1. International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, January, 2013 ISSN 0975-3486, RNI- RAJBIL- 2009-30097, VOL- IV * ISSUE- 40
Research Paper—Education
Women Empowerment Through Higher Education
January,2013
* Dr. Pratima Taxak
* Associate Professor, R.L.S College of Education, Sidhrawali
A B S T R A C T
Empowering women is an important end in itself. And as women acquire the same status, opportunities and social, economic
and legal rights as men, as they acquire the right to health and gender based violence, human well-being will be enhanced.
"To educate your women first and leave them to them related to women work force which address the global
selves, problems and their future implications on women at
They will tell you what reforms are necessary." various places and regions. The issues like the prefer-
---- Swami Vivekananda ence of Job, location, well being at work place learning
The GandhianApproach: etc are well addressed .
According to Gandhi Ji, literacy in itself is no Most Indian women do accept their traditional
education; it is not the end of education. His Philoso- role of depends on male relatives. But as possibility of
phy of education was based on his experiments with economic independence through respectable
physical literacy and moral training at the Tolstoy Form employment becomes a reality for women. They do take
in South Africa. He believed that the same soul resides advantage of the opportunities. The educated Indian
in both man and woman and both of them have equal women, one comes in contact with a broader culture
opportunities to develop their personality. They are an then that of her home, learn about new role of potenti-
inseparable pair and one can not live without other. For alities and would like to adopt certain changes in the
him, In a plan of life based on non violence, woman has additional roles. Today, the present situation positively
as much right to shaper her own destiny as man has to encourage women to take a administrative positions in
shape his. But rules of social conduct must be framed educational institutions on the whole, women admin-
by mutual co-operation and consulation. They can istrators are well through of in our society. Therefore,
never be imposed from outside. Men have not realized with this attitudinal change in climate around them. The
this truth in its fullness in their behavior towards women. future is pride if women are determined to make their
They have considered themselves to be lords and profession a success.
masters of women instead of consider in them as their According to the country report of the Gov-
friends and co-workers (Gandhi, M.K). ernment of India " Empowerment means moving from
Educated Girl Nation's Progress, Societies Pride! a weak position to execute a power." It is the ability to
Give Girls Their chance !! direct and control one's life (Paz, 1990). It is a process
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, " If you in which women gain control to over their own lives of
educate the man, you educate the person but if you knowing and claiming their right at all levels of society
educate the woman, you educate the nation" at the international, local and household levels (Depth
Women are part of our socio-economic sys- news, 1992). It means extending choices - Choices about
tem. They up hold our rich cultural and traditional if and when to marry, choice about education, employ-
values as they have a strong bond with the society. ment opportunities, controlling the social and physical
Their progress is many often equated with the nation's environment, choice about if and when to get pregnant
progress and therefore, their participation in develop- and untimately about family size. (State of word popu-
ment activities of the societies is always a concern. The lation report, 1994). (In promoting a women's empow-
educational background of a woman has a direct bear- erment frame work, Kart (1995) gives five levels which
ing on her development. When we study the woman include.
issues and their work force related problems. One can A)Welfare
see that there is a great disparity in the distribution in B) Access
balance of women's employment between urban and C) Conscientisation
rural areas. Studies have shown that the employment D) Participation
status of women in urban and rural areas is always E) Control
statistically significant. There are individual studies Education is the best tool to achieve this cherished
RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION 13

2. International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, January, 2013 ISSN 0975-3486, RNI- RAJBIL- 2009-30097, VOL- IV * ISSUE- 40
goal in the Indian context. But in a country like India Every year, India is producing 2.5 million graduates and
where in the people gave themselves the constitution this figure is just after USA and China. The higher
but not the ability to keep it, inherited a resplendent education institutions suffer from large quality varia-
heritage but not the wisdom to cherish it and suffer and tion in so much so that a NASSCOM - Mackinsey
endure in patience without the perception of their Report - 2005 has said that not more than 15 percent of
potential (Nani Palkhivala) attaing the goal needs pro- graduates of general education and 25-30 percent of
active strategies, where withal, Political courage and technical education are fit for employment. The vari-
administrative competence to execute. ous regulatory bodies regulating higher education have
Higher Education : Issues and Concerns constituted an autonomous bodies for monitoring
India has occupied an important place in learning qualities standards in the institutions under their pur-
for thousand of years. The present format of Higher view. For example, NAAC by UGC, NBAbyAICTE, AB
Education in India was started in 1857. At present, India by ICAR, DEC by NCTE etc. Though there exists au-
possesses a highly developed higher education sys- tonomous bodies for assessment and monitoring qual-
tem which offers facility of education and training in ity standards in the institutions of higher education.
almost all aspects of human's creative and intellectual They suffer from two major deficiencies. First, the quality
endeavors such as arts and humanities, natural, math- norms of such councils are not comparable with inter-
ematical and social science, engineering, medicine, national standards. Secondly, the enforcement pro-
dentistry, education, agriculture, law, commerce and cess is not stringent. Further political interference and
management, music, and performing arts, national and corruption dilute the role and impact of these institu-
foreign language's , culture and communications etc. tions is ensuring the desired quality standards.
Although higher education has expended sev- Enrolment in Higher Education Share of Girl's Enrol-
eral times since independence, issues of access, equity ment (%)
and quality still continue to be the areas of concern. PG EI Graduation B.E B.Ed MBBS Total
Access : Edu/Ph.D
The Gross enrolment rate measures, the access 1970-71 25.8 24.4 1.0 37.3 22.4 23.6
1980-81 31.7 27.8 3.6 40.9 24.3 27.5
level by talking the ratio of persons in all age groups 1990-91 32.2 34.7 10.9 44.2 34.3 33.2
enrolled in various programs to total population in age 2000-01 36.7 37.4 22.3 42.8 40.6 36.8
group of 16 to 23. For Higher Education GER has risen 2002-03 42.3 42.0 22.6 52.0 41.6 40.1
2003-04 42.8 41.5 23.8 49.9 42.0 45.3
from 0.7 percent in 1950-51 to 1.4 percent in 1960-61, and 2004-05 44.2 41.2 26.4 36.5 36.5 40.1
8 percent in early 2000. The current GER which is about 2005-06 33.6 41.9 26.0 43.7 47.5 38.5
17 percent stands very low when compared to the world Source :
average of 23.2 percent, and an average of 54.6 percent Ved Prakash (2008) based on selected educa-
for developed countries, 36.3 percent for countries in tional statistics (various years), MHRD EI status of
transition, and 11.3 percent for developing countries. Education in India : National Report (2008), NUEPA,
In view of the projected population in the age group of Department of Higher Education, MHRD, Government
18-23 years for 2011-12 which is 114.287 million, the of India.
access to higher education for all eligible in the country The effect of modernism and technological progress
will be a major issue before the policy makers. We will increasingly demand competencies and pose chal-
require better framework to address the issues of ac- lenges requiring more vibrant content. Higher educa-
cessibility and to provide higher education at an af- tion needs to be reoriented to increase women's access
fordable cost. to traditionally male dominated courses and equip them
Equity : to take up entrepreneurial administration and leader-
On one hand Gross Enrolment Rate stands low ship roles and responsibilities. The three specific needs
for the overall population, while on the other hand related to women and higher education are :-
there exists large variations among the various catego- a) Recognition of women as an essential human re-
ries of population based on gender, urban and rural source base of each country
habitation and rich and poor. Due to regional disparity b) A strong commitment to equip women with the nec-
in economic development and uneven distribution of essary range of managerial skills empowering them in
institutions of higher education, the higher education their decision making role;
is not equally available to the different sections of the c) Institution of a feminine leadership model suited to
society. the needs of social development across all sectors.
Quality : With the adoption of several policies the participation
In term of quantity , India is quite impressive. of women in higher education has changed. The enrol-
ment of girl students in higher education is increasing.
14 RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION

3. International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, January, 2013 ISSN 0975-3486, RNI- RAJBIL- 2009-30097, VOL- IV * ISSUE- 40
Women Student's Enrolment in various faculties
Veter.ei
Commerce other Other Veter Other
Year Arts Science Education Engg/tech. Medicine Agri. Law
management science faculties science faculties
faculties
2006- 20.51,
45.8 37.95 35.15 48.73 19.82 44.3 15.9 35.57 20.7 20.51 35.57
07 35.57
2007- 20.29,
46.5 39.86 36.88 49.41 22.9 45.31 16.5 36.59 21.7 20.29 36.59
08 36.59
2008- 20.70,
47.2 43.22 36.82 63.1 21.07 45.46 18.9 45.55 20.7 20.7 45.55
09 45.55
Source : (Syed Mehartaj Begum, Women Empowerment through Higher Education, University News,
October 2010).
But the drop out also is going up. Our education sys-
tem still fails to adopt the girls in higher education. The lowed by science (19.98%) and Commerce (15.91%),
gaps in the male - female literacy rate are an indicator constituting 81.55% in the three faculties. During 2009-
of gender discrimination persisting in India. The male 10, 867 new women colleges had been established in
literacy rate is more than 75% whereas female literacy various states, thus taking the total number of women
rate is only 54.16% as per 2001 Census. According to colleges to 3432 (Annual Report, 2009-10). These fig-
the higher education department of India, total enroll- ures indicate that women students are enrolling in various
ment in higher education in India is 1, 43, 23, 566 stu- courses as per their preferences and future require-
dents out of which only 54, 91, 818 girl students are ments. But we have miles to go.
enrolled in the year 2008. The data clearly reveal that Conclusion :
the overall representation of women in higher educa- Education among women is the most powerful
tion is not up to the marks. tool of attaining power in the society. It helps in less-
It can not however be denied that there has been ening in equalities and functions as a means for improv-
a phenomenal growth in enrolment of women students ing their status within the family. Educated women are
in higher education in the country. The share of girl's more politically active and better informed about their
enrolment which was 11.3% of the total enrolment in legal rights and how to exercise them. Education is an
1950-51 has increased to 38.6% (provisional) in 2008- input not only for economic development but also for
09. GER of girls has increased by 4.6 percentage point inner strength and hence the need for higher education
during 2001-02 to 2008-09. The number of women stu- of women, and in particular of rural women, is not rec-
dents enrolled per hundred men students at all level ognized fully in rural areas.
reached the figure of 71 in 2010. Women enrolment had
been the highest in the faculty of Arts(45.66%), fol-
R E F E R E N C E
1. XI th five year plan (2008), 1.3.25 of XI plan Document, Vol I, Government of India.
2. Muralidharan, K. (2005). Globalized women and workforce University News 43 (50), 13-15.
3. Pandya, Rameshwari and Anuradha Mathu. (2005) Capacity Building for effective women Administrator. University News
43(49), 1-8.
4. Swami, Raju Narayana (2012). Higher Education as a tool for rural women empowerment. University News 50(39), 1-7.
5. Draft Report of working Group on Higher Education for the XI Plan, planning commission, Government of India (2007).
RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION 15