Status Of Empowerment Research Articles

Individual-Level Antecedents of Psychological Empowerment

AbstractThe role of individual factors in organizational behavior has been debated since the 1960s and remains unresolved. Psychological empowerment has been portrayed as holding the key to unleashing individual potential for performance improvement in project settings, yet individuals with values at variance with the principles of empowerment may not be suitable candidates. The relationship between seven factors related to an individual’s cultural values, status, and quality of relationships and psychological empowerment are explored with a sample of project management-level staff in Hong Kong using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). Results indicate that individual-level factors matter in psychological empowerment experiences in project settings. In particular, culture may be a key boundary condition in making the implementation of empowerment acceptable and effective in different contexts—although the specific influence of cultural values such as power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and collectivism...

Empowerment of Rural Women in Agriculture: A Socio-psychological Analysis

KEYWORDS Empowerment. Autonomy vs. Dependency. Self-esteem vs. Self-depreciation. Reflective vs. Repetitive Behavior ABSTRACT Empowerment in woman's development is a way of defining, challenging and overcoming barriers in her life through which she increases her ability to shape her life. The active, multi-dimensional processes enable them to realize full identity and power in all spheres of life. Rural women play a crucial role in agricultural development and allied fields. However without their total intellectual and physical participation in these activities, it is not possible to achieve the goals of rural uplift. In the present study an attempt has been made to analyze the present status of women empowerment in different caste categories in Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh by examining pivotal socio-psychological factors of empowerment such as autonomy vs. dependency, self-esteem vs. self-depreciation and reflective vs. repetitive behavior of women. The results showed that majority of the women had medium or low level of empowerment. Further women who were illiterate/less educated were less empowered and generally belong to the scheduled caste category. In overall terms, the researchers would argue that the broad based approach is one of the best approaches to guarantee gender equity and to empower rural women, and that this approach should be considered in the formulation of rural policies and the creation and implementation of agricultural and rural development programmes and projects.

Women empowerment as measure of good governance in Nigeria

This paper discussed the status of women empowerment as a measure of sustainable good governance in Nigeria. The study examines the variables used as measures of women empowerment. Information were derived from secondary data drawn mainly from 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health survey (NDHS), and compared with those from selected developing countries including 2003 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), 2004 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS), 2004 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), and the 2005 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (EDHB). The results of the analyses showed that the status of women in Nigeria in relation to those of women in the selected countries had not improved substantially in the areas of education and participation in family decision-making among others. Indeed, they were below the linear target path and there was virtually no realistic hope for rural areas in any of the countries to meet the goal.Keywords: Women, governance, demographic/Health survey, education, rural areas, Nigeria

Women Empowerment in India

The present paper is an attempt to analyze the status of women empowerment in India using various indicators based on data from secondary sources. The study reveals that women of India are relatively disempowered and they enjoy somewhat lower status than that of men in spite of many efforts undertaken by government. Gender gap exists regarding access to education and employment. Household decision making power and freedom of movement of women vary considerably with their age, education and employment status. It is found that acceptance of unequal gender norms by women are still prevailing in the society. More than half of the women believe wife beating to be justified for one reason or the other. Fewer women have final say on how to spend their earnings. Control over cash earnings increases with age, education and with place of residence. Women’s exposure to media is also less relative to men. Rural women are more prone to domestic violence than that of urban women. A large gender gap exists in political participation too. The study concludes by an observation that access to education and employment are only the enabling factors to empowerment, achievement towards the goal, however, depends largely on the attitude of the people towards gender equality.

Status of Social Capital and Community Empowerment

Status of Social Capital and Community Empowerment

Credit Programs, Women's Empowerment, and Contraceptive use in Rural Bangladesh

This article presents findings of research addressing the question of how women's status affects fertility. The effects on contraceptive use of women's participation in rural credit programs and on their status or level of empowerment were examined. A woman's level of empowerment is defined here as a function of her relative physical mobility, economic security, ability to make various purchases on her own, freedom from domination and violence within her family, political and legal awareness, and participation in public protests and political campaigning. The main finding is that participation in both of the credit programs studied, those of Grameen Bank and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), is positively associated with women's level of empowerment. A positive effect on contraceptive use is discernible among both participants and nonparticipants in Grameen Bank villages. Participation in BRAC does not appear to affect contraceptive use.