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The worrying development of suicides by IIT college students has continued in 2024, with 5 suicides recorded within the first three months of the 12 months alone. In keeping with the Union training ministry, 39 college students died by suicide within the IITs between 2018 and 2023.
College students who belong to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) communities, like Darshan Solanki from IIT Bombay (who died by suicide in February 2023) or Anil Kumar from IIT Delhi (who died by suicide in September 2023), usually have little help on campus. In response to this disaster — in addition to to bigger, systemic points that college students from marginalised communities face in IIT campuses across the nation — the International IIT Alumni Help Group, an expert networking platform of over 500 alumni from constitutionally marginalised teams, working to advertise increased training amongst SC/ST college students, realised that in depth psychological well being help was wanted. The group realised {that a} mentorship programme for SC/ST college students of IITs was the reply.
Impressed by the philosophy of social justice, the group’s mission is to help the tutorial, skilled and social progress of scholars in addition to to advocate for higher variety in increased training.
Figuring out the issue(s)
The alumni group first targeted on helping IIT Kanpur graduates who had been but to seek out employment and began a mentorship programme in April 2023. Immediately, the group reckoned with challenges like psychological strain on college students, partly due to a false public assumption that each one IITians obtain massive compensation packages. That is bolstered by the truth that IITs by no means reveal the variety of college students who stay unplaced.
Other than psychological stress, discrimination, and language obstacles, SC/ST college students talked concerning the lack of obtainable mechanisms comparable to devoted mentoring with customary placement steerage and an SC/ST cell. These college students reported emotions of social isolation, and imposter syndrome, and mentioned they obtained insufficient help from the school.
The group was capable of help 20 college students find employment by August.
Across the identical time, two Dalit college students, Ayush Ashna and Kumar, died by suicide on the campus of IIT Delhi. Rattled, the alumni group determined to increase the mentorship programme to all IITs.
In October 2023, the group launched a particular professional bono profession mentorship programme for the ultimate 12 months undergraduate in addition to postgraduate college students in all of the 23 IITs. We emailed all of the IITs asking them to tell the SC/ST college students enrolled with them concerning the mentoring programme. Just a few responded positively. Phrase-of-mouth, social media, and print helped us attain out to the meant scholar inhabitants.
The programme finally attracted 350 college students from 15 IITs. These college students had been skilled in making ready a CV, enhancing their communication expertise, and collaborating in mock interviews led by professionals. In addition they obtained particular person suggestions, and we helped find off-campus employment.
Support by way of contextual mentoring
What makes this programme particular is the contextual mentoring by 50 alumni mentors who share comparable backgrounds, have overcome comparable challenges, and are thriving of their careers.
Moreover, mentors linked college students in essential conditions to medical professionals who might supply emotional help.
One such occasion cropped up when a scholar from IIT Kharagpur reached out to us with ideas of suicide and pleaded for help. We took quick motion, arranging for the scholar to see a psychiatrist to defuse the disaster. There have been different situations of an analogous nature as practically half the scholars within the programme recognized emotional help as their largest want of the hour.
The opposite want they recognized was mentoring to sort out the difficult job market.
Our first triumph got here early. Rajesh, an IIT Guwahati scholar, had issue talking in English and reverted to Hindi throughout a gaggle dialogue. Upon seeing him, others did the identical. Finally, he aced the interview spherical and was employed. Rajesh’s father works as a every day wage labourer in Gujarat. How did the household reply to the fantastic information, we requested him. “They’re joyful, however have no idea past that,” he said plainly.
Our work started to repay and we obtained messages proving this.
“Pricey Sir, I acquired positioned. I’m grateful to you to your initiation and efforts to offer us such detailed and efficient steerage. I’m actually joyful that people like you’re nonetheless there, giving their treasured time and efforts to assist others. I’m eagerly ready for the chance to contribute and provides again,” Anand, an IIT Kanpur scholar, mentioned.
“I acquired positioned and I thanks with all my coronary heart, for all of the help you gave. The podcast and mock interviews helped me to maintain pushing myself even at Day 8 [of placements] [when I] misplaced all hope,” Asha, an IIT Kharagpur scholar, wrote to us.
“I learn messages, struggled, practised mocks, and after 5 failed interviews I lastly acquired positioned,” Vandana, an IIT Guwahati scholar, instructed us.
To this point, greater than 100 college students who had been a part of the mentoring programme have been positioned in jobs in a variety of multinational corporations.
Unquestionably, the mentorship initiative’s profitable social experiment has demonstrated how a lot college students, significantly these from marginalised backgrounds, require alumni help to navigate the challenges of their training, careers, and private lives.
We hope that mentorship programmes turn into a mainstay on the IITs to handle a few of their pressing issues, comparable to ensuring their college students have wonderful job prospects and stopping fatalities on campus.
Dheeraj Singh, an IIT Kanpur and IIM Calcutta alumnus, is a method and finance skilled based mostly in Gurugram. He’s the founding father of the International IIT Alumni Help Group. The views expressed are private.
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