The committee is working on a very important mission of improving the gender ratio at all levels of Geotechnical Engineering education and professional practice in India. The primary focus is on inspiring young girls to pursue geotechnical engineering education, taking up initiatives that motivate more women to take up geotechnical engineering careers and providing guidance to young women in this field. Apart from these, bringing visibility and recognition to every woman achiever in the field of geotechnical engineering in our country and getting their work into the spotlight are also the priorities.

A special issue on "Women in Geotechnical Engineering" is initiated in the Indian Geotechnical Journal. Prof. Shobha K. Bhatia of Syracuse University, USA, Prof. Priti Maheshwari from IIT Roorkee and Prof. G. Madhavi Latha from IISc are the editors of the special issue. This special issue will be dedicated to the frontline women engineers, who made significant contributions to the growth of Geotechnical Engineering profession. Though Geotechnical Engineering is a discipline dominated by men, we do come across a lot of women, who made their enchanting presence felt through remarkable work in academic research or professional practice. In line with the world’s recognition of the importance of Gender Equality, which is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), this special issue will focus on the global women leaders in the geotechnical engineering profession. This issue will be a resource to 1) raise awareness of women’s leadership in Geotechnical Engineering and 2) inspire many young women to take up our profession and achieve an equal future.
For more information on this special issue, please visit

As a part of IGC 2018 at IISc Bangalore, a “Women in Geotechnical Engineering Session” was held on 14th December 2018. In this session, 10 eminent women geotechnical engineers from India have given tech talks. The speakers were Prof. Shobha K. Bhatia (Syracuse University, USA), Dr. Sridevi Jade (C-MMACS, Bangalore), Ms. Minimol Korulla (Maccaferri Environmental Solutions Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi), Prof. Priti Maheshwari (IIT Roorkee), Prof. Prishati Raychowdhury (IIT Kanpur), Ms. Swati Meherishi (Springer, New Delhi), Prof. Neelima Satyam (IIT Indore), Dr. Aruna Kumari Garaga (WorleyParsons, Hyderabad), Dr. Paramita Bhattacharya (IIT Kharagpur) and Dr. Divya P. V. (IIT Palakkad). The session was chaired by Prof. Beena K. S. (CUSAT, Kochi) and Prof. Premalatha (CEG, Guindy, Chennai). The objective of this session was to inspire many young girls to take up geotechnical engineering profession. The session was a big hit with its hall-full of audience and energetic speeches.

As part of IGC 2022 at Kochi a special event “GeoDonna” was conducted on 15th December 2022. This session had eminent women speakers and expert women panelists to discuss the challenges and opportunities for women in Geotechnical engineering, both in Academic and Industry. It deliberated the aims to bring out the unique perspective of path-breaking women and Geotechnical Engineers. IGC 2022 District Collector of Ernakulam, Dr. Renu Raj was the Chief Guest for this session. She has inspired the women fraternity with her crisp and clear message while addressing the gathering.