CLOSING THE SKILLS GAP, NOT THE EMPLOYMENT GAP: A GENDER-BASED ANALYSIS OF PLACEMENT OUTCOMES IN AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNICIAN TRAINING INITIATIVE

India's shift to electric mobility needs a large pool of trained service technicians, yet automotive trades remain among the most male-dominated occupations in the country. This study asks whether a university-led, industry-partnered EV service technician programme can widen women's entry into this green occupation, and whether women convert training into jobs as well as men do. We analyze administrative records of two consecutive cohorts (2024-25 and 2025-26; N = 1,522) of the EV Service Technician Certification Program run under the Noble initiative of western India’s Skill University. Placement rates are compared using Wilson confidence intervals, chi-square tests and a binary logistic regression with a gender-by-cohort interaction. Women made up 57.3% of all trainees. Enrolment grew by 82.9% and placements roughly tripled. Placement rates rose from 44.4% to 76.0% (OR = 3.97, 95% CI 3.17-4.96). In the first cohort, women were far more likely than men to be placed (55.8% vs 31.6%; OR = 2.73). In the second cohort the pattern reversed, with men ahead (81.1% vs 72.6%; OR = 0.62). The interaction term was large and significant (OR = 0.23, p < .001). Men's placement gains were much steeper than women. The study offers early cohort-level evidence on women in EV service training in India. It shows that headline counts of women placed can hide a widening rate gap as a programme scale, and it argues for gender-disaggregated tracking of placement rates, not just numbers.