Could mentorship help bridge the gender gap in semiconductors? Texas Instruments India reports rising participation in its WiSH programme, connecting women students with industry experience.
Texas Instruments (TI) India has completed the fifth edition of its Women in Semiconductors and Hardware (WiSH) programme, reporting a 33% increase in registrations compared with 2025. This comes as more women engineering students seek exposure to careers in semiconductors, hardware and embedded systems.
According to the company, the 2026 edition received nearly 2600 applications, reflecting growing interest among women pursuing engineering degrees across India. Since the programme was launched in 2021, it has mentored 685 women engineering students and facilitated more than 300 internship opportunities.
The WiSH programme combines technical learning with practical industry exposure through laboratory visits, engineering projects, technical simulations and hands-on experiments.
Participants also receive guidance from TI engineers and interact with former programme participants, interns and early-career professionals to gain insight into semiconductor product development and engineering careers.
For the 2026 edition, TI introduced pre-programme learning modules and streamlined technical sessions to increase the time available for collaborative problem-solving, design thinking and practical engineering activities.
Arbab Kausar, HR Director at Texas Instruments India, said the company believes early industry exposure and mentoring can help shape future engineers. He noted that although women account for around 43% of STEM graduates in India, they remain underrepresented in technical roles.
“The significant increase in registrations this year is encouraging and reflects the growing interest in semiconductor careers among female engineering students across India,” he noted.
Ashmita Das, a former WiSH participant who later joined TI India as a digital intern, said the programme enabled her to learn directly from hardware engineers and better understand the semiconductor sector.
She added that the internship had provided practical experience working with engineering teams on technology projects.
