For many, mathematics conjures up memories of school tests, formulas, and homework struggles. But for millions of women across India, math isn’t just something learned in a classroom. It is a daily tool that shapes careers and enables financial choices. Whether through farm planning in rural fields, managing household budgets in towns, analysing data in corporate boardrooms, or designing user experiences in tech, mathematics powers decisions at every level of women’s lives. On December 22, National Mathematics Day in India, we explore how women use math beyond textbooks.
Maths In The Fields
In the paddy fields of eastern Uttar Pradesh, 38-year-old Mahima Devi rises before dawn. Her day involves seed selection, crop spacing, fertiliser doses, pricing and more. What does math have to do with all this? Everything. Mahima explains, ‘I calculate sowing distances and expected yield based on seeds and weather patterns. When I sell rice, I compare prices weighed against transport costs.’ What Mahima does is maths, just not on paper. For rural women like Mahima, agricultural decisions are rooted in numbers. She needs to factor in area calculations to maximise harvest per hectare, and time allocation to plan schedules to avoid monsoon losses. She also looks into the input cost of seeds, fertiliser and labour to determine profitability and market price comparisons across village buyers and mandi rates. These everyday calculations are applied mathematics that sustain livelihoods.
Household Maths
In cities like Chennai, Mumbai and Jaipur, thousands of women are rediscovering financial agency through budgeting maths. Take Neha Rao, a 29-year-old marketing executive in Bengaluru. Neha recalls her turning point. ‘After my first salary, I realised I didn’t know how much went to rent, groceries, entertainment or savings. I started with a simple spreadsheet with one aim – to spend less than I earn. That changed everything.’ Many women have a simple formula for budgeting. Income minus expenses equals savings. Doing the maths properly ensures that rent, utilities, groceries, transport and entertainment are balanced. Budgeting isn’t just about restrictions. It’s about clarity and control, and it actually starts with simple arithmetic. This knowledge also extends to investing (choosing compound interest and starting early), and debt management (comparing options and using EMI calculators to make optimal choices).
Data Literacy
In today’s digital economy, math isn’t just numbers. It is data. Women across industries, even outside STEM, are using mathematical thinking to interpret data and make strategic decisions. This includes fields like marketing analytics, campaign performance, conversion rates, CTR, and ROI. In public policy research, mathematics is used in surveys, regressions, trend analysis, and demographic projections. In design and UX, A/B testing data determines which interfaces work better, which is a mathematical comparison. When two versions of an app screen are tested, the data decides, rather than intuition. That’s maths in action. In these careers, comfort with numbers improves decision-making ability and credibility.
Women In Quantitative Careers
Women in quantitative fields continue to rise. These include data scientists, quantitative analysts, software engineers, economists and risk analysts. These careers are driven by maths, but women are also reshaping them with empathy, clarity, and collaborative thinking. For example, a woman statistician at a health research institute designs models to predict disease spread, translating complex equations into actionable health policy.
Everyday Maths
Math plays a role in everyday decisions as well. Women use them in cooking proportions, in travel planning, home budgeting, and Shopping deals. These intuitive applications demonstrate how maths empowers daily independence, something women across ages often do without formal recognition.
A Tool For Confidence
One of the hardest barriers that women face is maths anxiety, a fear that often emerges from early schooling experiences and societal stereotypes. But many women now actively confront this through finance workshops focused on practical math, and online courses that demystify statistics and algebra. This mindset shift is as important as mastering numbers because it fosters confidence and agency.
This National Mathematics Day, remember, maths isn’t just for mathematicians. It’s for every woman who makes choices with her money, career, family, and future. In a rapidly changing world, that kind of confidence is a superpower.