Enhance Women Participation Research Articles

Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Cloud Infrastructures: Policy Recommendations for Enhancing Women's Participation in the Tech-Driven Economy

This study investigates the underrepresentation of women in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, and Cloud Infrastructures, exploring the barriers and challenges they face and assessing the effectiveness of current policies and initiatives to promote gender diversity within the tech industry. Employing quantitative research methods, the study used a survey distributed to 572 female professionals in tech-related roles across various industries, achieving a 67.9% response rate. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to test four main hypotheses concerning barriers to entry and advancement, the inclusivity of educational programs, the impact of diverse teams on innovation and performance, and the effectiveness of gender-inclusive policies. Key findings indicate that the type of organization and specific tech sectors significantly influence the barriers experienced by women. Notably, gender diversity within teams correlates strongly with improved innovation and performance. However, educational and training programs often fail to be sufficiently inclusive, underscoring the need for programs better tailored to women's needs in tech fields. Moreover, the study confirms that implementing gender-inclusive policies substantially increases women's participation in tech roles, especially when these policies are applied long-term. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for adopting comprehensive, inclusive practices at organizational and educational levels, promoting diversity in team composition and leadership, committing long-term to effective policy implementation, and developing supportive networks through mentorship and sponsorship programs. These measures are aimed at reducing gender disparities and enhancing the integration of women into the high-tech economy. The study underscores the critical role that strategic policy-making and organizational change play in fostering an inclusive tech environment that not only addresses gender disparities but also enhances overall industry innovation and performance.

Media Literacy in Enhancing Women's Participation Towards Sustainable Development Goals in Indonesian Plantation Communities

One of the goals of the Sustainable Development Goals is to achieve gender equality and empower women. The SDGs also mandate that women have ICT (Information and Communication Technology) skills. ICT skills are essential as women's participation is maximized in sustainable development. Research Objective: To identify the forms of women's participation in village development, especially media literacy skills in the form of ICT. The research location was in an oil palm plantation in Sukaluwei Village, Bangun Purba Sub-district, Deli Serdang Regency, Indonesia. Research informants were women who participated in development at the research location. Data collection methods used in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and observations. Data were collected through data reduction, presentation, analysis, and conclusion. The results showed that women's participation in development generally occupies a position as members and leaders in development activities in the village. They need help involving the community in activities and the difficulty of meeting time to discuss or decide on an activity. The media literacy skills in the form of ICT possessed by informants are the ability to use smartphones, where generally informants can use smartphones to send and receive messages such as making invitations and sending them, searching for materials, and forwarding important information back to the group. Based on the results of the in-depth interviews, media literacy (especially the ability to use a smartphone) and ICT skills are critical in supporting their involvement in village development. Media Literacy and ICT Skills Make Women's Participation Faster, Smoother, and More Effective.

Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Cloud Infrastructures: Policy Recommendations for Enhancing Women's Participation in the Tech-Driven Economy

Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Cloud Infrastructures: Policy Recommendations for Enhancing Women's Participation in the Tech-Driven Economy

Postnatal PMTCT: Women’s Perception Barriers at a Johannesburg Health Centre, South Africa

Background: Maximising women’s participation and ensuring optimal outcomes will require that the women’s perception barriers to postnatal prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme of HIV be addressed. However, little is known about women’s perception barriers to postnatal PMTCT programme of HIV and how these barriers affect the women’s health seeking behavior and uptake. Objective: This study sought to explore the women’s perception barriers to postnatal PMTCT programme at a Johannesburg Community Health Centre during April-May, 2016. Methods: A qualitative study on 30 women (aged 20 - 39 years) was conducted at a Johannesburg community health (CHC), South Africa, during May-June 2016, after obtaining their consent. The data was analysed thematically to understand women’s perception barriers to postnatal PMTCT programme. Results: The study found that inadequate counselling was perceived to be the single key health service barrier to PMTCT programme. At the individual level, adherence to ART was considered the leading women’s barriers to the postnatal PMTCT. Exclusive breastfeeding was, however, perceived as important women’s barriers to the postnatal PMTCT. Inadequate emotional support from families and community was a noteworthy women’s perception barrier to the programme. Conclusion: The study makes two recommendations: firstly, the staff, programme managers and health policy makers need to be aware of the women’s perception barriers to the postnatal PMTCT programme. Secondly, the programme should be strengthened by addressing perception barriers to the programme to enhance women participation to ensure optimal outcomes for women and their infants.

Socio-Cultural Determinants Affecting Political Participation And Satisfaction Of Women Councilors In Faisalabad

Women encountered various challenges in political participation such as social, cultural, political and economic that hinder their empowerment. Women wellbeing are attained on social, economic and cultural grounds when they were politically empowered. This current study deals with the socio-cultural determinants and women councilors satisfaction via political involvement during session 2008-2010. The researcher employed the quantitative approach and selected 352 women councilors via systematic sampling technique from three different levels of councils in district Faisalabad. In this study, 83% of the sample was drawn from union council, 8.5% from the town/tehsil and district council. The data were analyzed through SPSS version 20. The findings revealed that most of the women were politically participated in different developmental activities and having a membership of monitoring committee. Most women representatives frequently responded to community problems. However, they encountered obstacles like lack of funds, non-payment of honorarium, salary problem, freedom of choice, mobility and health problems, lack of financial authority, educational attainment, decision making disengagement, separate washroom and waiting room. Bivariate analysis conducted between socioeconomic background of women councilors and political participation. Results indicated that women were more politically groomed and have political opportunities such as affiliation with political parties, having close relatives in politics and having knowledge about Local Government ordinance were more incorporated in political participation. In crux, higher education, professional training, provision of honorarium and freedom of decision making enhance women participation in political activities.

Socio-Cultural Determinants Affecting Political Participation And Satisfaction Of Women Councilors In Faisalabad


 Women encountered various challenges in political participation such as social, cultural, political and economic that hinder their empowerment. Women wellbeing are attained on social, economic and cultural grounds when they were politically empowered. This current study deals with the socio-cultural determinants and women councilors satisfaction via political involvement during session 2008-2010. The researcher employed the quantitative approach and selected 352 women councilors via systematic sampling technique from three different levels of councils in district Faisalabad. In this study, 83% of the sample was drawn from union council, 8.5% from the town/tehsil and district council. The data were analyzed through SPSS version 20. The findings revealed that most of the women were politically participated in different developmental activities and having a membership of monitoring committee. Most women representatives frequently responded to community problems. However, they encountered obstacles like lack of funds, non-payment of honorarium, salary problem, freedom of choice, mobility and health problems, lack of financial authority, educational attainment, decision making disengagement, separate washroom and waiting room. Bivariate analysis conducted between socioeconomic background of women councilors and political participation. Results indicated that women were more politically groomed and have political opportunities such as affiliation with political parties, having close relatives in politics and having knowledge about Local Government ordinance were more incorporated in political participation. In crux, higher education, professional training, provision of honorarium and freedom of decision making enhance women participation in political activities.

Roles of age and gender in the attainment of sustainable governance in Africa

The study set out to investigate how gender and age influence democratic governance in selected Sub-Saharan African countries. How well age and gender influence democratic governance in Africa has remained grossly understudied in extant literature of public sector and welfare economics. Based on panel data and illustrations from seven Sub-Sahara nations (Cameroun, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania), this paper discussed the need for full participation of women in democratic governance in Africa. The findings advocated that gender and age have significant effects on democratic governance in Africa. While there is the need for more qualitative research on gender and age indicators for good governance on more countries in Africa, this paper suggested that African governments must continuously introduce gender-friendly policies that will enhance women participation in economic activities for a more equitable and egalitarian society that has eluded us years gone.Keywords: Democratic Governance, Age, Gender, Panel Estimation, Sub-Saharan Africa

Enhancing women's participation in decision-making in artisanal fisheries in the Anlo Beach fishing community, Ghana

We describe a participatory action research journey with the Anlo Beach fishing community, Ghana, to promote women's participation in decision-making. It was clear from an early stage that women were absent from formal decision-making platforms, making it difficult for their livelihood and wellbeing challenges to be addressed. We began our work with a belief that community transformation can be achieved only if all community members, including women, participate actively in development projects. We adopted a gender transformative participatory action research approach. We find that before initiating participatory projects, it is critical to address gendered power asymmetries through capacity development to enable marginalised groups to effectively participate in decision making processes. By opening space for leadership to emerge from marginalised groups, participatory action research can bring about transformative and sustainable outcomes. When their needs are genuinely addressed, community members can champion development activities that transform their communities. Implementing such initiatives, however, requires substantial investment and a fundamental change in the way participatory development initiatives are implemented.

Evaluation of world’s largest social welfare scheme: An assessment using non-parametric approach

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is the world’s largest social welfare scheme in India for the poverty alleviation through rural employment generation. This paper aims to evaluate and rank the performance of the states in India under MGNREGA scheme. A non-parametric approach, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is used to calculate the overall technical, pure technical, and scale efficiencies of states in India. The sample data is drawn from the annual official reports published by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. Based on three selected input parameters (expenditure indicators) and five output parameters (employment generation indicators), I apply both input and output oriented DEA models to estimate how well the states utilize their resources and generate outputs during the financial year 2013–14. The relative performance evaluation has been made under the assumption of constant returns and also under variable returns to scale to assess the impact of scale on performance. The results indicate that the main source of inefficiency is both technical and managerial practices adopted. 11 states are overall technically efficient and operate at the optimum scale whereas 18 states are pure technical or managerially efficient. It has been found that for some states it necessary to alter scheme size to perform at par with the best performing states. For inefficient states optimal input and output targets along with the resource savings and output gains are calculated. Analysis shows that if all inefficient states operate at optimal input and output levels, on an average 17.89% of total expenditure and a total amount of $780million could have been saved in a single year. Most of the inefficient states perform poorly when it comes to the participation of women and disadvantaged sections (SC&ST) in the scheme. In order to catch up with the performance of best performing states, inefficient states on an average need to enhance women participation by 133%. In addition, the states are also ranked using the cross efficiency approach and results are analyzed. State of Tamil Nadu occupies the top position followed by Puducherry, Punjab, and Rajasthan in the ranking list. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first pan-India level study to evaluate and rank the performance of MGNREGA scheme quantitatively and so comprehensively.

Enabling Spaces and Supporting Structures - Enhancing Women's Participation in the Self-initiated Community-based Forest Management in Odisha

Gender and equity studies on participatory natural resource governance in India have remained highly concentrated only to the aspects of men vs. women in the joint forest management (JFM), and the reasons for failure and non-participation of the women in JFM. Research studies thus far on gender lacks focus on the diversity existing among women as a forest resource user group. Earlier studies have also ignored the role of women in large scale self-initiated CBFM systems found in the states of Odisha, Jharkand and Bihar. Although, earlier studies mentioned about the spaces and supporting structures that would enable better participation of women in participatory natural resource management programmes, however, they did not identify the spaces and structures that are in operation at the grassroots. A case study adopting the multiple case study approach was conducted on the self-initiated community-based forest management in the Indian state of Odisha to identify the enabling spaces and supporting structures that might be helping women to participate actively in participatory forest management in Odisha. In this article based on our case study we present the enabling spaces and supporting structures that were perceived to be enhancing women's participation in the self-initiated community-based forest management in the Indian state of Odisha.

Social and Economic Impact of Rural Women’s Participation in Agricultural Projects: A Case Study of Kigumo Sub-County, Kenya

Enhancing women's participation in development is essential not only for achieving social justice but also for reducing poverty. Worldwide experience shows that supporting a stronger role for women contributes to economic growth, improves child survival and overall family health, and it reduces fertility, thus helping to slow population growth rates. In short, investing in women is central to sustainable development. This study sought to find out the social and economic impacts brought about by women participation in agricultural projects. The economic impact of women participation which was measured using income and assets acquired, income was analysed using t-test, mean and mode and it was found out that participation of women in agricultural projects does indeed increase their income. The social impact of women participation in agricultural projects was measured through access to healthcare, children education, nutrition, and shelter; they were analysed using chi-square and frequencies. The findings were that participation does improve social development or wellbeing of the women and their families. The research study targeted women in Kigumo Sub-County in Murang’a County. The research used a descriptive research design. Stratified sampling method was used to select women farmers who participate in agricultural projects in Kigumo Sub-County. The researcher used personal interviews and structured questionnaires as data collection tools. Data was analyzed through the use of descriptive frequencies, Mode, Mean, chi-square and t-test.

Participation of Rural Women in Farm and Non-Farm Activities : An Economic Analysis

Rural women are silent workers and major contributors to rural economy. Their economic contributions are often appreciated but not widely recognized. The purpose of the study was to make the participation of rural women in farm and non-farm activities visible and their contribution in generating household income. Data were collected from a purposively-drawn sample of 60 rural households consisting of 20 low, 20 medium and 20 high income households. The obtained data were analyzed by using tabular and statistical techniques. Women of these three categories contributed to Tk. 19398, 24180 and 20917.50 which were 35.18, 25.11 and 14.20 per cent of total household income respectively. It was evident that, female participation of low and medium income households is markedly higher in non-farm activities than the high income households. The results of the study showed clear evidences of greater extent of women’s participation in farm and non-farm activities as well as in various household decision making events. The findings of the study suggest that, in order to enhance women participation in farm and non-farm activities and their contribution to household income, the quality and status of support service like input supply, credit facilities, extension and motivation, need-based training should be improved. A successful government and non-government collaborative programme can best address these issues in an integrated manner.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/pa.v20i1-2.16878 Progress. Agric. 20(1 & 2): 245 – 251, 2009

A Stock-Taking on the Contribution of Women in Nigeria’s National Assembly, 1999-2011

The study appraises the role of women in Nigeria's National Assembly between 1999 and 2011. The data was generated through primary sources and corroborated with secondary materials. Its approach was historical, narrative, and analytical in nature. The study was pillared on liberal feminism and the global advocacy for women's involvement in Nigerian politics. Against this backdrop, it was discovered that women were not watchers but were active participants in the legislative business of the National Assembly. It was also found that women were not adequately represented and were not given principal positions in the National Assembly. Despite their under-representation, they also faced abuse and humiliation by their male counterparts. In order to enhance women participation in Nigerian politics, women’s political rights should be protected, including scaling up the implementation of the 35% Affirmative Action plan. The study also suggests that the politics of verbal assault should be discouraged.

Women empowerment and participation in economic activities: Indispensable tools for self-reliance and development of Nigerian society

The objective of the study was to examine women empowerment and participation in economic activities as tools for self-reliance and development of the Nigerian society. Research questions and hypothesis were used to guide the study. Structured questionnaire was used as the major instrument for data collection. Copies of questionnaires were administered to 402 women randomly selected from 6 out of the 21 local government Areas of Anambra State. 351 copies of questionnaire recovered were analyzed using mean to answer the research questions and t-test statistic to draw inferences about the hypothesis. The results showed that: farming, trading, craft, food processing, hair dressing, poultry and the likes were the major economic activities performed by women in Anambra state. Personal savings, family assistance, philanthropist’s assistance, loans and credits, cooperative society assistance, group contributions, were the sources of fund available to the women for their economic activities. Education and health promotion, food supply and distribution, were some of the services rendered by the women that bring about societal development. Inability of government to provide support, corruption on the part of implementers, family burden, cultural restrictions, husband influence, illiteracy were the obstacles women encounter in carrying out their economic activities. Provision of sustainable land tenure system, provision of soft loans and credits, training programmes, funding, establishment of cooperative societies, were some of the strategies proffered to enhance women participation in economic activities. Key words: Women empowerment, economic activities, self-reliance, societal development

Enhancing Women Participation in National Development through a Change in the Gender System of Nigeria

In recent times, there has been an increase in the level of participation of women in national development. This is because individuals, governments and the society have come to the realization of the role women (especially educated ones) can play in the sustainability of the developmental efforts being made in the society. This paper however posits that the gender system in the society which includes the patriarchal nature of the society and inheritance rights are still inhibiting factors to women’s full participation in national development. It was recommended among other things that laws on women’s inheritance right should not only be promulgated. They should be enforced adequately. Other forms of gender stereotypes manifesting in the school should also be discouraged.

A Statistical Survey on the Contributions of Nigerian Women Towards Nation-Building

We critically examined the consciousness of Nigerian women about their rights and roles as well as their social, political and economic responsibility, and the hindrances they face in the society using Family Support Programme in Lagos State as a platform for inference. Simple random sampling technique was considered in the distribution of questionnaires in the three LGAs (Epe, Ikeja and Lagos Mainland). The hypotheses tested showed that: (1) family support programme will enhance women participation towards nation-building (2) the traditional role of women will not significantly contribute to nation-building (3) the present role expected of women in society will increase their participation in politics and (4) Social and educational background will strongly encourage women participation in nation-building. However, the data collected from the survey indicates that there is more work to do to improving the professional development, quality of women life, and governance of women education. Hence, continued study is needed to be evaluating the contributions of Nigerian women towards nation-building.