IIT Delhi is initiating a series of national-level mentoring workshops titled “Transformative Leadership in STEMM (TLS)” for SC/ST students who are in the third (or later) years of PhD programs at IITs, NITs, and other HEIs. Organized by the Initiative for Caste Equity (ICE), the Office of Diversity & Inclusion (ODI), and the SC/ST Cell, IITD, these workshops aim to encourage and empower PhD scholars to apply for faculty positions at IITs, NITs, and other HEIs. The Transformative Leadership in STEMM (TLS) Workshop emerged from a pressing need to address the historical and systemic exclusion of scholars from the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in India’s higher education landscape, particularly in elite institutions such as the IITs, NITs, and other Central Universities. Despite constitutional safeguards and the reservation policy, the representation of SC/ST scholars in the faculty positions in STEMM fields remain alarmingly low. It is envisioned that the TLS workshops will be held annually with different departments at IIT Delhi and provide consistent support over a period of two or three years to each participant. The TLS workshops are envisioned as a sustained initiative, rotating across different departments over several years, providing consistent mentorship and support to participants over a span of two to three years. So far, two successful sessions of the TLS workshops have been conducted, the first in February 2024 and the second in January 2025. These sessions collectively engaged 79 PhD scholars (30 in the first cohort and 49 in the second) from SC/ST communities, representing diverse STEMM fields such as Electrical, Mechanical, Biological, Mathematics, Computer Science, and Civil Engineering. Participants hailed from institutions across the country. Ten participants from the inaugural TLS Workshop have been invited to join the second cohort, further enriching the experience and fostering continuity in this impactful initiative. This three-day workshop provides mentoring for research, teaching, and leadership. Selected candidates present their research work to the experts and peers. They receive feedback and mentoring by subject experts. The workshop also includes sessions focused on building teaching skills, presentation skills, facing job interviews, confidence building, interactions with experts, meeting role models from the community, and the deans and directors of IITs.

Vision and Mission

The "Transformative Leadership in STEMM (TLS) Workshop: designed to empower advanced-stage Ph.D. scholars from the SC/ST community and encourage them to pursue faculty positions at premier institutions such as IITs, NITs, and HEIs.