How Honeywell bridges the critical gaps
STEM education has emerged as the backbone of innovation, employability and inclusive growth. Today, about 34 per cent of graduates are from STEM fields, with projections indicating that India will produce nearly 18 million STEM graduates by 2027. However, the opportunity is tempered by persistent gaps – only 57.1 per cent of Indian schools with secondary sections have science labs. Also, women still make up just 35 per cent of enrolments in higher education STEM streams.
At the same time, India’s IT workforce is projected to grow from 5.4 million to 7.5 million by 2030, even as skill gaps of 25-50 per cent in AI, cloud and cybersecurity continue to challenge the sector. The government’s efforts, such as the National Education Policy 2020, Atal Tinkering Labs and AI Centres of Excellence, are steps in the right direction, but the real opportunity lies in turning these initiatives into inclusive early STEM exposure that builds critical thinking and digital readiness for the future.
Against this backdrop, Honeywell, through its CSR arm Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation (HHSIF), has been advancing inclusive STEM education and innovation for over a decade now, across 21 states. The philanthropic body has enhanced STEM learning by training 10,000 teachers, impacting more than 800,000 students and setting up 60 science experience centres and mobile STEM labs across the rural and remote belts of India. Additionally, through rural school refurbishments, deep-tech entrepreneurship support in collaboration with IISC Bangalore and partnerships with various NGOs of repute, Honeywell is helping bridge the critical gaps in education, skills and research, ensuring equal access for all to contribute to India’s STEM-driven tomorrow.
“At Honeywell, we are actually committed to enabling sort of a future-ready workforce, primarily driven through STEM education,” says Prashanth Balarama, senior director, communications & CSR, Honeywell India. “And this would be focused around fostering sustainability, research and equipping youth with essential technical and job-ready skills like cyber security, sustainability, AI and things like that”.
Focus on AI
“Starting this year, we are primarily focusing on AI, sustainability and cybersecurity, which are sort of an industry requirement as well,” adds Balarama. “This is what we have started focusing on from this year at the college and university level. But, earlier, we had done it more at a science level and things like that. Moreover, we are now also giving emphasis to deep science research. We work with IISC Bangalore. It has an establishment under IISC called the Foundation for Science Innovation and Development (FSID), which is its entrepreneurship and start-up support programme. We have been associated with it for about six to seven years. Till date, we have supported about 60 start-ups on deep science research in varied areas – not just sustainability, not just in the areas of technology, but taking technology into farming, into health, and all of these areas.”
The Honeywell Foundation intends to impact about 200,000 students over the next three years at the college level. Besides, it also plans to support about 50,000 girl students at the high school level, in states like Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Karnataka. These girl students will be offered 360-degree support for the next three years.
“For us, CSR is a key enabler in India’s education landscape,” affirms Balarama. “It is not a parallel effort. Apart from being an enabler, it is also a force multiplier that helps strengthen the government and institutional frameworks that are being brought in. Today, we are proud to say that Honeywell actively recruits students as part of the PM Internship Programme and provides them training for a complete year – a full year with a stipend – under our CSR aegis. So, last year, we started small, because the programme started late. We started with single-digit numbers. This year, it looks as if we will bring in about 50 students from the PM Internship Programme, who will be trained, enabled and made industry-ready, with a full year of enablement.”
Women’s participation in the workforce remains limited, with only 29 per cent in STEM roles and 36 per cent in the broader tech sector (NASSCOM-BCG, 2024). The gap is even wider for girls from rural and low-income communities, where access to quality education and exposure to practical science are still challenges. Bridging this divide calls for inclusive and hands-on school education programmes that build curiosity, confidence and capacity to build future STEM leaders.
To address these challenges, Honeywell launched the Centre for Advancing Girls in Science in 2017, in partnership with Avasara Academy. The programme is designed to support high-potential girls from underserved communities by offering quality STEM education and leadership development. The initiative includes a residential programme, wherein students are selected through a rigorous merit‐based process from different states of India. Families are also engaged through career counselling to help them understand the long-term benefits of STEM education.
Young Scientists camps
Students undergo learning in alignment with the IGCSE curriculum, with a specific focus on strengthening their STEM understanding and skill sets. Going beyond its regular cohort of students, the programme also supports conducting ‘young scientists’ camps’ for government school students, encouraging creativity, curiosity and problem-solving through practical experiments.
The programme also supports capacity building of local schools through teacher training. The teachers undergo a six‐week intensive training programme to enhance the integration of STEM concepts in the curriculum. This helps teachers improve their classroom practices and deliver engaging STEM lessons.
“Over the years, the Honeywell Centre for Advancing Girls in Science has demonstrated measurable and scalable impact, increasing STEM proficiency and leadership confidence among participating students. Besides, it has enhanced teaching capacity and student engagement across partner government schools,” says an official.
India is rapidly advancing towards a digital economy; yet, a significant gap remains between the skills demanded by industries and those imparted through conventional higher education. To address this challenge, Honeywell, in partnership with ICT Academy, has launched the Honeywell Centre of Excellence for Youth and Women Empowerment. The initiative focuses on bridging the education-to-employment gap by integrating STEM learning with digital and employability skills. It adopts a multi-stakeholder approach that combines classroom learning, technology-driven interventions and industry exposure to prepare students for the future of work.
The programme aims to equip pre-final year students and women in higher education with advanced technology skills and prepare them for meaningful employment in emerging industries. Through a network of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) established across India, the programme delivers experiential training and professional mentorship to bridge the gap between academic learning and industry expectations.
Over the years, the programme has created a lasting impact on India’s skilling and education ecosystem. The initiative has bridged the digital divide by bringing industry-relevant skills to campuses, while transforming colleges into innovation-driven, tech-enabled institutions. It has also been successful in equipping students (especially young female students) with practical skills, leadership and job readiness.
“Through the Honeywell Centre of Excellence for Youth and Women Empowerment, Honeywell and ICT Academy are reshaping India’s education-to-employment landscape,” contends Balarama. “By equipping students and educators with 21st-century skills, building institutional capacity and promoting inclusivity, the programme stands as a model for industry-academia collaboration driving large-scale ecosystem change”.