Volume : 3, Issue : 6, June - 2014

Higher Education and Women Participation in India

Archana. Renju

Abstract :

In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, " If you educate the man, you educate the person but if you educate the woman, you educate the nation".

Women are part of our socio–economic system. They up hold our rich cultural and traditional values as they have a strong bond with the society. Their progress is often equated with the nations progress and therefore, their participation in development activities of the societies is always a concern. The educational background of a woman has a direct bearing on her development. One can see that there is a great disparity in the distribution of womens employment between urban and rural areas. 

Formulating laws and policies are not enough as it is seen that most of the times these laws and policies just remain for the inaugural of the event. The ground situation on the other hand just remains the same and in many instances worsens further. Addressing the malice of gender discrimination of Higher Education in India, it becomes a long drawn battle for empowerment against powerful structural forces in the society. 

Education is the nourishment of the mind with knowledge and as such it helps in the formation of an integrated personality of an individual. Higher education in India has witnessed an impressive growth over the years. Clearly, for the government, it necessarily has to pool the energies and resources needed to promote female education at all educational levels. Most Indian women do accept their traditional role of dependency on male relatives. But with the  possibility of economic independence, through respectable employment, it becomes a reality for women. 

In this paper I shall  delineate the extracts of  Indian women participation in higher education. The implications of gender inequality gap  under this purview shall also be discussed. Suggestions shall be cited eventually to accelerate the participation of women in higher education in India