Technical Lift: A Dissection for Indian Women Empowerment

One of the biggest areas everyone should wish for humanity to get better is Women empowerment, women equality and women who feel they are much better or equal to men. It is the state of transition which every society must undergo and progress towards reaching the ideal state for half of the population. When half of the population or fairer sex feels strong and not weak, feels equal and not lesser, feels the freedom and not confined, feels empowered and not forbidden then the world becomes a much better place to inhabit. Infact it is the mark of progress made in a society since all the developed parts of world have women who are empowered, progressive, open up freely and operate without inhibitions. Where the women are developed, the state and country become developed. Nothing can beat this and we wish to reach those glorious lands where women empowerment can be the first step to set our foot upon. In that view, let us look at the state of affairs of how women are faring in developed world as against a developing country like India. Reading women in countries like America, U.K., Australia can give us a perspective of how women in our own country should be like. Even if we don’t get better as society or country, at least let us not leave our women behind. Hence it is highly imperative that women in India should grow by leaps and bounds and take the rest of us along. 

We can take one single area where women from developed countries have dominated the proceedings for a long time over the third world countries. The women of the world play cricket and there are many countries which play each other for a long time. Apart from bilateral series and other tournaments, women play cricket world cup once every four years. This is ongoing since 1973 and there are 12 editions of world cup played till date. Each edition was won by a western country where Australia won 7 titles, England with 4 and New Zealand with 1 title and nothing went to any other country. Cricket is keenly followed and played in India but the country with 1.4 billion and half of them women has yet to win a women’s cricket world cup till date. Can you imagine losing to Australia or England every single time and yet play for the last 50 years. This is simply due to the progress made by those countries in bringing women extremely developed and competitive on a world stage while India still hold a primitive position for a long time. Has there been a movement to empower Indian women and make them grow in the past, we would have seen a much better nation in the present. In any sport, Indian women have been falling behind for a long time. Historically, the country won just 9 women Olympic medals, opening its tally as late as in 2000 while women in the country like U.S. have won 69 out of 126 total medals in 2024 Paris Olympics alone. This is more than half of the total, signifying women outdoing male in these developed countries. The success of U.S. women in the Olympics is a testament to their talent, determination, and the impact of policies like Title IX, which have promoted gender equality in sports. While women from these countries are winning everything on the table, our turn is to hide behind something and observe the proceedings forever. 

While women’s cricket and sports are an example for the glaring difference between India and west, the gap doesn’t end here. There is every conceivable area where Indian women in general has a lot of work to do to bridge the huge difference with their western counter parts. Take education and economic participation as further examples which deal with volumes of women in these nations. Women’s literacy in India has grown from 8.86% in 1951 to approximately 70.3% in 2021. However, this still lags behind the male literacy rate of 84.7%. Education remains a significant challenge for Indian women, especially in rural areas. While literacy rates for women have improved the gender gap in education persists. Factors such as poverty, societal norms favoring boys, and child marriage hinder girls’ educational attainment. The quality of education and access to resources also vary widely. Though we covered a huge ground compared to medieval and colonial times within the country, there are still disparities persisting when the world standing is concerned. Girls are often expected to prioritize household responsibilities over education, especially in economically disadvantaged families. Many girls drop out of school due to early marriages, a practice still prevalent in several regions. Programs like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao aim to promote girls’ education, while schemes like the Mid-Day Meal program incentivize families to send their daughters to school. Despite these efforts, the quality of education and gender parity in secondary and higher education remain areas requiring significant attention. 

In contrast, women in Western countries have long enjoyed better access to education and have successfully bridged gender gaps in many areas. In many developed countries, women outperform men in college graduation rates. For example, in the United States, women constitute the majority of college students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), as of 2022, approximately 59% of all college students were women, outpacing men in enrollment rates for undergraduate and graduate programs alike. Can you get any better indicator than this for women empowerment which tell women are outperforming men in a major area like attaining a higher education degree. 

We can look at another important area of working women. Women in India are relegated to home making for a long time and they are discouraged to work. This trend gradually became better with the advent of IT and software jobs as this gets better. According to a NASSCOM report (2022), 36% of the IT workforce in India is female, a substantial increase from just 21% in 2013. This growth reflects a concerted effort by companies, motivation from women and government initiatives to encourage women to pursue careers in technology. I am proud to have been associated with a sector and industry where a lot of soft power take up software jobs denoting a great sign for gender equality in the country. IT is simply a great avenue for women in India and women in India are great enablers of this sector. Apart from this field, the rest needs a lot of improvement. Economic participation remains a major hurdle for Indian women, with the labor force participation rate for women standing at 20% in 2022, among the lowest globally. Women are simply discouraged everywhere else. This trend needs to be reversed and women need to make up 40-50% of work force in every possible sector. 

On the other hand, women in Western countries have seen substantial progress in workforce participation and economic empowerment, although challenges like the gender pay gap and glass ceiling persist. Women make up 47% of the workforce in U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This once again denotes tremendous equality and opportunities for women. Laws like the Equal Pay Act of 1963 in the United States and policies promoting maternity leave and workplace equity have improved women’s conditions. Women now hold leadership roles in various industries even if it is a less number.  

Similar to education and labor force participation, there are many other areas which ask for more work to do to bring Indian women on par and overcome issues concerning gender. How many Indian families feel better when a boy is born and the opposite for a girl. This is deeply rooted in the social and cultural fabric of the nation though not stated explicitly. In many parts of India, there is still a cultural preference for male children, which can lead to disappointment when a girl child is born. This preference is rooted in various socio-economic and cultural factors, such as the perception that sons are responsible for carrying on the family name, providing financial support, and performing certain religious rites. Additionally, the practice of dowry, where the bride's family is expected to provide substantial gifts to the groom's family, can make having a daughter seem like a financial burden. Why can’t we expect dowry from a boy to make things better. While progress is being made, there is still work to be done to change deep-seated cultural norms and ensure that every child, regardless of gender, is valued and given equal opportunities. 

In the United States, the general attitude towards the birth of a child, whether a boy or a girl, tends to be more neutral and celebratory. Most parents and families are excited about the arrival of a new baby, regardless of gender. This is largely due to the cultural emphasis on gender equality and the value placed on both boys and girls. Both boys and girls are seen as having equal potential and opportunities. In many families, the economic and social contributions of both men and women are equally valued, leading to a more neutral attitude towards the birth of a child. The essence is, due to gender neutrality and equality in these societies, a boy or girl fares equally with same opportunities as grow up leading to peace of mind and same outlook from every parent. When can we expect this transformation in Indian mindsets and societies. 

India has been making giant strides after the turn of the century and to tell an example of the progress on this front, the nation passed a monumental, landmark womens reservation bill in 2023. The recently introduced bill in India, officially known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, is a significant piece of legislation aimed at increasing women's representation in legislative bodies. The bill mandates a 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament), state legislative assemblies, and the Delhi Assembly. It was passed by the Lok Sabha on September 20, 2023, with an overwhelming majority of 454 votes in favor and only 2 against. The Women's Reservation Bill has been a topic of debate for over two decades. Previous attempts to pass similar legislation were made in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2008, but they were unsuccessful due to lack of consensus among political parties. But at last, the trend favored the women and the bill was passed just last year. As of the 18th Lok Sabha, women constitute just 13.6% of the elected members. Imagine when 1/3rd or 33% is women in these powerful places of the nation and what good it will do to them due to these quotas. This is better than the current U.S. standing where the U.S. congress with 540 members has just 28% women which is also the highest percentage in U.S. history. Succinctly, India, which lags everywhere, is getting better than U.S. politically by tremendously leveraging and upholding the soft power of the nation. 

While this is one area which is promising, all the other areas need to be improved by leaps and bounds to bring on par to western counter parts. Empowering Indian women and bringing them on par with their Western peers require a comprehensive and sustained effort across multiple fronts. By addressing education, economic participation, legal protections, political representation, social norms, healthcare, financial inclusion, technology, and collaboration, we can create an environment where women can thrive and contribute to the nation's progress. While Western women have generally advanced more rapidly in education, workforce participation, and social freedoms, Indian women have made significant strides in overcoming deeply rooted cultural barriers, particularly at grassroots levels. We really made a lot of progress from the primitive times but need to push ourselves further to see the results on the ground and make our women world class. When this is the desired state of realization with all the polity framework, environment in place to encourage and promote fairer sex, we just need to work towards it to champion their cause and wait for time to take care of the rest.