International Journal of Research in all Subjects in Multi Languages Vol. 6, Sp.

Issue:2, February: 2018

[Author: Girishkumar K. Chauhan] [Subject: Education] (IJRSML) ISSN: 2321 - 2853

Perception of Female Students towards Women Empowerment

GIRISHKUMAR K. CHAUHAN DR S. G. PATEL
Research Scholar, Dept. of Edu. Research Guide, Ex HOD & Dean, Dept. of Edu.
HNGU, Patan HNGU, Patan

1. Introduction
Empowerment is the most frequently used term in development dialogue today. The empowerment of
women is a contemporary issue regardless of the country in which social planner tries to bring a
sustainable development. Though women empowerments not a sufficient condition it is still a
necessary condition in order to stabilize and in turn to have sustainability of the development process.
This paper by characterizing the women empowerment tries to obtain a scientific measure of
empowerment.

It is also the most nebulous and widely interpreted of concepts, which has simultaneously become a
tool for analysis and also an umbrella concept to justify development intervention. For some, the
empowerment of women is an active multi-dimensional process which enables women to realize their
full identity and powers in all spheres of life. For others, empowerment represents the ability of
women to handle responsibilities, to envision a better future and to work to overcome the obstacles
that confront them. Empowerment can be measured by using selective indicators, such as active
contribution in the household, the workplace and the community. Although the participation of women
in the paid labour force and female enrolment in education has increased considerably over the last
years, gender disparities still exist in almost all the countries in the world. Urban working women all
over India have proved that they can not only match but also excel men in various skills, if equal
opportunities are available to them without any discrimination. The promotion of women
empowerment as a development goal is based on a dual argument: (a) that social justice is an
important aspect of human welfare and is intrinsically worth pursuing; and (b) that women
empowerment is a means to other ends. A recent policy research report by the World Bank (2001), for
example, identifies gender equality both as a development objective in itself, and as a means to
promote growth, reduce poverty and promote better governance.

2. Literature Review
Promoting gender equality and women empowerment is one of the key objectives of MDGs. The
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) introduced GDI and GEM in 1995 as a supplement of
HDI. These two indices account for gender inequality in the achievement of basic capabilities and in
the economic opportunities and political areas.

The study by Vianello et al. (1990) showed that a husband’s power within marriage tended to increase
in proportion to the resources that he could muster: education, income, prestige, social status, and so
on. The author also found that the husband’s power was associated with the stage in the life cycle and
with the presence of children in the home. More importantly, wives who worked for pay had more
power than wives not gainfully employed. When the resource theory was applied to the study of
marital power in different societies, the findings were inconsistent. Burr (1973) developed a general
model of marital power which spells out a set of proposition. It takes into account the complex
interconnection between the amount of power, the cultural or normative context, and the specific
tangible and intangible resources that affect the distribution of marital power. Peattie and Rein (1983)

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International Journal of Research in all Subjects in Multi Languages Vol. 6, Sp. Issue:2, February: 2018
[Author: Girishkumar K. Chauhan] [Subject: Education] (IJRSML) ISSN: 2321 - 2853
and Sapiro (1984) rightly mentioned that it is necessary for women to organize themselves as women,
and to devise a strategy on how to win leading positions.

3. Women's rights and security in India

Policies relating to women's rights have had a positive trajectory in the past few decades with the
central government articulating many progressive measures to advance gender equality in social,
economic, and political arenas. The Government of India (GoI) has two main bodies to advance gender
equality: the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the National Commission for Women,
which is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Both
bodies work on national- and state-level legal and social policies to advance gender equality. The
Ministry has widely implemented local-level micro-finance schemes to advance economic
opportunities for rural women. The National Commission for Women has been instrumental in
creating legislative changes, and has set up Complaint and Investigate Cells at the state level. The
Grievance Cells receive complaints of gender-based violence and are mandated to investigate, provide
referrals and counseling, and ultimately report on such cases. With a vibrant women’s rights
movement in India, there are continuous demands for better laws, provisions, and accountability for
implementation. Most recent examples include the change in India’s rape laws, where in 2006 marital
rape was recognized. Currently, women’s rights activists are demanding better provisions in Sections
375 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code.
 India ranks 18th among the highest maternal mortality rates in the world with 540 deaths for every
100,000 births
 Only 48% of adult Indian women are literate.
 Among rural women, 36.1% have experienced physical violence in their adult lives.
 66% of women who have experienced physical violence in their lifetimes are divorced, widowed,
or deserted.
 Lower caste and tribal women are among those who experience the highest levels of physical
violence.
 85.3% of women reporting violence claimed that their current husbands were the Perpetrators.

4. Objectives
1. To study the perception of female students of higher secondary school towards women
empowerment.
2. To study the perceptions of female students of higher secondary school towards women
empowerment with reference to habitat of school.
3. To study the perceptions of female students of higher secondary school towards women
empowerment with reference to category students.

5. Variables
Sr. Name of Types of Level Description of level Source
No. Variable Variable
1 Habitat Dependent 2 1.Urban Collected
2.Rural Information
2 Stream Dependent 2 1.Arts Collected
2.Science Information
3.Commerce
3 Caste Dependent 2 1.Reserved caste Collected
2.Unreserved caste Information
4 Women Independent Prepared
Empowerment Investigator

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International Journal of Research in all Subjects in Multi Languages Vol. 6, Sp. Issue:2, February: 2018
[Author: Girishkumar K. Chauhan] [Subject: Education] (IJRSML) ISSN: 2321 - 2853
6. Hypotheses of the Study
Ho1: There will be no significant difference between mean score of urban and rural female students of
higher secondary school on women empowerment rating scale.
Ho2: There will be no significant difference between stream-wise mean score of female students of
higher secondary school on women empowerment rating scale.
Ho3: There will be no significant difference between caste-wise mean score of female students of
higher secondary school on women empowerment rating scale.

7. Research Design
To understand the strengths and weaknesses, analyze any particular research situation in the light of
those strengths and weaknesses and select the approach, or combination of approaches, on the basis of
that analysis. This notion further justifies the method selected for this study. A predominantly
quantitative approach is appropriate for this kind of study, therefore it is the sole approach conducted
for the study. Quantitative methods involving survey rating scale to collect the quantitative data. A
study related to teachers’ perceptions of their job inevitably results in some sensitive issues surfacing.
 Sources of Data: Data collection remains an integral part of research design. There exists many
ways in collecting data such as primary and secondary data. For the purpose of this study, primary
and secondary data will be chosen as follows.
 Primary Data: For the purpose of this study, rating scale and questionnaire will be prepared by
the investigator and it will be used as the research instrument. Rating scale is a set of questions
developed to gain necessary data to answer the problem of the study. The advantage of using
rating scale is the fact that the researcher can collect all the completed responses within a short
period of time. In addition to that, administering the rating scale to a large number of respondents
is time efficient as well as less expensive.
 Secondary Data: The secondary data will be obtained from secondary sources such as monthly
publications, magazines, books, textbooks, articles, reports, as well as the Internet. In this study
the data will be mainly taken from various publications related to education, textbooks, and
journal articles as well as from websites, such as the official site of the Ministry of Education, the
official site of the Education Department.

8. Population and Sample Size

In this present research all the female students of the higher secondary school of the Himmatnagar City
from the Gujarat State were considered as the population of the study, 300 female students as sample
were selected randomly from a number of respondents from the selected lists of higher secondary
schools from the Higher Secondary school sections of Himmatnagar City from the Gujarat State.
Female students of the higher secondary school of the Himmatnagar City from the Gujarat State were
selected by random sampling techniques by using lottery system for the present study.

9. Tools
In this present research rating scale and questionnaire were prepared and widely used to measure
perception of female students of higher secondary school towards women empowerment and its
educational implications. Women Empowerment Rating Scale were prepared by the positive and
negative aspects and behavior of the female students of higher secondary school and in this concern
perception of the students were measured with reference to research concern. In this instrument,
respondents were asked to indicate to what extent they are showing their response. The 5-point Likert-
Scale would be used, which started with “1 = strongly disagree” to “5 = strongly agree”.

10. Data Collection Procedure

The first procedure in conducting the study in the were targeted organization by writing letters to the
administration (headmasters) a week prior. Once the administrator of the schools approved, the

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International Journal of Research in all Subjects in Multi Languages Vol. 6, Sp. Issue:2, February: 2018
[Author: Girishkumar K. Chauhan] [Subject: Education] (IJRSML) ISSN: 2321 - 2853
researcher were contacted the representative in each schools and handed them the Women
Empowerment Rating Scale and questionnaire.

11. Data Analysis Techniques

All the data collected from respondents were analyzed based on descriptive analysis by using the
Statistical Method. The approach comprised descriptive analysis for all items; frequency analysis,
internal consistency, t-Value applied to present collected data for the study.

12. Major findings of the study

From the above research it has been found that:
 Mean score of urban habitat students were found higher than the and mean score of the rural
habitat female students of higher secondary school on women empowerment rating scale.
 Mean score of students of the science stream were found higher than the mean score of the arts
and commerce female students of higher secondary school on women empowerment rating scale.
 Mean score of unreserved caste students were found higher than the reserved caste student’s
female students of higher secondary school on women empowerment rating scale.

13. Conclusion
From the above research it has been found that habitat, stream and caste of the female students of
higher secondary school were found significant on women empowerment awareness responses.

References
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4. Amarnath R. and Ch., Umamohan, (1996), “Gender and Work”, Contemporary Indian Women
Collected Works, Vol. 6, New Academic Publications, Delhi.
5. Encyclopedia of Women Development and Family Welfare, ed. Laxmidevi, Pub: New Delhi, Vol.
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6. Kabeer, N.(1999). “The Conditions and Consequences of Choice: Reflections on the Measurement
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8. Kishore, Sunita and Gupta, Kamala, (2004). “Women’s Empowerment in India and Its States:

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