STEM Consultant-Education Sector

OVERVIEW

Parent Sector : Education Sector (ED)

Duty Station: New Delhi

Job Family: Education

Education

Type of contract : Non Staff

Duration of contract : From 7 to 11 months

Recruitment open to : External candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 21 April 2025

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

UNESCO supports Member States to develop gender-transformative education systems and empower girls and women, in line with the overall actions of UNESCO in the field of gender equality, including “the UNESCO Strategy on Gender Equality in and through Education 2019-2025”. In line with UNESCO’s Global 2022-2029 Medium Term Strategy, the UNESCO Regional Office for South Asia is implementing the 2025-2029 UNESCO South Asia Regional Support Strategy. The South Asia Regional Support Strategy aims to advance gender equality by enhancing girls’ participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education that leads to employment opportunities.

UNESCO has found that girls and women are held back by biases, social norms and expectations that influence the quality of the education they receive and the subjects they study. They are particularly under-represented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education - women make up only 35% of STEM graduates, figure unchanged in ten years - and consequently, in STEM careers. This gender disparity is alarming, especially as STEM careers are often in industries that drive innovation, support social wellbeing, and contribute to inclusive growth and sustainable development.

Recent data from the All-India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) show a rise in female enrollment in higher education to about 48% of total enrollment, while female enrollment in STEM courses in higher education has increased from 38.4% in 2014-15 to 42.6% in 2021-22. However, this increased participation in education has not translated into gender equality in the STEM workforce. Women occupy only 14% of STEM jobs and hold just 13.5% of faculty positions in universities and research institutes (AISHE 2021-22).  

The UNESCO ‘Jaago: Empowering Women in STEM’ initiative seeks to address this gap in the school-to-work transition through research, advocacy and gender-responsive training to address the factors that affect the choices of girls and women in India, particularly those from underprivileged groups. The overall aim is to increase the inclusive participation of women (already enrolled in STEM courses in tertiary education) aged 18–25 and girls aged 12–17 in STEM careers. The target beneficiaries are women in Tier 2 and 3 cities and rural areas, particularly those from underprivileged communities and those with disabilities.

UNESCO is seeking a national consultant in India to coordinate STEM research activities, communications on STEM, and to develop an inclusive STEM toolkit for educational institutions and workplaces to promote women participation and retention in STEM careers. The national consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist (Education), overall supervision of the Chief of Education, and with the implementing partner organization(s) and government officials to ensure the successful implementation of the activities.

OBJECTIVES

The specific objectives of this assignment are:

• Improve quality of data and evidence in India on factors affecting the school-to-work transition of women in STEM to inform policies, plans and strategic interventions.
• Create resources for educational institutions and industry to be more gender inclusive in STEM.

SCOPE OF WORK

• The contract duration is expected to be from 2 May 2025 to 2 December 2025 (7 months).

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the overall authority of the Director, UNESCO South Asia Regional Office and the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist and Chief, Education sector, the consultant will:

Research guidance and coordination:

• Provide technical guidance to the implementing partner conducting a national landscape study in India to understand the issues affecting access to inclusive quality STEM education and participation in STEM jobs by girls aged 12-17 and women aged 18-25, including girl learners with disabilities including review and feedback on research methodology, sampling, analysis and discussions.
• Coordinate project implementation with the implementing partner, relevant stakeholders, partner organizations, and government agencies.

Industry and higher education institutions engagement:

• Develop an inclusive STEM toolkit for educational institutions and workplaces to promote women participation and retention in STEM careers.
• Plan and coordinate meetings with an advisory group to ensure relevance and practicality of the toolkit.
• Develop a capacity-building programme, based on the toolkit, for industry and educational organizations to integrate inclusive organizational practices and policies that support women in STEM careers.
• Plan and facilitate two orientation workshops (2 days), provisionally in Delhi and Pune,as part of capacity building for partners and stakeholders.

Long Description

Communications:

• Develop visually compelling reports and knowledge products that communicate findings effectively to stakeholders, in collaboration with the UNESCO Communications and Public Engagement teams.
• Develop impact stories to showcase on the UNESCO website and social media channels.

Partnership development:

• Map out relevant STEM partners including government, private sector, foundations, academia, development partners, relevant UNESCO Global Education Coalition (GEC) members.
• Develop detailed annual partnership action plan to establish possible modalities of engagement to support the STEM initiatives within India and the South Asia region.
• Contribute to the conceptualization and drafting of project documents for the promotion of STEM in schools, vocational education, higher education and/or other non-formal learning for partnerships on STEM-relevant entities and networks.​​​​​​​
• Any other tasks assigned by Director, UNESCO South Asia Regional Office, the Chief of Education Sector or the Programme Specialist (Education).

In line with UNESCO’s overall gender mainstreaming strategy, the Individual consultant is expected to integrate a gender perspective and apply gender analysis and gender mainstreaming concepts whenever feasible.

The consultant will be responsible for arranging their own logistics: office space, administrative and secretarial support, team members, telecommunications, travel arrangement, printing of documentation, etc. The costs of these logistics, including all research-related travel costs, will be included in the lump sum proposal.

The consultant must ensure that sources are properly cited by using the Harvard referencing style, following international academic standards and making sure that no copyrights are violated. Please refer to the UNESCO Style Manual for citation style, terminology and spelling, abbreviations, references, etc.

UNESCO will provide feedback throughout the process, in particular there will be feedback and revisions that are expected to be incorporated for all deliverables. The contractor and UNESCO will hold regular meetings to discuss progress and next steps. 

In line with UNESCO’s overall gender mainstreaming strategy, the contractor is expected to integrate a gender perspective in all activities and apply gender analysis and mainstreaming concepts whenever feasible. 

The technical assets produced will be the property of UNESCO. 

Long Description

DELIVERABLES:

• Workplan for the duration of the assignment and summary narrative report of the review of research documents, including methodology, sampling, and other   elements of research design, submitted by 30 May 2025.
• Partnership mapping of STEM partners, detailed annual partnership action plan, and 1 summary narrative report of coordination activities submitted by 30 June   2025.
• Review draft research report, draft 2 communications briefs on STEM for women and 1 summary narrative report of coordination activities submitted by 30 July 2025.
• 2 impact stories developed, 1 outline of inclusive STEM toolkit submitted and 1 summary narrative report of coordination activities submitted by 30 August 2025.
• Coordination meetings with advisory group organized, capacity-building plan developed and 1 summary narrative report of coordination activities submitted by 30    September 2025.
• 2 workshop reports on the orientation of stakeholders for the inclusive STEM toolkit, 2 final communication briefs on STEM for women and 1 summary narrative  report of coordination activities submitted by 30 October 2025.
• Final inclusive STEM toolkit and 1 summary narrative report of coordination activities submitted by 30 November 2025.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Only Indian nationals can apply.

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s and above) in education, gender and development studies, political relations, social sciences, sciences and any related fields.

Experience

• At least 4 years of progressive experience in the area of STEM project management, research, and/or training with a focus on gender equality.
• Experience working with national non-profit organizations and industry-academia skilling and career counselling programmes.
• Experience developing and implementing national toolkits on STEM or skilling schemes.
• Experience with mixed methods research.
• The applicant must have excellent oral communication and writing skills in English and working knowledge of Hindi.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

• Prior experience as a member of the Young Professional scheme in India.
• Knowledge of another UN official working language.
• Experience working with international non-profit organizations, preferably in education development projects in India or the South Asia region.
• Experience working in areas related to Tier 2 and 3 cities and rural areas, particularly those from underprivileged communities and those with disabilities.
• Experience in designing and delivering training sessions or orientation workshops.

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

• Strong analytical and conceptual thinking.
• Excellent writing, communication and presentation skills with stakeholders.
• Ability to work under pressure and commitment to work to tight timeframe.
• Flexibility and adaptability to diverse contexts across culture, gender, religion, and race.
• Ability to summarize and provide concise and comprehensible feedback.
• Proficient in using office productivity tools- MS Office, and video conferencing tools like Skype, Zoom and MS Teams, etc.

SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Please note that all candidates must complete an on-line application and provide complete and accurate information. To apply, please visit the UNESCO careers website. No modifications can be made to the application submitted.

Please note that only selected candidates will be further contacted and candidates in the final selection step.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Qualified candidates are requested to attach the below documents under the 'Employment History' attachment section:

• A cover letter indicating how your qualifications and experience make you suitable for the assignment (maximum one page).
• An up-to-date curriculum vitae stating details of educational qualifications and working experience, telephone number, email address and two (2) references.
• A technical proposal, indicating an approach/methodology to carry out the assignment, including any inputs that may be required from UNESCO (maximum three pages).
• A financial proposal indicating (i) travel costs in INR (ii) the overall cost in INR of the assignment, expressed as an overall lump sum, assuming that the contract duration is 7 months, and (iii) costs/month in INR.
• Two (2) examples of previous, relevant work related to the deliverables.

Long Description

Proposals will be determined based on the best value for money approach. The weighted model takes account of two components, the individual consultant’s qualifications and the cost, by allocating a weight of 70% to the qualifications of the candidate, and 30% to the cost of the proposal.  An assessment exercise may be used in the evaluation of candidates.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

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