Женщины возглавляют пять ведущих юридических вузов Индии, преодолев десятилетия мужского доминирования

Vishal Katoch | Posted August 15, 2026 09:00 AM For nearly three decades after the first National Law University (NLU) was established in 1986, the premier law schools were led exclusively by men. The glass ceiling was shed in 2013, when Prof Poonam Pradhan Saxena became the first vice-chancellor of NLU, Jodhpur. Today, women are steadily reshaping the leadership landscape, with five NLUs headed by female VCs: Himachal Pradesh National Law University (HPNLU), Shimla; National Law University, Jodhpur; National Law University Odisha (NLUO), Cuttack; Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU), Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar; and Rajendra Prasad National Law University (RPNLU), Prayagraj. “Changing perceptions, a stronger pipeline of female scholars, and an emphasis on merit and administrative competence have led to a visible increase in women occupying top positions in NLUs as vice-chancellors. This shift became particularly noticeable since 2023,” says Prof Bindu S Ronald, vice-chancellor, MNLU Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. “Having more women VCs at NLUs reflects a positive transformation, as they bring collaboration and a vision for long-term institution-building, coupled with a high emotional quotient,” Prof Ronald adds. Traditional notions of command-and-control leadership are giving way to merit and integrity, and selection boards are recognising value in this shift. “Female faculty often bring the new dimension of empathy, active listening, and open-door mentorship,” says Prof Priti Saxena, vice-chancellor, HPNLU, Shimla, adding that women in these roles also tend to be highly detailed and thorough in their institutional governance. The Long Climb This shift is not an overnight phenomenon, rather the culmination of decades of sustained academic, research, and administrative effort. “Women who joined academic roles between 1990 and 2000 spent years proving their worth by handling complex campus administration, looking after student welfare, and expanding research,” says Prof Priti Saxena, vice-chancellor, HPNLU, Shimla. “As a result, they went on to excel as deans, heads of department, and directors of major universities. That proven track record broke long-standing glass ceilings and paved the way for women to assume vice-chancellor positions today,” Prof Saxena adds. The appointments required long deliberation and scrutiny of applications by the selection committee that verified the complete track record, says Prof K Vidyullatha Reddy, who took charge of NLU Odisha, Cuttack, last month. “Reaching the position of a VC requires years of consistent effort across teaching, research, and administration. Selection boards judge candidates on every front over a long period, evaluating not just their academic and governance track record but also their leadership style and overall personality,” says Prof Reddy. Persistent Barriers However, experts caution that while this shift at the top is a positive milestone, there is still a long way to go. The core challenge across NLUs lies in the ‘leaky pipeline’ that occurs as female faculty transition from entry-level assistant professor to senior professor and dean positions. Once perceived as a profession offering flexible work-life balance, the modern structure of legal academia has become demanding, where a candidate needs to devote time and commitment expected in corporates. “Newly appointed faculty are expected to manage heavy teaching workloads, research output, administrative duties, student mentorship, and active participation in national and international seminars. These high-pressure, career-building years directly coincide with women’s domestic and caregiving responsibilities for children, spouses, and elderly family members,” says Prof Ronald. For those navigating the highest echelons of academic leadership, the primary hurdle is rarely a lack of professional capability but rather the immense weight of personal obligations. “The challenges for women advancing to this position are related more to family responsibilities than to official impediments, as women often shoulder a greater share of domestic duties, seeing themselves as the fulcrum of the family,” says Prof Reddy. These caregiving demands routinely collide with their promotion windows. “During the peak years for career advancement, women are often burdened with family responsibilities and child-rearing. This frequently leads to extended leaves or turning down opportunities, which directly delays their eligibility for senior academic roles,” says Prof Saxena. “This attrition is not a question of capability or commitment but a constant struggle over time distribution. Without empathetic institutional leadership that recognises these gender-specific challenges, alongside strong support at home, achieving work-life balance remains a significant impediment to women’s long-term career progression in legal education,” says Prof Ronald. This disparity explains why academia cannot simply operate on a ‘gender-neutral’ basis. While institutions often strive for surface-level equality, they fail to account for the systemic hurdles unique to women. “It is also important to understand the difference between equality and equity,” Prof Ronald adds, emphasising that treating all faculty the same can inadvertently disadvantage women due to the distinct caregiving roles they are expected to manage. Fixing the Pipeline To tackle these challenges, law universities must introduce structured institutional support, combining strategic human resource management, targeted training, formal mentorship, and an equitable distribution of administrative workloads. “Institutions must adopt family-friendly policies, offer childcare support, and show greater understanding toward career interruptions at different stages. We need to build better ecosystems that efficiently plug these leaking leadership pipelines,” says Prof Ronald. Alongside internal support, addressing the gender imbalance within vice-chancellor search committees and university selection boards remains another critical hurdle, where panel compositions continue to reveal a stark gender gap. “In every selection process where I appeared as a candidate, female representation was absent. There was not a single female member, let alone a female chairperson,” says Prof Saxena. “Even after I joined HPNLU, female representation in our statutory bodies was also practically non-existent; administrative committees and councils were entirely male-dominated. Correcting this imbalance became an immediate priority, and female academics have now been inducted across our key governing bodies,” Prof Saxena adds.