chapter i. background of the study -...
TRANSCRIPT
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Chapter I. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 1.1. Introduction 1.2. Statement of the Problem 1.3. Significance of the Study 1.4. Objectives of the Study 1.5. Hypotheses 1.6. Limitations of the Study 1.7. Chapterization 1.8. References
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Chapter I BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.1. Introduction: Knowledge as one of the greatest human virtues has been immensely
valued in Indian society and its acquisition and dissemination considered as a
service of highest order throughout the ages. During the ancient period, the
saints and seers of India showed the world the path of truth, wisdom, and
peace. The modern concept of a university is close to that of forest ashram
institutions in the ancient Hindu tradition of adult learning. It is recorded that as
far back as 1500 BC Indian teachers would retire to clearings in the forests
along with groups of young men who volunteered to join them in living a life
of contemplation and philosophical discussion1. Such ashram schools, when
grew in number and size and attracted learners from far and wide, took the
shape of corporate institutions. Buddhist centers of learning at Takshashila
(5th century AD)—the oldest university of the world with over 10,500 students
and Nalanda (12th century AD) with 10,000 students and 1500 teachers are
examples of ancient Indian universities2.
The first three modern universities at Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras
were established in 1857 as examining bodies for existing 25 colleges and
modeled on the lines of the University of London. It was from this point
onwards that higher-education system grew steadily in size, especially due to
the national freedom struggle, which gained strength and momentum in the first
quarter of 20th century. In 1947, there were 20 universities with 500 colleges
enrolling about 100,000 students. The system has continued to develop with
accelerated rate during the last six decades (1947–2007) and has become third
largest in the world, next only to China and the USA, with 431 universities,
21,000 colleges, about 12 million students and 505,000 teachers3. Indian
universities and colleges account for over 10% of the total enrollment in
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higher-education institutions in the world, but still it is too small to
accommodate 138 million domestic youth in the age-group of 18–24 years.
The reported Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) of 12% is very small as compared
to world’s average of 23% and an average of 56% for developed countries.
The government of India proposes to increase the GER to 15% by year 2012
and to 21% by 2017 through large-scale expansion of the system by way of
opening new institutions and enhancing the intake capacity of the existing
ones4.
Higher education plays a vital role in the economic and social
development of a country. It provides a wide range of increasingly
sophisticated and ever changing variety of trained manpower needed in
education, engineering, medicine, agriculture, management, communication,
etc. It produces researchers, who through their activities, deepen and extend
frontiers of scientific and technical knowledge leading to innovations, which
energize engines of economic growth and development. Apart from developing
human resources, higher education turns out thinkers who reflect on critical
problems that affect humanity and thereby ensure its survival and growth.
Thus the single most important indicator of national future can be said to be the
state of his higher education. During ancient times in India the educational
system was mostly individualistic – education was being provided by a few
learned persons, in their individual capacity as a matter of devotion, sacrifice
and service, and education was being received by a group of individuals out of
their own interest, love and requirement for learning. Teachers used to live in
the bosom of nature in a sylvan with very limited needs and hardly any
anxieties of life. They were held in high esteem and they devoted their heart
and soul to the furtherance of education. Students were living in the Ashrams
with their teachers, sharing all the rites as well as responsibilities there. In such
residential institutions there were close and cordial relations among the
teachers and pupils. The pupils were gaining knowledge and acquiring learning
according to their own individual interests and abilities.
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Shinde6 (2012) highlighted the characteristics of higher education in India
in the modern period.
1. To Mould Value based Society: While higher education is taking us on the path of advancement, there is
criticism from the society according to which we are forgetting true values of
education. In a way, that is true because education doesn’t seem to create or
mould citizen or society based on values. This is so because until now the field
of education was based on certain values such as sacrifice, service, good
(moral) behavior and so on and so forth. Based on these values and by
accepting cultural values, education is expected to lead the way from darkness
to light and from ignorance to conscious knowledge.
2. To Create Futuristic Provision: Today we are witnessing more experiments are being done in the field of
higher education than they are done in primary education. But, if we analyze
what is the drive behind this, we can conclude that the economic burden on
higher education is not to be viewed as expenditure but to be viewed as
investment for the future. The society needs to be empowered through the
pursuance of higher education. This investment can lead result that is nothing
but the process of transformation which would transform a developing country
like ours into a developed country. But, if we look at the present scenario, we
have to admit that today we have become so selfish that we think only about
the present. There may be several reasons which have led us to this situation,
but we need to get out of this self-centered tendency through the aid of higher
education.
3. A Directionless Culture has come into Existence: Through education, meaningful transformation used to be carried out in
the past, such that knowledge used to get transformed into a service or
broadening of mind (or outlook). But today we see that the direction of this
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transformation has changed. In today's culture, knowledge is weighed in terms
of the money it would attract or earn in its exchange. Therefore, we have to say
that knowledge is being weighed in terms of money. In other words, the
traditional objective of transforming the society into socially beneficial services
through the medium of higher education is undergoing changes. Today, the
trend is reversed and the direction of the desirable transformation seems to
have left behind.
4. Commercialization of Higher Education: Today we may think we have grown cynical by thinking that whether we
have forgotten the broad objectives of education. This is so because when the
phenomena such as privatization and globalization came into being, we have
witnessed that a number of changes are taking place in every field. In 1982,
permission was granted to private educational institutions to open professional
and technical colleges and we can say the process of commercialization of
education was started from then onwards. Private institutions have brought
about change in our approach towards education. According to the private
institution owners, the aim of education isn’t service, but its main aim,
according to them, is to earn (huge) profits. Once this view was accepted, we
have witnessed huge corruption in the field of education.
5. Upper Hand of Directionless and Aimless Institutions: Even though we have had a long tradition of broad- minded educational
institutions, yet we see a radical change in this situation today. Even though we
can’t make a sweeping statement for all educational institutions, yet a majority
of institutions fall in this category of people who view education as a profit
making occupation. The policies of the Govt. may also be responsible, to some
extent, for this situation to arise. Or the extremely materialistic view of 'who
has money (only) will be entitled to education' might be the reason for the
current situation. These were the (private) educational institutions which
brought many improper things in higher education. In other words, they started
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the system of accepting donations. These institutions started corrupt practices
by accepting fees on one pretext or the other under different names. While, on
one hand, they accepted huge donations and fees, on the other hand, they didn't
deliver education of that quality. In other words, we can say they carried out
knowledge – based corruption. Sadly, these unfair practices are still going on
unabated. But all these things are taking education away from its original
objectives.
6. Implementation of Policies: If we take a retrospect of post-Independence education in India, we need
to take into a no. of things such as – which committees were formed, which
reports they put forth, which recommendations they came up with, to what
extent policies were implemented, which expectations from higher education
were voiced by the political leadership and which actions were taken
undertaken by educational institutions. We need to re-visit these objectives
only when we will come to know how effectively the implementation of
policies took place. This is because framing policies is not an end in itself, the
framed policies need to be translated into action.
7. Bridging the Gap between Rural and Urban India: Today, India has two faces - namely the rural Bharat and the urban India.
Seventy-eight % of our people live in rural areas, which is nothing but the rural
Bharat, whereas the remaining people live in urban areas, which is considered
to be the modern India. There is growing gap between these two. In fact, it is
expected to bring these two together through the medium of education. But that
doesn't seem to be happening. On the contrary, this gap is widening further.
Bridging this gap is the main objective before higher education.
8. Negative Transfer in case of Education and Merit: Today, if we consider higher education, there are 43 central universities,
266 universities spread in states, 82 universities of private and govt.
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partnership, 132 deemed universities and about 31,324 college level institutions
in India. Through the medium of these institutions, higher education is being
spread. But if we look back in the history, this number of educational
institutions was drastically low, but the merit was of a higher level. If we
consider that even though the no. of institutions offering higher education is on
rise, yet we have to check whether there is degradation of quality in education.
It means the relation between education and merit should have been positive,
but unfortunately, this relation seems to have become negative and this has
posed a challenge before us.
India has been a major seat of learning for thousands of years.
The present format of Higher education in India was started in 1857 with the
inception of universities in the three presidency towns5. At present, India
possesses a highly developed higher education system which offers facility of
education and training in almost all aspects of human’s creative and intellectual
endeavors such as arts and humanities, natural, mathematical and social
sciences, engineering; medicine, dentistry, agriculture, education, law,
commerce and management, music and performing arts, national and foreign
languages, culture, communications etc.
In recent years Indian graduates have done well in knowledge industry
and they are now at an advantageous position in knowledge-controlled world
economy. Jobs, particularly in disciplines and subjects that have link with
knowledge industry, have increased. The Indian youths are now looking for
education that would be of quality and immediate utility. The private
institutions have come up to fulfill the demand by introducing large number of
specific skill oriented courses. The foreign universities are also looking
forwards to encash on such demands. The Indian economy also has shown
steady growth in recent years. This has enhanced the percentage of families
who can afford to spend more money on education. Thus raising interest in
utility oriented education and enhanced economic strength of few have
encouraged the growth of private institutions and entry of foreign universities
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in India. India is steadily shifting to a fast track of economic and industrial
development, which has lead to several paradigm shifts in higher education,
such as7:
From ‘State Controlled Education’ to an ‘Open Market Economy
Education’
From ‘Education for Human Development’ to ‘Education for Human
Resource Development’.
From ‘Education for a Few’ to ‘Education for Many’.
From 'National’ to ‘Global Education’.
From ‘Institution or Teacher Centered Education’ to ‘Student Centered
Education’.
From ‘Subsidized Education’ to ‘Education for a Price’.
Gender Disparity in Higher Education: Gender disparity in education is an age old phenomenon. Traditionally,
girls have been at a disadvantage in most parts of the globe and they continue
to be so even today8. Eliminating differences in education between men and
women have been a priority of development organizations and the international
community for many years9. The Millennium Development Goal (MDG)
targeting to “eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education,
preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015” is echoed
by the United Nations and the World Bank10. Need for equality of educational
opportunities between men and women on the basis of merit has also been
acknowledged in the Universal Declaration of Human rights. It has been
suggested in the literature that educating girls and achieving the MDG goal on
gender equity will lead to a range of improved outcomes for developing
countries, including higher economic growth11.
The trend of gender inequality in higher education is fairly widespread
among developing countries and also to a significant extent cross the
conventional borders between developed and developing countries. There are,
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however, a host of exceptions to the trends, and they occur in different patterns
and constellations in different countries. Evidence indicates that there is a range
of meanings and roles assigned to women’s higher education that precondition
how it may be accessed and employed. In patriarchal societies—that is, in most
of the world—rationality, science and technology tend to be associated with
masculinity, and men are consequently considered the natural managers of such
knowledge and the natural actors in business and science12. Therefore, men’s
access to higher education and their subsequent use of this education in careers
that enable them to provide for their families and serve society as part of the
labor force are seldom contested. The same does not seem to be the case when
it comes to women’s access to and use of higher education. Moreover, while
they differ significantly between countries and regions, local norms for how
women may relate to higher education and work careers seem to have
significant impact on their agency and living conditions worldwide13.
Women constitute a little more than 48% of the total population of India
due to unfavorable sex ratio, which is a matter of concern. During the post-
independence period, literacy rate of women rose from 7.93% in 1951 to
54.16% in 2001 and to estimated 67% in 2008 while that of men increased
from about 25% to about 83% during the same period. The decreasing trend of
male/female disparity index, from 3.15 in 1951 to 1.40 in 2001 and to nearly
1.25 in 2008, shows that the increase in the literacy rate of women has been
faster than that of men, but in absolute terms literacy of women has always
been less than that of men. However, available data show that male/female
disparity in literacy has narrowed down to tolerable level14.
The gender gap in education is more pronounced in poorer countries like
South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. India alone has 40 percent of the global
gender lag in education. Enrolment of women in higher education in India
though showing marked improvement since fifties is still lagging behind that of
their male counterparts. The share of girls’ enrolment in total higher education
enrolment rose from a meager 10 per cent in 1950-51 to 38.3 percent in
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2005-06. Traditionally, not only women are less likely to continue higher
education but also disproportionately registered for biological and non-
quantitative social sciences as compared to mathematics and pure sciences15.
The under-representation of women students in science and technology is an
international policy concern as well16.
Table No. 1.1: Gap in Gender Enrolment Ratio of SC/ST Girls with Other Category Girls in Higher Education (Percentages)
Total Enrolment Gap Compared to All Categories Years All
Categories* SC ST SC ST
2005-06 9.35 6.40 4.70 2.95 4.65 2006-07 10.02 6.96 5.51 3.06 4.51 2007-08 10.67 8.61 6.66 2.06 4.01 2008-09 11.29 8.62 7.44 2.67 3.85 2009-10 12.66 9.00 7.52 3.66 5.14
*Excluding SC/ST Source: Statistics of Higher and Technical Education 2005-06 to 2008-09 and 2009-10 (Provisional) Following table shows the Enrolment of Girls and total enrolment in
Universities and Colleges for Higher Education courses in 2010-11.
Table No. 1.2. State-wise Students’ Enrolment in Universities and Colleges
2010-11
Sl. No. State/UT Total
Enrolment Women’s
Enrolment Percentage of Women
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] 1 Andhra Pradesh 1847479 718894 38.9 2 Arunachal Pradesh 16068 5355 33.3 3 Assam 268451 127514 47.5 4 Bihar 690776 215748 31.2 5 Chattisgarh 304381 111403 36.6 6 Delhi 278770 129628 46.5 7 Goa 26783 16381 61.2 8 Gujarat 893648 358353 40.1 9 Haryana 452565 201844 44.6
10 Himachal Pradesh 133564 66114 49.5 11 Jammu & Kashmir 184394 84615 45.9 12 Jharkhand 274450 91825 33.5 13 Karnataka 1001473 429919 42.9 14 Kerala 404121 229494 56.8 15 Madhya Pradesh 928939 353817 38.1 16 Maharashtra 1955226 85313 43.9 17 Manipur 33755 14999 44.4
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[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] 18 Meghalaya 41633 21552 51.8 19 Mizoram 12303 5895 47.9 20 Nagaland 20026 10121 50.5 21 Orissa 510418 209454 41.0 22 Punjab 469870 234176 49.8 23 Rajasthan 789479 298750 37.8 24 Sikkim 11608 5731 49.4 25 Tamil Nadu 1482277 700154 47.2 26 Tripura 32800 14431 44.0 27 Uttar Pradesh 2564886 982806 38.3 28 Uttarakhand 294485 121563 41.3 29 West Bengal 944075 377059 39.9 30 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 3158 1642 52.0 31 Chandigarh 64510 32666 50.6 32 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 2120 996 47.0 33 Daman & Diu 860 404 47.0 34 Lakshadweep 410 143 34.9 35 Puducherry 35122 16929 48.2
Grand Total 16974883 7048688 41.5 Source: UGC Annual Report, 2010-11
The following table shows the faculty-wise women’s enrolment in
higher education in 2010-11.
Table No. 1.3. Faculty-wise Women’s Enrolment: 2010-11
Sl. No. Faculty Women
Enrolment Percentage to Total Women Enrolment
1 Arts 2904596 41.21 2 Science 1349170 19.14 3 Commerce/ Management 1136930 16.12 4 Education 323954 4.60 5 Engineering/ Technology 800680 11.36 6 Medicine 330040 4.68 7 Agriculture 25180 0.36 8 Veterinary Science 6926 0.10 9 Law 83840 1.19
10 Others 87372 1.24 Total 7048688 100.00
Notes: Arts includes Oriental Learning; Science includes Home Science, Computer Science and Computer Applications, etc; Education includes Shiksha Shastri, Shiksha Acharya, Vidya Varidhi, Vachaspati, etc; Engineering & Technology includes Agricultural Engineering & Technology, Dairy Technology and Architecture, etc; Medicine includes Ayurveda, Dentistry, Homeopathy, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, Social Preventive Medicine, Unani, Tibbia, Physiotherapy, Naturopathy, Occupational Therapy and Siddha Medicine, etc; Agriculture includes Horticulture, Sericulture & Forestry etc. Veterinary Science includes Fisheries, Dairy Science, Animal Science, etc. Others includes Library and Information Science, Music, Performing / Visual Arts, Journalism & Mass Communication, Physical Education and Social Work etc. Source: UGC Annual Report, 2010-11.
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It is noted from the above table that among the forward castes (except SC &
STs) there was gap in gender enrolment ratio of 9.35% in 2005-06 and it increased
to 12.66% in 2009-10. Similarly, among the Scheduled Castes it was 6.40 during
2005-06 and increased to 9.00% in 2009-10. Further, among the scheduled tribes,
the gap was 4.70 in 2005-06 and increased to 7.52% in 2009-10.
Table No. 1.4: Enrolment and Number of Girls Colleges in Higher
Education
Year Total Girls %age of Girls No., of Girls Colleges
2006-07 118.87 48.20 40.6 2208 2007-08 127.27 51.67 40.6 2360 2008-09 136.42 56.49 41.4 2565 2009-10 146.25 60.80 41.6 3612
Source: University Grants Commission (UGC) Reports Due to the increase in the enrolment of girls, the women colleges were
also increased. As such, there were only 2208 girls’ colleges were functioning
and increased to 3612 girls’ colleges. But, it shows that there is gender gap in
the higher education, as only 41.6% of the girls were getting higher education
as against 58.4% of the boys.
The disciplinary choices of women have been the focus of debate in the
feminist discourse on education and gender. Much has been written on the
patriarchal imprint on the disciplinary choices of women in higher education
and on the feminine and masculine dichotomy of disciplines17. Since
masculinity and femininity are social constructions the underlying assumptions
about subject or disciplinary choices have to be uncovered along with their
close connection to women’s place in society.
Indian students are nurtured in a society where the lower status of
women is normative. Continual exposure to strongly differentiated gender roles
is likely to shape student’s beliefs about how well males and females perform
across a variety of domains. Gender roles are defined by behaviors, but gender
stereotypes are beliefs and attitudes about masculinity and femininity18.
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Gender stereotypes are very influential; they affect conceptualizations of
women and men and establish social categories for gender. These categories
provide not only descriptions of how people think about women and men but
also descriptions about what women and men should be, and even when beliefs
vary from reality, the beliefs can be very powerful forces in judgments of self
and others which means that gender stereotyping places limits on what traits
and behaviors are allowed. Therefore, the history, structure, and function of
stereotypes are important topics in understanding the impact of gender on
people’s lives.
Gender stereotypes may have positive or negative effects. Negative
gender stereotypes endorsement systematically robbed of women’s confidence
to think and learn without fear of failure; they are subsequently paralyzed by
their own low self-image. It is said that women do three-fifths of the world's
work, earn one-tenth of the world's income and own one-hundredth of the
world's assets. Women’s work especially in the home and in a range of
informal sector home based work – is invisible. As a result their contribution
does not show up in national statistics. They are denied access to information
and alienated from decision-making processes. Even when they relate to
government schemes, they do so as passive recipients. Victimized by age old
beliefs that purport to address their health, education, and employment needs,
they are forced to view their environment with fear and suspicion19.
In India, it was the Kothari Commission, which more than three decades
earlier in 1964-66, had emphasized explicitly on equal educational
opportunities for women and had also suggested effective steps to achieve it.
As pointed out by Chanana, the first two Five Year Plans acknowledged the
problems related to women’s education and tried to link education with
employment. It was after the publication of the Report of the Committee on the
Education of Women in 1959 that led to a more focused attention later, which
got sharpened with the Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in
1974 and women’s education was placed within the broader framework of
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developmental issues. The National Policy of Education (1986), broadening the
vision further underscored the role of education in empowering women that
would overcome inequalities and disparities20.
Subsequent Five Year Plans and various committees including the
National Perspective Plan (1988-2000) have stressed the need for greater
participation of women in higher education. These efforts have resulted in
increase in women accessing higher education from 25.7 lakh in 1993-04 to
42.6 lakh in 1999-2000 to 54.06 lakh in 2004-05. The corresponding figures
for men are 51 lakh, 69 lakh and 81 lakh. In absolute terms women continue to
lag behind men, but because of accelerated growth rate in women’s enrolment,
the gap between men and women is narrowing. For example, the growth rate of
women students in higher education between 1993-04 to 2004-05 has been
7.72% as compared to 4.73% for men. The census-adjusted figures for two
rounds, i.e., 1993-94 and 1999-2000 (the corresponding census years 1991 and
2001), although slightly higher show similar trend, i.e., 8.77% for women and
5.22 % for men respectively21.
Significantly, the growth in enrolment in higher education is much
higher for rural women as compared to their urban counterparts – 13% as
compared to 5% respectively – more than twice as faster for the rural women.
The corresponding figures for men are about 5% (rural) and 3% (urban)
respectively. Although the higher growth rate in case of rural women is partly
because of the low base, it cannot be denied that increasingly more rural
women are entering the domain of higher education. Currently (2004-05), 40%
of the total enrolment in higher education as compared to less than 10% at the
eve of independence consist of women.
Women’s Participation in Higher Education: The history of India, including that of the ancient period, records that
women have enjoyed a high status in the society. They were provided
educational opportunities comparable to men. The tradition has continued
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throughout the ages. Many educated women sometimes outshined men and
challenged them in debates on crucial literary, philosophical and social issues22.
The learned women were known as Brahmavadini (women having attained the
knowledge of the Supreme Being) or Mantravid (having the knowledge of
mantras) or Pandita (learned women). Even during the Muslim period many
women made a mark in the field of education.
Although in the Vedic period women had access to education in India,
but they gradually lost this right. However, during the British period various
socio-religious movements led by some eminent persons emphasized women’s
education in India. Social reformers like Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Periyar and
Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar took various initiatives to make education available
to deprived sections of the society including women. However, women’s
education got a boost after independence and the new government took
effective measures in this regard. Women’s education in a society plays an
important role in the overall socioeconomic development and help in
improving the quality of life in the family setup. Educated women tend to
promote education of their girl children and provide them guidance in future.
Moreover, educated women help in the reduction of infant mortality rate and
healthy growth of the population.
At the end of the nineteenth century, social reformers ventured farther to
provide widows and other marginalized women with education that would
equip them to earn for themselves, and to become self-reliant and independent.
In the face of severe opposition they pursued this mission. Nursing and school-
teaching, seen as nurturing occupations, were amongst the very few that society
then, grudgingly, accepted as permissible for women. Since health services for
women and schools for girls were being set up, there was a steady demand for
nurses and for women school teachers. Those who were willing to work were
readily absorbed. But, as late as the third and fourth decades of the twentieth
century it was believed that high school or university educated women should
not condescend to work unless circumstances forced them to do so. The more
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fortunate were expected to be socially active and to do voluntary social work.
A few women did nevertheless enter the professions of law or medicine or take
up school or university teaching, not out of necessity but for self-realization.
But, these were bold exceptions to the rule. Moreover, they generally had to opt
out of marriage in order to realize their aspirations23.
At the beginning of the twentieth century when Gandhi drew women
into the movement for freedom he specifically affirmed that their education
was vital, both for the success of the movement and for the development of the
country as a strong nation after freedom had been won. The education of
women had an important place in the agenda that the Congress party spelt out
for the tasks to be accomplished after the country acquired independence. But,
surprisingly, even Mahatma Gandhi’s encouragement for the education of
women did not open venues for their gainful employment. Societal attitudes to
their employment remained largely unchanged until the decade of the forties.
During the Second World War a shortage of manpower, combined with an
unprecedented rise in the cost of living forced middle-class families in cities
like Bombay and Calcutta to accept the employment of their educated women.
This brought about a sea change in the urban outlook on the employment of
women. It was no longer viewed as an unfortunate circumstance. Slowly but
surely it came to be appreciated as a healthy effort to supplement the family
income.
After independence both the education and the employment of women
gained a fresh boost. The Constitution of independent India underlined their
equal status as citizens. Government plans and programmes at the State as well
as the central level emphasized their education. With the revolution of rising
expectations and standards of life more and more educated women were
willing to work. There were growing job opportunities into which they were
readily absorbed. Meanwhile, both the concept of women’s right to work and
the actual employment of educated women received a massive push from the
feminist movement that had been gathering strength through the International
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Women’s Decade between 1975 and 1985. By the Sixth Plan period, official
documents were beginning to talk about the ‘empowerment’ of women and
their right to equal opportunity to work24.
Today, in India, women are to be found in every sphere of employment
at all levels. While most educated working women continue to give primacy to
their responsibilities as wives, mothers and home-makers and subscribe to the
notion that their careers are to be accommodated within these responsibilities,
the single minded career women is no longer the rare exception. But, in the
staggering heterogeneity of Indian life, shades of modernity co-exist with total
orthodoxy and traditions in different phases of change.
During the period of British rule also women’s education received
significant impetus through deliberate policies. However, the progress
remained mainly limited to school stage. In 1947, out of a total enrollment of
over 12 million children in elementary schools, 3 million (25%) were girls25.
Literacy rate of women was 8.30% as against 25% of men. Literacy is a
significant indicator of a society’s overall level of development. In 1947, out of the total enrollment of about 250,000 students
(including those pursuing pre-university courses) in higher education around
23,000 (about 9.2%) were women. Nearly 87% women pursued general
education in Arts, Science, Commerce, and Liberal Arts including languages.
After independence, higher-education sector attracted greater attention of the
native government than elementary and secondary education sectors.
University Education Commission (1948), the first commission in education set
up by the government of free India, laid special emphasis on the education of
women and recommended that in view of the similar fields of activity for men
and women and some specific requirements of women, maximum facilities
should be given for education in Home Economics and Home Management.
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Until recently, improvement in the educational status of women was
advocated principally on the grounds of human rights, social justice, and
equality. It is now evident that literacy for women can also produce significant
social, economic and personal benefits such as better personal and family
health, lower fertility, the readiness to participate in new economic activities,
and female empowerment26. Highly educated women have higher labor force
participation rates and remain in the workforce much longer than women with
lower levels of education. Girls’ and mothers’ education is important in
determining fertility rates. The latter, in turn, is related to the preschool
cognitive development of children and their subsequent achievement in school.
Higher education for mothers is associated not only with healthier children, but
with children's acquisition of knowledge, language, and literacy skills as well.
Further, parent and child interaction at the preschool level promotes the
development of cognitive, language, and preschool literacy skills in
children27&28.
Table No. 1.5: Caste-wise and Gender-wise Enrolment in Higher Education
(Figures in Lakhs) All Category Students* SC Students ST Students Year Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total
2005-06 74.14 46.90 121.04 10.29 5.82 16.11 3.90 2.20 6.10 2006-07 79.69 50.47 130.16 11.85 6.50 18.35 4.39 2.62 7.01 2007-08 85.10 54.51 139.61 14.51 8.51 23.02 6.13 3.35 9.48 2008-09 92.84 59.45 152.29 14.87 8.75 23.62 6.73 3.85 10.58 2009-10 102.63 69.47 172.20 15.00 9.39 24.39 6.81 4.00 10.81
*Excluding SC/ST Students Source: Statistics of Higher and Technical Education for the Years 2005-06 to 2008-09 and 2009-10 (Provisional)
Like enrolment of women in higher education, there was also change in
subject choices of women in higher education. Following table revealed the
women’s higher education in different subjects.
30
Table No. 1.6: Women Enrolment: Faculty-wise from 2006-07 and 2010-11
Women Enrolment(in Lakhs)
Total Women Enrolment
(%)
Women Enrolment (in Lakhs)
Total Women Enrolment
(%) Sl. No.
Faculty 2006-07 2010-11 1 Arts 24.02 51.01 29.05 41.21 2 Science 9.01 20.18 13.49 19.14 3 Commerce/Management 7.35 16.46 11.37 16.12 4 Education 0.83 1.85 3.24 4.60 5 Engineering/Technology 1.86 4.16 8.01 11.36 6 Medicine 1.63 3.64 3.30 4.68 7 Agriculture 0.11 0.24 0.25 0.36 8 Veterinary Science 0.04 0.08 0.07 0.10 9 Law 0.73 1.64 0.84 1.19
10 Others 0.33 0.74 0.87 1.24 Total 45.91 100.00 70.50 100.00
Source: University Grants Commission, Annual Reports, 2006-07 & 2010-11 Even though, there is gradual increase of women’s participation in
higher education, increasingly women are participating in Arts and Science
education and only few of the girls are participating in engineering, technology,
management, medicine, Veterinary Science, etc.
Table No. 1.7: State-wise Women Enrolment in Higher Education
(2006-07 & 2010-11) [Figures in Lakhs] Total
Enrolment Women
Enrolment Percentage of Women
Total Enrolment
Women Enrolment
%age of
Women
% Increase/ Decrease
Sl. No
State/UT
2006-07 2010-11 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] 1 Andhra
Pradesh 960047 387124 40.32 1847479 718894 38.9 -1.42
2 Arunachal Pradesh
6432 1943 30.21 16068 5355 33.3 3.09
3 Assam 237480 98676 41.55 268451 127514 47.5 5.95 4 Bihar 611465 150114 24.55 690776 215748 31.2 6.65 5 Chhattisgarh 181268 67391 37.18 304381 111403 36.6 -0.58 6 Delhi 218989 107310 49.00 278770 129628 46.5 -2.5 7 Goa 23457 13904 59.27 26783 16381 61.2 1.93 8 Gujarat 700077 312081 44.58 893648 358353 40.1 -4.48 9 Haryana 292866 121333 41.43 452565 201844 44.6 3.17
10 Himachal Pradesh
109761 48240 43.95 133564 66114 49.5 5.55
11 Jammu & Kashmir
80741 37929 46.98 184394 84615 45.9 -1.08
12 Jharkhand 231756 71046 30.66 274450 91825 33.5 2.84 13 Karnataka 745729 309463 41.50 1001473 429919 42.9 1.4 14 Kerala 346961 211914 61.08 404121 229494 56.8 -4.28 15 Madhya
Pradesh 627310 234029 37.31 928939 353817 38.1 0.79
16 Maharastra 1586557 659231 41.55 1955226 858313 43.9 2.35
31
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] 17 Manipur 42854 19373 45.21 33755 14999 44.4 -0.81 18 Meghalaya 34031 16434 48.29 41633 21552 51.8 3.51 19 Mizoram 13495 6176 45.77 12303 5895 47.9 2.13 20 Nagaland 14797 5920 40.01 20026 10121 50.5 10.49 21 Orissa 406825 146710 36.06 510418 209454 41.0 4.94 22 Punjab 309902 160633 51.83 469870 234176 49.8 -2.03 23 Rajasthan 430416 146783 34.10 789479 298750 37.8 3.7 24 Sikkim 5201 2172 41.76 11608 5731 49.4 7.64 25 Tamil Nadu 886368 406752 45.89 1482277 700154 47.2 1.31 26 Tripura 23564 9729 41.29 32800 14431 44.0 2.71 27 Uttar
Pradesh 1508754 557746 36.97 2564886 982806 38.3 1.33
28 Uttarakhand 145963 62106 42.55 294485 121563 41.3 -1.25 29 West
Bengal 760015 300435 39.53 944075 377059 39.9 0.37
30 Andaman & Nicobar Islands
2356 1336 56.71 3158 1642 52.0 -4.71
31 Chandigarh 43738 22939 52.45 64510 32666 50.6 -1.85 32 Dadar &
Nagar Haveli
0 0 0.00 2120 996 47.0 47.0
33 Daman & Diu
685 323 47.15 860 404 47.0 -0.15
34 Lakshdweep 266 93 34.96 410 143 34.9 -0.06 35 Puducherry 22379 11483 51.31 35122 16929 48.2 -3.11
Grand Total 11612505 4708871 40.55 16974883 7048688 41.5 0.95 Source: University Grants Commission, Annual Reports, 2006-07 & 2010-11. The participation of women in higher education during 2010-11 is
7048688 against the total enrolment of 16974883 students. It shows that only
41.5% of the students in higher education are women and there is increase of
0.95% of women in higher education since last five years.
Problems of Girls for Participation in Higher Education: India represents a picture of contrasts when it comes to education and
employment opportunities for girls in the rural and the urban areas. Cultural, social
and economic factors still prevent girls from getting education opportunities and
so the question of equality is still a mirage. The status of the girl child has been a
subject of much discussion, controversy and debate. While more and more
families are beginning to value girls as equals to boys, there are still overwhelming
cultural and economic reasons why female children are not receiving the same
medical, emotional and educational attention as their male counterparts. From the
start, girl child is seen as burden rather than a blessing, bearer of exorbitant dowry,
32
who will eventually move into the home of her husband. As a child; a girl receives
less food, attention and emotional support than her male counterpart; as an adult,
less attention is paid on developing her potential and more on matrimony and
motherhood as these are regarded the essential and overarching goals of her life
and all education is a preparation for that.
In the rural areas, the girl child is made to perform household and
agricultural chores. This is one of the many factors limiting girls’ education.
Cleaning the house, preparing food, looking after their siblings, the elderly and
the sick, grazing the cattle and collecting firewood are some of the key tasks
they have to perform. Households are therefore reluctant to spare them for
schooling. Physical safety of the girls, especially when they have to travel a
long distance to school and fear of sexual harassment are other reasons that
impede girls’ education. In the urban areas, however, there is a discernible
difference in the opportunities that girls get for education and employment.
There is an element of awareness of gender issues in the more educated
sections of society in certain regions. Moreover, urban spaces permit greater
opportunity for personal autonomy to girls. Though the figures for girls would
still be low as compared to boys, what is heartening to see is that whenever
given the opportunity, girls have excelled more than boys.
In employment opportunities too, women in India today have stormed all
male domination. Be it piloting aircraft, heading multi-national corporations,
holding top bureaucratic positions, leading industrial houses, making a mark as
doctors, filmmakers, chefs, engineers and even as train and lorry drivers,
women have made it to all hitherto considered male domination in India.
However, this is not reason enough for us to cheer. For the number of girls and
women who have been left out of education and employment opportunities still
far outweighs those who have got them.
33
The relationship between availability of disciplinary choices and
women’s ability to access them are not directly related, nor are they dependent
on women’s academic achievement. The reasons cited for this are mainly due
to social ethics. Large majority of women may be deprived of exercising free
options in selecting subjects of their choice in school, as in case of girls,
parents generally take the decision regarding the academic stream to be
pursued. This decision is guided by the consideration that girls are not expected
to work or earn before marriage and education is only an investment to fall
back upon in case of the daughter becoming a widow or being deserted29.
The poor parents have another problem; even though they perceive the
significance of education, many a times they are not able to finance it. Besides,
there is lack of role models and socialization support at home. Women from
these social categories are the most affected by the stratification of disciplines,
programmes and institutions. Further, the social and economic disparities are
reflected not only vis-à-vis caste and tribe but also at the regional level, i.e., in
different provinces. Discipline boundaries not only limit choices but choices
are further limited by future options of “life chances” of women. Higher
Education is further denied to the disadvantaged groups and especially women
from rural poor homes. Because of social and economic reasons, parents may
be unwilling to spend on education as well as the dowries of their daughters30.
A perusal of the disciplinary choices depicts that the proportion of
women in some of the masculine disciplines was miniscule soon after
independence and remained so till 1980’s. This is evident as the proportion of
women in science decreased from 33.3 percent in 1950-51 to 28.8 percent
1980-81. This was the period when natural science was at a premium,
especially physics and chemistry. Till the eighties they were the first choice for
male students and while competing with men, women were pushed out. It is
also possible that science was not, in any case, the first preference for young
women whose parents perceived marriage as a priority over higher education.
An undergraduate degree of any kind only helped in the marriage market by
34
raising the social status. A science degree required a longer investment of time
and other resources therefore was not desirable31.
Privatization has deepened the gender gap further. Professional Education
is denied to the disadvantaged groups and especially poor and rural women
because of social and economic reasons. Resultantly, more women are taking
up courses in general education as these are easily available and are cheaper as
compared to professional courses. Professional education requires several years
of studentship and higher financial investment than the general education.
Many women join general courses as these provide them an opportunity to
enhance their qualifications as well as wait for the right match for matrimony.
Secondly, parents may be unwilling to spend on education of their daughters as
they are expected to spend money on their marriages. According to Indian
tradition, it is obligatory for a girl’s parents to offer gifts and money to the
grooms family at the time of marriage.
Mita Hazarika32 (2012) stated that the major obstacles of women’s
education are related to poverty, traditional values and customs, feeling of
dependency and lack of need based educational courses. Existing values of our
society act as major hurdle on the way of women’s higher education. A woman
is normally expected to keep house and look after her husband and children.
Feeling of dependency prevents women from gaining confidence. Women have
to depend on their parents/guardians in order to take any decision regarding
their educational career. Financial difficulty is another major hurdle of
women’s education. The raising expense of education shatter the dream of
many girls and their education becomes easy-prey, as the girls are not
traditionally accepted as an earner for the family.
Facilities and Schemes by UGC for Women Education: Considering the women’s higher education as priority, University Grants
Commission took several measures such as scholarships, fellowships,
establishment of girls’ hostels and such others. It is noted that apart from the
35
Merit Scholarships and Scholarships/Fellowships for Backward Castes,
separate scholarships and fellowships were announced exclusively for women.
The following are few of the facilities and schemes of UGC for promoting
higher education of women.
1. Introduction of Technological Courses for Women in Universities: During Ninth Plan period, the Commission has introduced Technological
Courses for Women in Women Universities an objective to provide an
opportunity for women in areas and Higher Education of Engineering
and/Technology. Under the scheme, the UGC has providing financial
assistance for introduction of Under Graduate Courses in emerging areas under
Engineering and Technology recurring and non-recurring items for a period of
5 years from the of implementation of the course.
During the Ninth Plan period, the Commission considered the proposals
of three Universities under the above scheme, viz. (i) S.P. Mahila
Vishwavidyalayam, Tirupati, (ii) Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science,
Coimbatore, (iii) SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai, out of which the
Commission approved the proposal of SNDT Women's University for
establishment of Department of Technology with the following three courses:
(i) B.E. (Electronics and Communication)
(ii) B.E. (Computer Science)
(iii) B.E. (Information Technology)
Further, in many states, women’s universities have been established by
the respective state governments. Karnataka State Women’s University was
established in Bijapur, Karnataka in 2003.
2. Post Doctoral Fellowships for Women: The objective of the scheme is to provide an opportunity to the
unemployed women with Ph.D. degrees, and who intend to pursue post-
36
doctoral research on full time basis. At present, there are 100 slots per annum.
This scheme was started in the year 1998 with the intention to provide
opportunities to unemployed women with Ph.D. degrees, and with an aptitude
for research, but unable to pursue the research work on regular basis due to
personal or domestic circumstances. Women with Ph.D. degrees and having
talent and competence for independent research work, may be take up research
in any field of Humanities and Social Sciences, including Languages and
Engineering & Technology. The duration of the fellowship is 5 years and the
number of slots is 100 per year. The Associateship amount is as under:
Table No. 1.8: Post-Doctoral Fellowships for Women
Fellowship Rs. 25000/- p.m for Fresh Candidates Rs. 30000/- p.m. for research experienced holders
Contingency Rs. 50000/- per annum for five years Departmental Assistance
10% of Post-Doctoral Fellowship to the host institution
Escorts/ Reader Assistance
Rs. 2000/- p.m. (fixed) in cases of physically disabled and blind candidates
Applications received against the advertisement during the year 2008-09
have been short-listed by the Screening Committee and the Expert Committee
had recommended 85 candidates. Out of the number of recommended
candidates, 11 candidates had been supported for financial assistance during
2010-11 as per their joining reports received upto 31.03.2011. The advertisement
for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 was also published in the Employment News
during Oct.-Nov. 2010 and the applications are being scrutinized for placing
before the Screening Committee. The details of expenditure incurred towards
payment to the post-doctoral women fellows during XI Plan are as follows:
Table No. 1.9. Expenses incurred on Payment of Post-Doctoral Women Fellowships during XI Plan
Year Expenditure incurred (Rs. In Crores) 2007-08 0.65 Crores 2008-09 0.77 Crores 2009-10 9.98 Crores 2010-11 0.42 Crores
Source: UGC Annual Report 2010-11
37
3. Indira Gandhi Post-Graduate Scholarships Scheme for Single Girl Child:
The govt. of India has taken various steps to uplift the status of women
by implementing various schemes/programmes including free education for
girls, declaration of elementary education as a basic human right of every child.
Indira Gandhi Post-graduate Scholarship for Single Girl Child Scheme is one
of such schemes, with an aim to compensate direct cost of girl education at all
levels especially for such girls who happened to be only girl child in the
families. The objectives of the scheme are to support Post-graduate education
of single girl child in non-professional courses and to recognize the value of
observance of small family norms. The scheme was started with the
postgraduate academic session 2005-07. Only single girl child of her parents
and who has taken admission in regular, full time first year Masters degree
course (Non-professional course) in any recognized university or a post-
graduate college is eligible for the scholarship. The scholarship is available for
the full duration of the course. Girl students up to the age of 30 years at the
time of admission in PG courses are eligible. All eligible girl children will get
the scholarship. There is no cap restriction on the number of scholarships. It is expected from the institutions where students had taken admission
in the first year PG course, no tuition fees will be charged by the institute from
the girl students to pursue PG degree course in Universities/Colleges/
Institutions covered under sections 2(f) and 12(B) of UGC Act. The value of
scholarship is `2,000/- p.m. for a period of two years only (10 months in the
year) i.e. full duration of the course. The number of girl students who are
benefited PG academic session-wise had been as under:
Table No. 1.10: Indira Gandhi Scholarships Awarded from 2005-2012
Year No. of Students 2005-07 1360 2006-08 1067 2007-09 1200 2008-10 1200 2009-11 1538 2010-12 2299
Source: UGC Annual Report 2010-11
38
4. Research Course for Single Girl Child: To do gender justice, a fellowship for single girl child is being offered
for taking up research in departments which have been covered under BSR
programme. These fellowships are treated as supernumerary fellowships in
addition to the existing fellowships that are available under other BSR
programmes.
5. Development of Women’s Studies in Indian Universities and Colleges: The Women’s Studies Programme which was initiated in VII Plan Period,
was promoted, strengthened and given direction to over various plan periods by
establishing Women’s Studies Centres in the University System. These Centres
have contributed significantly to the promotion and expansion of Women’s
Studies in teaching, research and field action. The main objective of the
programme in XI Plan is to strengthen and sustain the Women’s Studies
Centres by establishing them as Statutory Departments in the University
System, as also to facilitate their own capacity to network with other
constituents, so that they reinforce each other as well as synergy with one
another. The thrust is to develop field action projects for action, research,
evaluation and enhancement of knowledge and partnership across boundaries
of caste/class/religion, community and occupation and to involve many more
people and many more organizations in the network as well as to ensure that
the focus and the quality of this newly emerging discipline are maintained.
As on 31.03.2011, as many as 159 Women’s Studies Centres (83 in
universities and 76 in colleges) including 28 centres set up in 2010-11, have
been functioning in the University system. These Centres have been placed in
three phases by the Standing Committee. Each Centre in a university is eligible
to get financial assistance of 5.00 lakh p.a. (Phase I), 8.00 lakh p.a. (Phase II)
and `12.00 lakh p.a. (Phase III) whereas `3.00 lakh p.a. (Phase I), `5.00 lakh
p.a. (Phase II) and 8.00 lakh p.a. (Phase III) assistance is given to a centre
established in a college. During 2010-11, an amount of 3.07 crores was
39
released to the Women Studies Centres for their activities (UGC Annual
Report, 2010-11).
6. Special Scheme for Construction Hostels for Women: With a view to providing hostels and other infrastructural facilities in the
colleges to achieve the goal of enhancing the status of women, the Commission
had introduced a special scheme for the Construction of Women’s Hostels
during the year 1995-96. The Colleges which come within the purview of the
UGC and are fit to receive central assistance under Section 12B of the UGC
Act, are eligible to receive financial assistance. The financial assistance from
the UGC is on 100% basis, subject to the ceiling given below:
Table No. 1.11: Construction of Women Hostels
Women Enrolment
Amount (Rs in Lakhs) in respect of Non-Metropolitan cities
Amount (Rs. in Lakhs) in respect of
Metropolitan cities (a) Up to 250 60 120.00 (b) 251-500 80 160.00 (c) more than 500 100 200.00
Source: UGC Annual Report 2010-11 Expenditure over and above the UGC allocation/ceiling is to be met by
the institutions from their own resources, for which clear indication and
assurance is to be provided by the concerned institution. The UGC does not
provide any escalation cost over and above the allocation/ceiling under the
guidelines. During 2010-11, a total grant of Rs. 118.68 crores had been
released to 599 state colleges by the UGC Regional offices for construction of
Hostels for Women. The colleges of Delhi have been paid to the extent of
Rs. 1.30 crores by the UGC Head Office for the purpose of constructing hostels
for women during the year under report.
40
7. Capacity Building of Women Managers in Higher Education: The scheme of Capacity Building of Women Managers in Higher
Education was initiated by UGC in the X Plan period. It has been revised and
continued for implementation in the XI Plan. The overall goal of the scheme is
to facilitate the constituencies of women faculty, administrators and staff
within the higher education system to increase the participation of women in
higher education management for better gender balance, to sensitize the higher
education system through policies and procedures, which recognize women
quality and diversity and facilitate their advancement and to develop qualitative
higher education by involving the unutilized pool of women capable of
becoming administrators. The specific objectives of the scheme are to develop
a perspective plan and strategy for reducing the gender gap in the higher
education system, to offer various training programmes at different levels to
women for stimulating them to aspire to become administrators, to develop
relevant training materials for various programmes in print and electronic
media, to support gender positive initiatives such as gender equity cell and
developing sensitivity index, etc., to increase and support development of
linkages among women managers in higher education through networking.
The scheme envisages the following three approaches during XI Plan:
1. To offer training programmes focused on increasing their sensitivities to
issues concerning Women becoming Managers.
2. To make it a movement of women rather than only a scheme like any
other.
3. To involve the Vice Chancellors and Principals for the Sensitization/
Awareness/Motivation workshops for women who would be
subsequently promoted to attend training as Coordinator/Trainer.
41
The programme encompasses presently the following four types of
training and skills development workshops for capacity building of women:
1. Sensitization/Awareness/Motivation (SAM) Workshops (five days
duration);
2. Training of Trainers/Master Trainers Workshops (six days duration);
3. Management Skills Training Workshops (six days duration);
4. Refresher Workshops (three days duration)
The revised financial assistance for training and skill development
workshops under the scheme is as follows:
Table No. 1.12: Financial Assistance for Training and Skill Development Workshops
Type of Workshop Unit Cost in Metro Cities
Unit Cost in Non-Metro Cities
Non-Residential SAM Workshop 2.26 2.23 Residential SAM Workshop 5.65 5.33 Training of Trainers Workshop 8.86 8.33 Management Skills Training Workshop 9.70 8.77 Workshop for Refresher Courses 7.50
Note: Figures are in Rupees in Lakhs Source: UGC Annual Report 2010-11 During 2010-11, two Training of Trainers (TOT) Workshops, one
Refresher Workshop and 65 Sensitization/Awareness/Motivation (SAM)
workshops were organized by various universities and colleges. An amount of
Rs. 3.64 crores was released to the universities and colleges during the year
under report for the purpose of organizing the workshops.
8. Establishment of Equal Opportunities Cells (EOCs): Since the higher education is a tool for social and economic equality,
UGC has been addressing national concerns of access, equity, equality, by
implementing policies of Government of India and promoting several schemes
and programmes for the disadvantaged groups in eliminating social disparities.
To make colleges and universities more responsive to the needs and constraints
of the disadvantaged social groups, the UGC has initiated a scheme viz.
42
Establishment of Equal Opportunity Cell in Colleges and Universities to
oversee the effective implementation of policies and programmes for
disadvantaged groups and to provide guidance and counseling in academic,
financial, social and other matters. The cell also takes up programmes of
sensitizing university/college community on problems faced by SC & ST
students in higher education during the Eleventh Plan (2007-2012). It will run
specific schemes of coaching for SC/ST/OBC (Non creamy layer),
women/minorities students and persons with disabilities to enhance the
employability and success. One time grant of Rs. 2.00 lakhs will be provided
for establishing office of EOC. As this scheme is one of the merged schemes,
the release of grant is being done by the UGC Regional Offices in the case of
colleges and the Head Office in the case of universities. During 2010-11, an
amount of Rs. 4.09 crores was released to the eligible colleges by the UGC
Regional Offices.
9. Increase in Women Colleges: Due to the developmental initiatives of UGC on women’s education, the
numbers of women colleges were also increased since 1997. The statistics related
to the number of women’s colleges from 1997 to 2011 is shown as under.
Table No. 1.13: Number of Women’s Colleges from 1997-98 to 2010-11
Year Number of Women Colleges 1997-98 1260 1998-99 1359 1999-2000 1503 2000-01 1578 2001-02 1756 2002-03 1824 2003-04 1871 2004-05 1977 2005-06 2071 2006-07 2208 2007-08 2360 2008-09 2565 2009-10 3612 2010-11 3982
Note: Includes Nursing Colleges for Women
43
To sum up, it has been already revealed from the above discussion that,
there are many social problems, which created the gender gap in higher
education. Further, there are also a few subjects, which are classified as
masculine and are not preferred to be studied by women. Many of the people
are of the opinion that education is only to seek employment. But in reality,
education is essential for every aspect of life for every human being. Hence,
there is need on the part of girls and their parents to realize the significance of
higher education for girls. Corrective measures must be taken to increase public
awareness for the value of the girl child, to ensure their participation in
programmes of Child development, health, nutrition and education and to
create a positive environment to allow girls to develop into productive young
women. The biggest challenge before the Government and NGO’s is to create
awareness and sensitization among people of all levels, especially in rural
areas, about the special needs of women and girls. They need to be made aware
that imparting education to women is a great service to society. This vital
section of society has remained bound in the shackles and been deprived for far
too long. There is a need for affirmative and real action in their favour which
will ensure the women to right to food, shelter, health, education and
employment. However, the recent changes and developments are kindling
hopes for better and promising future.
1.2. Statement of the Problem:
As discussed above, the present study is made to analyze the
sociological problems of the women studying in higher education and also aims
to compare the education life of the women students in women’s university and
general university (that is Gulbarga University), the present study is stated as
“Women in Higher Education: A Comparative Sociological Study of
Gulbarga University and Karnataka State Women’s University, Bijapur”.
44
1.3. Significance of the Study: The gender related development index or GDI (Gender Development
Index) measures the levels of women’s human development relative to men.
A comparison of the GDI with the HDI (Human Development Index) helps to
assess the extent of gender equality prevalent in society. Though the GDI in
Karnataka (0.637) is much higher than the all-India figure (0.609) in 2001,
Karnataka is sixth among the 15 major states in gender development and
seventh in human development. At the international level, Karnataka’s rank in
terms of the GDI is 99th as against 103rd for the entire nation. Hence, there is
need to study the status of women in higher education. Gulbarga University is
one of the oldest university imparting higher education and research for both
male and female students. Further, to increase the participation of women in
higher education, Karnataka State Women’s University was established in
Bijapur by Government of Karnataka. Hence, the present study is significant to
know about the status of women in higher education and their sociological
aspects in their respective families as well as in the society.
1.4. Objectives of the Study:
Primary objective of the present study is to study the sociological
aspects and problems of the women students. The specific objectives are:
1. To know the gender profile of students studying in Gulbarga University
and Karnataka State Women’s University;
2. To study the family aspects of the women students in higher education;
3. To look into the social and educational problems of women students;
4. To assess the status of women studying in higher education;
5. To explore the reasons, due to which the women are deprived from
equality;
6. To explore the different factors related to the family and society of the
students as it enables the gender inequality in higher education.
45
1.5. Hypotheses:
Mainly, it is hypothesized that the women with higher education are having
higher status in the family and society. Particular hypotheses formulated are:
1. Majority of the students studying in both the universities are from rural
areas.
2. Students are unable to meet educational expenses from family income:
3. Employment is major criterion for choice of present career and course
for the students.
4. Majority of the female students are expecting the skills, knowledge and
employment from higher education.
5. There is decline of gender based violence in family and society due to
higher education.
1.6. Limitations of the Study:
As discussed already, there are thousands of women students and
scholars are studying in Gulbarga University and Karnataka State Women’s
Universities. Due to the limitations of the research study, of these women
students, it is proposed to survey 250 women students from each of these
universities. Of these 250 respondents, 200 women students pursuing their
post-graduation and 50 women research scholars studying in each university
are surveyed. Hence, the present study is limited to 500 women respondents
studying in Gulbarga University, Gulbarga and Karnataka State Women’s
University, Bijapur.
1.7. Chapterization:
The present research report is structured into total seven chapters and
two appendixes.
The first chapter gives brief background information to the research
topic. Here growth of higher education in India and women’s inequality and
46
women’s participation in higher education at national level is described.
Further, here research problem is clearly defined. The need for the study of the
problem is discussed. The significance of this research topic is stated briefly.
Objectives of the study are stated clearly. The scope and limitations are set in
this chapter. Some generalizations and assumptions are fixed as hypotheses of
the study. Hence, the first chapter will be under the title “Background of the
Study”.
The second chapter covers ‘Review of Literature’, which discussed
about literature survey conducted. In other words, here the various publications
published which are relevant to the present study are stated in brief, so as to
find research gap in the research study.
Research is a systematic process which involves many of the logical
steps so as to derive findings and provide suggestions. As such, present study
also has different processes and steps. There are also many of the information
sources that are grouped under Primary Sources and Secondary Sources.
The use of these information sources and step-by-step processes in the present
research study are written in third chapter entitled “Research Methodology”.
Area or profile of the study plays an important role in deciding the
parameters and standards that are set for every research work. The area
includes geographical area or coverage where the present study is conducted.
Here area of the study is Karnataka State Women’s University, Bijapur and
Gulbarga University, Gulbarga. Hence, brief profiles of the areas covered by
these two universities are discussed in general and profiles of these universities
in particular are stated in the present chapter. The fourth chapter covered both
the profile of the study under the title “Area of the Study”.
Collection of primary data and its analysis, so as to derive findings is
main part of the research study. The collected primary data is classified and
presented in tables. The primary data is analyzed and interpreted using
47
percentages. The primary data is collected on personal and socio-economic
aspects of students studying in higher education and research and these aspects
influence directly or indirectly on the education of the students. Hence, primary
data collected on personal and socio-economic aspects are analyzed and
discussed in fifth chapter under the title “Socio-economic Profile”.
As discussed already, the present study is focused on women in higher
education. The statistical information on the enrolment of girls for the various
post-graduate and research courses in Gulbarga University, Gulbarga and
Karnataka State Women’s University, Bijapur for the last five years are
collected and shown in tables and are compared, so as to find out increase in
participation of girls in higher education and research in the respective
universities’ area. Further, information collected from the respondents on
several aspects such as Family background, parents’ education, attitudes
towards female education, responses on male dominated society, orthodox
culture, increasing higher education and employment opportunities for women,
etc which directly or indirectly impact higher education of girls. The collected
information is presented in the sixth chapter under the title “Women in Higher
Education”.
After the analysis and interpretation of the collected data, output of the
research is presented as findings, suggestions and conclusion. The present
chapter also provides suggestions and discussion. After analyzing all the
information and literature covered in the study, suitable conclusion is given in
the seventh chapter under the title “Findings and Conclusion”.
Besides the above chapters, a list of the research papers, articles, books,
research reports and web sites referred are provided under the title
“Bibliography” as first appendix to the research report. Finally questionnaire
used to conduct present study and collect primary data is given in the second
appendix.
48
1.8. References:
1. Fletcher, B. (1968) Universities in the Modern World. London: Pergamon, p. 11.
2. Narlikar, J.V. (2003) The Scientific Edge of Vedic to Modern Times. New Delhi, India: Penguin Books, 2003.
3. Thorat, S. (2008) Emerging Issues in Higher Education – Approach and Strategy in 11th Plan. In: Higher Education in India – Issues related to expansion, Inclusiveness, Quality and Finance, University Grants Commission, New Delhi, 2008.
4. Chauhan, CPS (2011): Participation of Women in Higher Education: The Indian Perspective. Analytical Reports in International Education. Vol. 4. No. 1, November 2011. P. 67-86.
5. Mishra, Jitendra Kumar, et al (2008): Indian Higher Education: Global Challenges and Local Issues. JBS Working Paper No. JIITU/JBS/2008/01. Noida: Jaypee Business School, 2008.
6. Shinde, Jitendra Subhash (2012): Responsibility of Higher Education. Indian Streams Research Journal. Vol. 2. No. 7. August 2012. P. 1-4.
7. Lather Anu Singh and Khatri Puja (2011): Changing Paradigms of Indian Higher Education: A Comparative Study of Students Perception at the Undergraduate and Post Graduate Levels. International Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences. Vol. 2 No. 4. 2011. P. 179-186.
8. Jha, J and Kelleher, F (2006): Boys’ Underachievement in Education: An Exploration in Commonwealth Countries. London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2006.
9. Ganguli, I, et al (2011): The Closing of the Gender Gap in Education: Does it Foretell the Closing of the Employment, Marriage, and Motherhood Gaps? http://web.hks.harvard.edu/publications/getFile.aspx?Id=683
10. Ganguli, et al, Ibid. 11. Abu Ghaida, D and Stephan, K (2004): The Economic and Human
Development Costs of Missing the Millennium Development Goal on Gender Equity. World Bank Working Paper. Report No. 29710.
12. Connell, R. (1995). Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1995. 13. Marit Tjomsland (2009): Women in Higher Education: A Concern for
Development? Gender Technology and Development. 2009. Vol. 13. P. 407-427.
14. Chauhan, CPS (2011), Ibid. 15. Chanana, K. (2004): Gender and disciplinary choices: Women in higher
education in India. Paper presented at the UNESCO colloquium on research and higher education policy, Paris, 1-3 December 2004.
16. Bebbington, D (2002): Women in science, engineering and technology: a review of the issues. Higher Education Quarterly, Vol. 56. No. 4. 2002. P. 360-375.
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17. Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations. Gender Sociology,Vol. 4. 1990. P. 139–158.
18. Brannon, L. (2004): Gender: Psychological Perspectives. Allyn and Bacon, 2004.
19. Dandapat, Asis Kumar and Sengupta, Debjani (2013): Women and Gender Stereotyping in Higher Education: A Case Study of Vidyasagar University Post-Graduates. International Journal of Research Studies in Education. Vol. 2. No. 1. January 2013. P. 75-90.
20. Chanana, K (2005): Threading the Hallowed Halls: Women in Higher Education in India. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol. 35. No. 12. 2005. P. 1012-1022.
21. Saraswati Raju (2008): Gender Differentials in Access to Higher Education. IN: Higher Education in India: Issues Related to Expansion, Inclusiveness, Quality and Finance. New Delhi: UGC, November 2008. P. 78-102.
22. Nurullah, S and Naik, JP (1943): History of Education in India during the British Period. Bombay: Macmillan & Co. Limited, 1943.
23. Suma Chitnis (1993): India: The Place of Women in the Management of Higher Education in India. IN: Women in Higher Education Management. Edited by Hena Mukherjee. Paris: UNESCO, 1993. P. 83-106.
24. Suma Chitnis (1993), Ibid. P. 83-106. 25. Chauhan, CPS (1990): Education for all: the Indian Scene. International
Journal of Lifelong Education. Vol. 9. No. 1. 1990. P. 3–14. 26. Bhandari, Rajika and Smith, Frank J (1997): Rural Women in India:
Assessment of Educational Constraints and the Need for New Educational Approaches. Journal of Research in Rural Education. Vol. 13. No. 3. Winter 1997. P. 183-196.
27. Sticht, T (1994): Family Literacy: A World Movement. Paris, France: UNESCO, 1994.
28. Sticht, T and McDonald, B. (1990). Teach the Mother and Reach the Child: Literacy Across Generations. Geneva: UNESCO, 1990.
29. Chanana, K (1988): Social Change or Social Reform: The Education of Women in pre Independence India. IN: Socialization, Education and Women: Explorations in Gender Identity. Edited by K Chanana. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1988.
30. Nandita Singh (2008): Higher Education for Women in India: Choices and Challenges. Forum on Public Policy, 2008.
31. Nandita Singh, Ibid. 32. Mita Hazarika (2012): Hurdles Faced by Women in Pursuing Higher
Education. Research Analysis and Evaluation. Vol. 3. No. 32. May 2012. P. 38-39.