Education: Means of Empowerment

EMPOWERMENT AND GENDER DIFFERENCE IN EDUCATION AND STATUS

LAYMAN’s definition would consider empowerment as position of woman vis-à-vis man in society. The term empowerment is widely used in the context of development, particularly women’s development. Women are partner in developmental process. It has been said by various dignitaries that in case of any big achievement by a man, contribution of the woman is well recognized. But it is found that women are not established in the deserving places of the society. The level of acquired education is an important pre-condition for individuals to enjoy power and achieve satisfaction in his/her life. Opportunities to access education are not uniform to different sections of the population. Gender bias is a major concern for unequal opportunities for acquiring education. In West Bengal, in the case of gender, girl students are relatively more deprived to reach at the end of Madhyamik level. Proportion of girls among Madhyamik examinees is 42% as against 58% of boys but negligible difference is observed with respect to achievement(result). In the present study effect of gender on Madhyamik results have been investigated. Key Words: Empowerment, Achievement, Gender bias.

A

Introduction

Empowerment, as widely accepted is a process of awareness and building of capacity leading to greater participation, to greater decision-making power and control to transformative action (Karl, 1995). It is a way of defining, challenging and overcoming barriers in one’s life through which the individual increases his/her ability to shape his/ her life and environment (Devadas, 1999). Empowerment is the process of challenging existing power relations and of gaining greater control over the sources of power. This term is widely used in the context of development and women’s are partner in the developmental process. One can not disagree that a woman is quite capable to reach the goal and society can enjoy her services. But in the

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