Conceived as an intervention to address the historical and systemic underrepresentation of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) scholars in India’s higher education sector, the Transformative Leadership in STEMM (TLS) seeks to create pathways for greater faculty diversity and inclusion within premier academic institutions. The workshop builds on IIT Delhi’s broader commitment to fostering a more inclusive academic ecosystem by creating structured opportunities for mentorship, peer learning, and professional development around faculty recruitment in STEMM disciplines.
Jointly organized by the Initiative for Caste Equity (ICE), the Office of Diversity & Inclusion (ODI), and the SC/ST Cell, IIT Delhi, the TLS Workshop is designed as a mentoring and capacity-building intervention. It targets core competencies critical to faculty recruitment processes, such as research communication, teaching demonstrations, proposal development, interview readiness, and professional self-presentation. In addition to strengthening discipline-specific academic skills, the workshop aims to build confidence, professional networks, and strategic preparation for academic careers.
The first edition of the TLS Workshop was held from 14–16 February 2024 and brought together a cohort of 30 scholars from Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Civil Engineering. Building on its success, the second edition was conducted from 28–30 January 2025, with a cohort of 50 scholars from Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Biological Sciences, and Mathematics. To ensure continuity of support and mentorship, a number of participants from the inaugural cohort were also invited to take part.
The third edition of the TLS Workshop was held from 28–30 January 2026 and engaged a cohort of 50 scholars from Chemical Engineering, Textile and Fibre Engineering, Atmospheric Sciences, and Materials Science and Engineering. As with the previous edition, select participants from earlier cohorts were included to strengthen peer learning, mentorship, and sustained engagement within the TLS community.