Indian Women Engineering Students Show Growing Interest in AI & ML Careers: byteXL Report 2025

By: WE staff | Monday, 23 June 2025

• In India, more and more female engineering students are choosing to pursue careers in AI and ML
• The study examined behavioral insights from more than 100,000 students, 38,000 of whom were female and 62,000 of whom were male

Indian women engineering students are displaying increased and initial interest in professional opportunities in emerging technologies like machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), says the just-out byteXL AI and Engineering Jobs Report 2025.

The results come from behavioral data gathered from more than 100,000 students — 62,000 males and 38,000 female students — who use byteXL's platforms for learning. The report examines live platform data like coding practice activity and project workspace usage to monitor how students move from novice programming to hands-on learning and career track choosing.

Statistics indicate that 40 percent of female students attained the last phase of choosing a career path, against 35 percent of their male peers. In those, a high inclination towards AI/ML was seen among women students.

"AI and machine learning are transforming industries with data-driven decisions, automation, and personalisation. This exciting field intrigued me and motivated me to make it my career," said a female student from Parul University, Vadodara.

The report also highlights significant student achievements in Tier 3 towns and colleges. Almost 49 percent of them were able to identify a distinct career direction — much higher compared with Tier 1 (33 percent) and Tier 2 (35 percent institutions. Although Tier 1 students tend to adapt easily to project-based learning as a result of early exposure, their future career interest seemed less clear.

The other important observation is the increasing trend towards AI/ML among students in non-metro cities. Only 16 percent of Tier 1 students chose AI/ML as their career choice, while 37.9 percent from Tier 2 and a whopping 53.9 percent from Tier 3 colleges did so. Hyderabad and Pune were the Tier 1 cities covered, whereas Vijayawada, Nagpur, Chandigarh, and Dehradun were the Tier 2 cities surveyed.

"Being a person having deep interest in problem-solving and learning, I opted for AI/ML to help innovations resolve real-world problems," a Malineni Lakshmaiah Women's Engineering College, Guntur, student said.

"There is so much motivation among students from smaller cities. For many of them, engineering is still a prime route to a better future," said Karun Tadepalli, CEO and Co-founder at byteXL. "It's wonderful to see young women performing so well and being prudent about their careers. Unlike older generations, today's students are strategic — they're diversifying their skillset and gearing up for a world driven by disruptive technologies like agentic AI."

The report portrays a picture of a new generation of students who are not only acquiring skills faster but also making reflective, forward-looking choices. Their high level of interest in AI/ML — especially among women and students in non-metro regions — indicates an encouraging wave of innovation and talent arising all over India.