Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in

India

CENTER FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY (CRDT)

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

Submitted by
Aditi Samdarshni
(2019ME10861)

Jatin Singh Submitted to

(2019ME10796) Prof. Hariprasad P

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 Table of Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………...3

2. Literature Review ………………………………………………………………….4

2.1 Disparities in School Education System…………………………………4

2.2 Gender Inequality in the Workforce……………………………………..6
2.3 Son Preference: Sex Ratios and Related Indicator………………………7
2.4 Marriage and Spousal Age Differentials……………………………….12
2.5 Employment……………………………………………………………14
2.6 Spousal Violence……………………………………………………….15

3. Initiatives and Policies……………………………………………………………18

3.1 Policies to improve Educational opportunities for women…………….18

3.2 Policies to improve employment opportunities for women……………19
3.3 Government of India initiatives to close the gender gap in all aspects of
social and economic….…………………………………………………….19

4. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..20

5. References………………………………………………………………………...21

[Note:- Each index item is linked to their corresponding heading ]

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1. Introduction

Equal rights for women and men are a fundamental need of a healthy society. Empowering women and
promoting gender equality are two sides of the same coin. Both have multiple dimensions which, together,
produce numerous indicators. Indian society faces issues related to sociocultural hegemony and gender
inequality, which have negative effects on income and employment prospects. Providing equal rights to all
genders and giving equal value to their work is very important for the development and progress of a nation
like India. Unfortunately, women lag in most of the measures of human development. When more than half of
a nation's population remains deprived, it is almost ridiculous to think that a nation can be fully developed.
This is very true for India; in India, women comprise around 48,2% of India's population of 1.22 billion.

In order to bring gender equality at the workplace and to increase the participation of women and their
representation in the workplace, it is crucial to break down all the barriers hindering the participation of
women and inhibiting them from getting equal rights and respect in the workplace. Government can play a
vital role in this context. If the HRD ministry would work on facilitating the selection and training, and
development of women, it could help to break down many barriers. Removing such barriers will ultimately
lead to an impartial working environment from a male-dominated workplace.

Education is another field severely affected by gender inequality. In the context of this issue, many programs
are run by the government like National Education Policy (NEP), the Right to Education (RTE) Act and Sarva
Siksha Aviyan (SSA). These programs have helped increase the enrollment of girls into schools, but the major
problem is retention, which ultimately causes significant gender gaps. India is among the top ten countries in
terms of differences in average years of schooling for males (8.2 yrs) and females (4.8 yrs). As per the data
provided by the census of 2011, there is a 16.30% gender gap in the literacy rate.

In our society, gender discrimination is the result of deep-seated cultural beliefs, prejudice, and male
dominance. The other reasons are attitude towards spending for girl child education, accessibility, poverty,
sanitation and basic safety. Many parts of society still consider girls as an economic burden hence they do not
want to spend on their education and career.

In this report in the first part salient causes of gender inequality and descrimantaion like issues in school
education system, gender inequality at workplace, employement, sexual volience etc. has been discussed in

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detail. While in the second part various initiatives and steps taken by the Indian government to solve this issue
have been discussed.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Disparities in School Education System

According to (Dutta and Sen, 2020), females who completed secondary or higher secondary school were less
likely to be married as children. Meanwhile, they discovered that while few districts in West Bengal were
well-aware of the dangers of early child marriage, 26.17 % of females dropped out between the ages of 14 and
18 years. All of the girls who dropped out married men in their age group.

The researcher also looked into the link between early marriage and girls dropping out of secondary and higher
secondary school. Sen and Modak (2017) discovered fascinating data, such as the notion that low-income
households or terrible financial circumstances are not the cause of early child marriage in West Bengal.

According to a study, poverty is one of the main determinants of a girl's early marriage because low-income
families think of girls as an economic burden for families.

It further stated that a lack of knowledge, enlightenment, and awareness promotes child marriages in our
society. According to the (ICRW 2012) study, girls with secondary and higher secondary education will
postpone their marriages to increase their chances of a better economic livelihood and independence.
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In a patriarchal society like India, the husband's educational background will matter more than the wife's
(Srinivasan et al., 2015). According to a study conducted in the Howrah district on scheduled tribe student
dropouts, 40.79 % of female students leave school at the secondary level. According to school teachers,
Perpetual poverty is the leading cause for females' high dropout rate. At the same time, other important factors
cited by parents include girls' perceptions of schools, low student performance, social prejudice in classrooms,
and a lack of educational environment at home.

According to UNICEF, gender discrimination in our culture is driven by various factors, including deep-rooted
cultural views and poverty. For a parent who picks boys over girls based on cost, the importance of girls'
education is still a distant reality. Sanitation and separate bathroom facilities for girls are critical components of
a girl's ability to continue her education. According to an AC Nielsen and NGO Pan India study report, "23 %
of Indian girls leave school once they reach puberty, while those who stay in school lose about 50 school days
each year due to menstruation."

Another intriguing aspect is that the RTE Act covers pupils up to 14, and various figures show that girl child
enrolment is a minor concern for the gender gap until that age. According to Aser 2017, 32 % of girls are not
enrolled after class VIII. In rural India, only 14 schools are provided for Secondary , and only six schools are
available for Sr. Secondary.

If we go through the journey of the female literacy movement for the last 40 years, we can find out that despite
incremental progress, the current (Census Report 2011) gender gap is still 16.30 %.

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 Source: MHRD Report: Educational Statistics at a Glance, 2018), Figures are in thousand

The enrollment rate of students at schools decreased from primary to senior secondary education, as shown in
the table above, however female enrolment decreased at a faster rate than male enrollment.

2.2 Gender Inequality in the Workforce

Gender inequality in the workplace refers to how women (and men) are treated differently based on qualities
unrelated to their merit or job requirements. Gender equality in the workplace does not require women to work

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as a substitute for staying at home to care for the house, children, or elderly family members. Instead, it
advocates for women and men to have equal access to options. As indicated in the table above, the enrollment
rate of students at our school declined from elementary to senior secondary education, while female enrollment
decreased quicker than male enrollment.

As per the World Economic Forum (WEF), for the same position and quantity of work, women in India are
paid 62 % less than their male equivalents. Klugman et al. (2014) discovered that women's engagement in the
workforce in India has steadily declined from 33.7% in 1991 to 27% in 2012 for the 15 to 64 age group.
Uneven gender relations play a significant role in limiting Indian women's participation in the workforce,
including (a) a lack of bargaining power and poor representation, (b) a lack of control over work life balance,
(c) a lack of family support, (d) limited access to institutional credit, training, and information and (e)
inequality in access to financial, health, and educational resources.

The following main categories can be used to describe gender imbalance in India's workforce:

● Minimal bargaining power and poor representation:

In India, women are underrepresented in trade unions, employers' associations, and other relevant
representative organizations, making it difficult to confront and improve their working circumstances.
Women have limited negotiating ability to change their work settings due to a lack of representation in
decision-making processes (both informal and formal sectors).

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 ● Lack of control over work/life balance:
In India, women work a double shift at home, cooking, cleaning, and caring for the young and old,
which has a negative influence on their ability to participate efficiently in the labor market.

● Family support:
Women traditionally work at home and in the community (in the workforce). However, her skills as a
caretaker and housekeeper are rarely acknowledged, and her financial contributions to the family are
frequently overlooked.

● Limited access to institutional credit, training, and information:

In ideals of patriarchy Women are denied equal access to education, training, and skills within the
house, which contributes to their employment in lower-paying positions because they lack employable
skills. Women frequently face difficulties in the job due to a lack of access to skill training and other
resources.

● Unequal access to resources and treatment:

Women also have limited access to sanitary facilities, as well as allowances for drinking, eating, and
resting, as well as first aid, health care, and transportation. Women in the workplace face sexual
harassment, yet the ability to seek recourse through expedited procedures, as required by government
regulations, is rarely used by employers.

2.3 Son Preference: Sex Ratios and Related Indicator

A strong preference for boys, which manifests itself as limiting the birth and survival of girls, is a fundamental
indication of gender inequality in India, and possibly one of the most potent. India's 2001 census statistics
shows a dramatic drop in the sex ratio for children aged 0 to 6, from 945 females per 1,000 boys in 1991 to 927
females per 1,000 males in 2001. The trend in the sex ratio of the under-seven population, based on National
Family Health Survey data from 1992-93 to 2005-06, similarly shows ongoing reduction, with the sex ratio of
the under-seven population falling to 918 females per 1,000 males in 2005-06.

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Sex Ratio at Birth
The number of live female births per 1,000 live male births is the sex ratio at birth. The number of females
born alive is decreasing in relation to the number of men born alive as this ratio falls. The important
comparator in evaluating sex ratios in terms of relative female or male deficits at birth is not, however, equality
in the number of girls and men (i.e., a sex ratio of 1,000). Because most populations have more males than
females . The sex ratio at birth in most developing countries was found to be in a tight range of 943 to 971.

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Sex Ratios at Birth of Last Births
Another technique to look at gender preferences is to look at the sex ratios of the most recent births. If son
preference influences family-building methods, the sex ratios of final births will be lower than for other births,
because couples will stop having children after they have completed their family with a son's birth.

The sex ratio of recent newborns has been significantly lower than that of all births in all three surveys, and the
discrepancy has been expanding over time. In NFHS-1, the sex ratio of last births was 14% lower than the sex
ratio of all other births; this difference grew to 19% in NFHS-2 and then to 26% in NFHS-3. As a result,
last-birth sex ratios currently favour boys substantially more than they did in the early 1990s. A strong desire
for sons also predicts that a female child is unlikely to be the last child born.

Sex Differentials in Mortality

Male infants should have a greater mortality rate in infancy than female infants, especially in the first month of
life, based on biological considerations. According to NFHS-3, the newborn mortality rate (the number of
deaths in children under the age of one month per 1,000 live births) in India was 41 for men in the five years
prior to the survey, compared to 37 for females per 1,000 births. Furthermore, for newborns in all wealthy
quintiles, male neonatal mortality is higher than female neonatal mortality, as seen in Figure.

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In India, excess female mortality is visible after the first month of life. In most nations where newborn and
child mortality is solely determined by biology, female mortality in the first year of life remains lower than
male mortality after the first month. In India, however, the female postneonatal mortality rate (Per 1,000 live
births, the number of mortality among children aged 1 to 11 months) is 21, whereas the male rate is just 15.

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2.4 Marriage and Spousal Age Differentials

Women's early marriage age is a reflection of their low social status; on a personal level, a woman's early
marriage age is linked to lower empowerment and an increased risk of negative reproductive and other health
consequences. Early marriage limits women's access to education and reduces the amount of time they have to
develop and mature without the constraints of marriage and children.

According to the NFHS-3, the vast majority of Indian women and men between the ages of 15 and 49 are
married. This age group has just 20% of women and 36% of males who have never been married. Divorce,
separation, and desertion are also uncommon in India: only 1.5 % of women and 0.6 % of men in this age
range are currently divorced, separated, or deserted. Widowhood is the most prevalent kind of marital
dissolution: 3 % of women aged 15 to 49 are widows, and 1% of men aged 15 to 49 are widowers.

Levels and trends in age at marriage

In India, the average age of first marriage for women has risen slowly over time from its low point. The
average age at marriage for women aged 25 to 49 was 16.1 in NFHS-1, 16.4 in NFHS-2, and 16.8 in NFHS-3.
Thus, the average age at marriage has increased by less than a year in over a decade. Men aged 25-49 have an
average age at marriage of 22.7 years in NFHS-3, over six years higher than women. However, the average age
difference between men and women at marriage hides significant diversity in the age pattern of marriage for
both sexes, as well as the drop in marriage at extremely young ages.
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Age at marriage by education and wealth
Furthermore, as one might imagine, the percentages of people who marry before the age of 15 and before the
age of 18 decline dramatically as the number of years spent in school increases. Only 8% of women with a
high school diploma or more have married before the age of 18, compared to 76% of women without a high
school diploma or less. Notably, even among women with only 5-9 years of school, the proportion of women
who marry before the age of 18 is lower, at 43%, than among women with no education. At every level of
schooling, however, women's marriage age remains significantly younger than men's. Even the best educated
women, those with 12 or more years of education, marry before the age of 25, compared to only 28% of men.

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2.5 Employment

Women’s and Men’s Employment Status

Employment according to marital status
Women's employment differs substantially depending on their marital status. Divorced, separated, deserted, or
widowed women are far more likely than currently married women to be employed; never married women are
the least likely to be employed. Men's employment differs little between those who are now married and those
who were previously married; nonetheless, never married men are less likely to be working than those who
have been married.

Employment by residence
Agricultural work, which accounts for the majority of employment in rural areas, is often more compatible
with women's other duties as well as low levels of education and skill development, so women's employment is
likely to be affected by where they live. In reality, according to NFHS-3, rural women are nearly two-thirds
more likely than urban women to be employed.

Employment by age
In each marital category, employment occurs in the age period 30-39 years for women, and it is most in this
age category for women who've had a marital disruption, at 76 %. The majority of never married women over
the age of 30 are employed.

Employment by education
Regardless of degree level, women with no education are far more likely to be employed than women with
education. However, after initially falling with years of education, employment for women with the highest
degree of education (12+ years) increases in every marital category. This shows that, while low levels of
education make it difficult for women to find work, greater levels lead to women's growing participation in the
labor force.

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2.6 Spousal Violence

Among the most frequent forms of gender-based violence faced by women around the world is violence
perpetrated by husbands against their wives, sometimes known as domestic or spousal violence.

Prevalence of Spousal Violence against Wives

In India, a large percentage of currently married women aged 15 to 49 are subjected to emotional, physical, and
sexual abuse by their current husband.

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Acts of emotional violence: Figure below illustrates that being humiliated in front of others by the spouse is
the most prevalent act of emotional abuse, while being threatened with harm is the least common. Almost three
out of every four currently married women between the ages of 15 and 49 have suffered each of these acts of
emotional violence in the previous year.

Acts of physical violence : The most common form of spousal physical violence currently experienced by
married women is being slapped. 97 % of currently married women between the ages of 15 and 49 who have
ever experienced physical domestic violence have been slapped.

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Acts of sexual violence: Approximately one out of every ten currently married women has been forced to have
sex against her will, and 4% have been forced to undertake sexual behaviours they did not want to commit.

Spousal Violence by Marital Duration

While spousal violence can happen at any point during a marriage, it is most common in the early years of a
relationship. According to NFHS-3, 81 % of currently married women aged 15 to 49 who have ever
experienced physical and/or sexual abuse by their current spouses did it within five years of marriage for the
first time.

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3. Initiatives and Policies

3.1 Policies to improve Education opportunities for women

In India, the government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are working together to ensure female
education and learning. Since independence, several government policies have been launched, with gender
equality education as a significant component; the Social Education Program, which included literacy, was
launched as part of the Community Development Program in 1952.

Recognizing lack of education as a serious obstacle to India's overall development, India's former Prime
Minister, the late Rajiv Gandhi, established the National Literacy Mission (NLM) in 1988 as one of India's five
technology missions, with a focus on educational access, mainly for women, to improve literacy growth.

The Post Literacy Program (PLP), an NLM sub campaign, went above and beyond learning to focus on
women's overall development, allowing neo literates to use their newly gained literacy abilities to tackle issues.

The Continuing Education Program (CEP) offered women educational services on a variety of topics,
including income-generating activities, skill development, and quality-of-life programmes.

3.2 Policies to improve Employment opportunities for women

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has contributed a lot towards promoting gender equality. It
focuses on offering flexible choices for Indian women to participate in the workforce, in order to focus on
female education through its Institute of School Education. The MHRD developed a committee to enhance the
position of women by analysing causes of gender discrimination, identifying determinants, and defining basics
to reduce gender inequality.

In its initial report, the Committee on the Status of Women in India (CSWI) highlighted different demographic
patterns in male and female access to literacy, education, and occupation. The Committee's findings
encouraged the women's campaign's efforts to raise concerns and advocate for more improvements and change.
The following are some of the policies that were revisited: protecting women from sexual harassment, allowing
women to work the same durations as men, earning equality in the workplace, ensuring equal access to work
and learning opportunities for men and women, and creating the same retirement age for men and women
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3.3 Government of India initiatives to close the gender gap in all aspects of social and economic life

Numerous programs/schemes focused towards women's development and empowerment are :

● Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) : provides the girl child's safety, survival, and education

● Mahila Shakti Kendra (MSK) : intends to provide chances for professional development and
employment for rural women.

● Mahila Police Volunteers (MPV) : In States/UTs, Mahila Police Volunteers will operate as a contact
between the police and citizens, assisting women in need.

● Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) : It is a leading microfinance organization that offers impoverished
women low-cost microcredit for a variety of livelihood and income-generating activities.

● Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana : intends to give housing in the woman's name as well.

● Skill Upgradation & Mahila Coir Yojana : It is an MSME-only training programme targeted at
improving the skills of women artisans working in the coir industry.

● Deen Dayal Upadhyay National Urban Livelihoods Mission :aimed at providing women with
possibilities for skill development and market-based employment.

● Female Entrepreneurship : The government has launched programmes such as Stand-Up India and
Mahila e-Haat (an online marketing platform for women), as well as the Entrepreneurship and Skill

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 Development Programme to encourage female entrepreneurship . Small and medium enterprises can
get institutional financing through the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY).

4. Conclusion

Gender inequality is a vital issue all over the world. Focusing on India various factors show that it is especially
pronounced here. The main reason for the existence of gender inequality in India has been historical
normalization of undervaluing women's contribution towards society. Such norms in Indian culture seem to be
unshakeable. Many efforts have been put over the years which has improved the situation a little bit but still
there is a long way to go.

Gender inequality in education, workplace, social and cultural events etc., deepens the problem and hinders the
empowerment of women. Various issues like employment, spouse violence etc were discussed in the report.
The root cause of the gender inequality issue lies in the education system.

Education plays the most vital role in the development and high pace of growth of any country, and this growth
is not possible without providing equal rights to men and women. The government of India has recognized this
since the time of Independence. To resolve this issue, it has put much effort into developing various policies
and schemes to fill this gender gap in education. These efforts have led to the consistent growth in female
literacy, but this growth is still not enough, and according to the census 2011, there is still a 16% gender gap.
Parents, teachers, and students directly influence girls' education, and they can easily remove or put hurdles in
girls' education.

Teachers play a significant role and critically influence a child's life. However, unfortunately, most teachers do
their job for duty and can never build a personal connection. As a result, girls could not share their problems
with their parents or teachers, which greatly affected their education. Besides this, other issues in school like
lack of proper sanitation facilities, the pressure of household work, poor economic conditions, and peer
pressure negatively affect the continuity of education.

The culture and tradition of our society also unfavorably influence the girl child's education and have increased
gender inequality in various domains. We need combined efforts to reduce gender disparities in the coming
future.

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5. References

1. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India. (2009, augustus). Gender Equality and

Women’s Empowerment in India.

2. A Literature Review on Gender Disparities in School Education System. (z.d.). IUJ Journal Of

Management. Geraadpleegd op 15 april 2022, van

http://journal.iujharkhand.edu.in/June-2020/A-Literature-Review-on-Gender-Disparities.html

3. Batra, R., & Reio, T. G. (2016). Gender Inequality Issues in India. Advances in Developing Human
Resources, 18(1), 88–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/1523422316630651

4. Arora, R. U. (2012). Gender inequality, economic development, and globalization: A state level
analysis of India. The Journal of Developing Areas, 46, 147-164

5. Bhattacharya, P. (2013, January 10). The price India pays for gender inequality. Livemint. Retrieved
from
http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/LA4JvYcdANXYwda0msGHRK/The-price-India-pays-for-gender-i
nequality.html

6. Census of India . (2011). Number of literates & literacy rate. Retrieved from
http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/India_at_glance/literates1.aspx

7. Initiatives by Government for reducing Gender Gap in all aspects of Social, Economic and Political
Life. (2021). Initiatives by Government for Reducing Gender Gap in All Aspects of Social, Economic
and Political Life.
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1707475#:~:text=Beti%20Bachao%20Beti%20Padhao
%20

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