New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Kozhikode has cut across an exemplary figure by being the first IIM in India to admit more than 30 percent female students.

The number of female students that were granted admission to IIM-Kozhikode is 100 out of 300 total students. All of them were admitted without any reservation.

Debasis Chatterjee, Director of IIM-Kozhikode said that it was a matter of pride for the institute for being the first in India to admit 30 percent female candidates.

He said that what had incited the institute to grant admission to more female candidates was a remark by the Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal about the fewer number of female students in IIMs as compared to male students.

The oldest IIM in India, IIM-Ahmedabad, had admitted only 10 percent female candidates this year, which is similar to other IIMs.

According to Chatterjee, the percentage of female candidates that appear for the Common Aptitude Test (CAT) every year is around 25 percent, out of which only 8 to 10 percent make it to the final round. "The question that needs to be answered is why these female candidates get screened out," he said.

The reason for the fewer number of female students was found out and IIM-Kozhikode decided to introduce new parameters at the group discussion and interview levels. The new factors of checking consistency of a candidate involve going through the academic consistencies from Class 10 and higher education onwards.

The results of this new method showed that girls generally were more consistent than boys and had performed better.

Chatterjee further added that IIM-Kozhikode is not setting a trend for the first time. Earlier, IIM-Kozhikode had been the first IIM in the country to implement the Other Backward Classes quota. The institute is also the only one in the country to provide CAT training to Scheduled Cast/Scheduled Tribe and poor children.