Despite the huge number of higher educational institutions in India, it is surprising that women record a lower presence across most institutions of higher education as compared to men. Significant male –female disparities exist in the enrolment of women in higher education.  According to the Annual Status of Higher Education in States and Union Territories 2013 the GER in higher education has reached 19.4% in 2012-13. There exists a wide variation between male and female GERs in the country. The share of females enrolled in higher education is only 12.7%, while it is 17.1% for males. The gap between male and female GER is more pronounced in urban areas than in the rural areas. There are certain barriers of women access to higher education which needs to overcome for establishment of a gender equal society and the overall development of our country. In this paper a picture of women access to higher education has been presented by the author and also suggested some measures to overcome the barriers.  

KEY WORDS: higher education, gender gap, enrolment, women education