Rao has always been vocal about the detrimental biases faced by women academic scholars. Rao's scientific contributions were undervalued with innuendos that her husband, also a famous scientist in the same field, wrote her papers for her. She has involved in the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) working group women in physics which has been working to increase the representation of women in physics, particularly at higher and decisionmaking levels of from its inception in 2000 until 2008.