Professor Seema Singh is an Indian economist whose work focuses on understanding the experiences of women in engineering. She teaches at Delhi Technological University and serves as Vice President of WISE‑India. she has spent more than two decades researching gendered patterns within engineering education and employment. She completed her PhD in 1991, followed by a post‑doctoral fellowship supported by the University Grants Commission and later research collaborations with UNDP.
Singh explains that engineering “never came to my mind” when she was growing up in a middle‑class Indian family in the 1970s, engineering was widely viewed as a male profession, and although her family supported her education, the broader expectation for women centred on marriage. Her interest in women engineers developed later, when she joined an engineering institution in 1999 and realised, as she states, that “the status of women was not the same in engineering,” prompting her to investigate the challenges they faced.
She considers her long‑term research on women engineers, her leadership roles within WISE‑India, and her mentoring of women from disadvantaged backgrounds as her most meaningful contributions. She believes that research “takes you beyond your organisational boundaries” and values the sense of purpose it brings.
Her message to young women is strongly positive. She notes that opportunities for engineers have “increased manyfold” and encourages girls to pursue their ambitions with confidence. She stresses that women should “go ahead and fulfil their dream,” supported by growing awareness of gender equality and expanding institutional support across India.