Women in India: Self-Worth and Economic Participation — Post 1

Problem Description
The enormous differences among people living in different regions and societies have the potential to leave an observer awestruck by their sheer magnitude.
Travel has afforded many wandering onlookers the opportunity to discern and document the disparity in various spheres among people from diverse parts of the world. It is a common observation of many travelers, observers, influencers, and scholars who have traversed the Indian subcontinent that the level of ‘self-worth’ in Indian women, especially in rural areas, is ‘lower’ than that in many other parts of the world.
India ranks 108 out of 144 countries in gender parity as per the Global Index developed by World Economic Forum. The index spans four subindices viz. Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. For a detailed understanding of the index, refer to The Global Gender Gap Report 2017 by World Economic Forum.
Women not feeling confident enough to speak up in family matters, not owning property or financial assets, not taking decisions related to relationships, careers, family and children are a few common indicators of their lack of self worth and self confidence.
Most Indian parents, even today, expect their daughters to do the ‘household duties’ when they grow up whereas the attainment of ‘material success’ and professional goals is considered the boy’s sphere. These gender stereotypes are deeply rooted in the Indian society, as is also reflected in the Gender Gap Index and a significant outcome is the general trait of submissiveness among the women. They often tend to seek approval from other people in family for majority of their life’s decisions.
The aim of this post is to present the reader with a general idea of the problem and suggest Economic Participation of Women as one of the ways to ameliorate the same.
Acquiring the skills required for a job market, searching for and getting a job, getting to know new people at workplace and being financially independent are just some of the many ways in which economic participation of women can help enhance their self-worth and self-confidence.
We are here to start making a difference right away!
The aim is to effect change at both micro and macro level. At the macro level, our efforts will be directed towards figuring out appropriate policy changes and getting them executed by the concerned authority. At the micro level, our efforts will be directed towards continually recognizing groups of women who can be given immediate counsel and/or any other form of assistance that can help inspire them into economic participation and hence into a more confident self.
Request to the Readers
This is a request to all the readers to provide information that can help us recognize groups/communities of women that could benefit form economic participation.
We also request all our readers to provide their valuable inputs regarding any policy changes that they feel could benefit the concerned section of the society.
You can leave your inputs in the comments section or send an email to meenal.banga@gmail.com
With sustained effort, we can make a difference in someone’s life! Let us pledge to do everything in our power to make a positive difference today!
The next post will detail the ideas/solution possibilities/inputs collected on the topic so far.
Stay tuned for Post 2 of ‘Women in India: Self-Worth and Economic Participation’
