traditional business paradigms, leading to more robust and well-rounded solutions.
3. Reflecting the Corporate World: The modern workforce is increasingly diverse. By educating a gender-balanced cohort, IIMs are better preparing their students to lead and thrive in a real-world corporate environment where they will work with people from all backgrounds. This also helps to break gender stereotypes and create a more inclusive culture from the outset of their careers.
4. Creating Role Models: A female-majority batch sends a powerful message to future aspirants. It provides strong role models for young women considering a career in management, showing them that a leading business education is not only accessible but also actively seeking their participation.

The significant strides made by IIM Visakhapatnam and other IIMs are a testament to the changing aspirations of female candidates and the commitment of institutions to create a more equitable and diverse learning ecosystem. This historic first at IIM Visakhapatnam marks a new era of inclusivity and excellence, promising a more vibrant and representative cohort of future business leaders. Aspirants can draw inspiration from this trend and be confident that top management institutions are dedicated to providing a fair and supportive environment for all.