NOTE: This joint paper has been published in The
Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol. LXXV, No 2, April-June, 2014, pp. 285-292. (ISSN No. 0019-5510)
Dr. Renu
Professor &
Head
Dept. of Public
Admin.
Punjabi
University, Patiala (Pb)
Dr. Navreet
Assistant
Professor
Dept. of Public
Admin.
Panjab
University
Chandigarh
Women
as decision-makers were very difficult to dream of in a patriarchal society
such as ours when the men of the family used to be the sole bread earners, the
men were perceived to have the top decision making ability in the family and “…men
have greater power and authority simply by virtue of being men and therefore
“head” of the family.”[ii] The traditional gender-role expectations
insisted that the women were only meant to bear the encumbrance of childbirth,
rearing and bringing up children along with the responsibility of looking after
the home front and the needs of the husband. There was a clear-cut division of
labor and likewise clear lines of authority to make decisions. Decision-making
can be in politics, in leadership positions, in government positions and in domestic
life, family etc. But an increase in women education and the arrival of career
woman in family in a big way in urban areas, along with many other factors have
set in motion significant modifications in the traditional role of women in a
family. Now the
wives can be highly educated, employed in excellent jobs and contributors of
comparable income to the household. In the changing scenario, home and family
are seen as an area of participation for both partners. Therefore, decision-making
is no more considered only a male bastion and women are very much involved in
this role at home as well as in all walks of life.
Research in the recent times has witnessed a welcome shift of spotlight
on the crucial issues of gender equality and women empowerment in our
societies. In academic circles, as per the latest literature basically
emanating from the West, gender is no more viewed as a synonym of women,
nor is gender equality a zero-sum game connoting loss to men. Gender equality refers
to that stage of human social development at which “the rights,
responsibilities and opportunities of individuals will not be determined by the
fact of being born male or female.”[iii] In
this context, higher education appears to be the prerequisite and the most
potent aid to empower women and to facilitate better, more meaningful and
effective decision-making by them as education generates knowledge, sound
reasoning and analytical ability and independent views. ICPD Programme of
Action (paragraph 4.2) rightly says, “Education is one of the most important
means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary
to participate fully in the development process.”[iv]
Needless to say that education is important for everyone, but education is
particularly of crucial importance for the women due to its far-reaching
‘ripple effects’. That is why; closing the gender gap at all levels of
education in specifically the developing countries by 2015 is one of the
targets for achieving the third Millennium Development Goal to promote gender
equality and empower women.[v]
Whenever we discuss women
empowerment in the academic world, we tend to give into this assumption that
women have been empowered through education and economic independence in the
true sense of the word, with an important role in decision making. It has become
very fashionable in our society to talk about women empowerment and gender
equality in glowing terms whereas in reality, we are far from achieving
it. It will be pertinent to investigate:
has this really happened in our own Punjabi society which is prosperous, fairly
well-educated and considered progressive? After all, real women empowerment
ought to translate in women’s role in decision-making in no uncertain terms. It is time to take stock how the women,
particularly, in urban areas who are empowered by higher education and economic
independence perceive their participation in decision-making at various levels
and actually decide important matters concerning their own lives and household
or are they are still struggling with the forces of the culture against their
new function.
OBJECTIVES
AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The objective of the present study is to examine the segment of highly
educated and economically independent urban women about their say in the decision-making.
The scope of the present study is focused to one part of the study, that is,
say of women in the decision-making in the household/family and the study takes
into account the women teachers of Punjabi University, Patiala (Punjab). The
aim is to study whether these educated women in well-paid
positions/jobs in an urban area have a say in some of the decisions made about
their own family matters or they are still trapped in old stereotyped gender-roles.
For this, Punjabi University, Patiala situated in the Malwa region of Punjab was selected keeping in mind that it has
been engaged in providing higher education and research opportunities in Punjab
since 1971 and was celebrating its golden jubilee in 2011. The present study is primarily confined
to the following four types of decision-making in family:
·
Decisions related to property,
·
Decisions related to investments,
·
Decisions related to major expenditure
and
·
Decisions related to children-education.
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
For
this purpose, a random sample of 50 women teachers was selected
who were teaching in various disciplines and
various faculties in the Punjabi University, Patiala of Punjab as shown in the
Table-1. Some of them were also working as Heads of various departments. All
the respondents were married women. Primary
data was collected with the help of personal interviews in the year 2011.
Table-1: Brief description of sample
|
Faculty
|
Number of
University female teachers
|
|
Languages
|
19
|
|
Social Sciences
|
21
|
|
Sciences
|
13
|
|
Law
|
4
|
|
Sport Sciences
|
3
|
|
Physiotherapy
|
1
|
|
Total
|
50
|
FINDINGS
OF THE STUDY
Questions were asked to the selected
sample of the university female teachers to gauge the perceptions of the
educated and high-salaried women about their participation in decision-making
at home. The findings are tabulated as under:
Table-2
|
Sr.
No.
|
Even
educated women, like you, do not have any say in major family decisions like
|
Definitely
yes
|
To a large
extent
|
To some
extent
|
No
|
Total
|
|
1.
|
Decisions related to
property
|
17(34)
|
07(14)
|
05(10)
|
21(42)
|
50
|
The Table-2 shows that when it comes
to decisions related to property, 42% respondents said that they had a say in
major family decisions related to property. It is to be noted that it is less
than even half of the sample whereas 34% respondents candidly admitted that
even educated women like them did not have any say in major family decisions
related to property. Buying or selling of property/land/plot is still
considered to be prerogative of the male members of the family even in the
present social structure. However, in the informal discussion, some of the
respondents also indicated that they gradually moved towards more joint
decision-making in property related matters after some years of married life.
Table-3
|
Sr.
No.
|
Even
educated women like you do not have any say in major family decisions like
|
Definitely
yes
|
To a large
extent
|
To some
extent
|
No
|
Total
|
|
2.
|
Decisions related to
investments
|
21(42)
|
05(10)
|
04(08)
|
20(40)
|
50
|
In
the Table-3, the responses show the involvement of the University female
teachers in the decisions at home regarding financial investments in shares,
bonds, mutual funds, life insurance etc.
42% of women respondents admitted that they did not have a say in
decisions related to investments while 40% said that they had. It is
interesting to note here that many of the respondents were quick to add
informally that they lacked interest as well as adequate knowledge which are
required for making financial investments matters and that was the reason of
not participating in these decisions rather than any discrimination against
them.
Table-4
|
Sr.
No.
|
Even
educated women like you do not have any say in major family decisions like
|
Definitely
yes
|
To a large
extent
|
To some
extent
|
No
|
Total
|
|
3.
|
Decisions related to
major expenditure
|
14(28)
|
08(16)
|
05(10)
|
23(46)
|
50
|
In the Table-4, question was asked
to know whether these highly educated women who were also contributing
significantly to the family’s income economically, had any role in the major
family decisions related to major expenditure like on car, refrigerator, T.V., other
consumer durable items, vacations’ destination etc. It was found that 46% respondents
firmly claimed that they had a say in family decisions on major expenditure
while 28% denied that they had any say in the family decisions regarding major
expenditure. It can be seen that the majority figure is below 50 percent. Not
much was said about children’s role here because the sample consisted of
respondents having families at various stages of the life cycle. Most of the
respondents did not hide their bitter resentment on being deprived of such a
role in the family when decisions regarding major expenditure were made.
Table-5
|
Sr.
No.
|
Even
educated women like you do not have any say in major family decisions like
|
Definitely
yes
|
To a large
extent
|
To some
extent
|
No
|
Total
|
|
4.
|
Decisions related to
children’s education
|
08(16)
|
08(16)
|
07(14)
|
27(54)
|
50
|
Lastly, a question was asked about
the role of the selected University female teachers in a very important family
decision related to their children’s education like which school, college,
institution or university the children would go into and which courses the
children would join, etc. The Table-5 depicts that 54% respondents replied
affirmatively about their say in this major family decision on their children’s
education. However, it is painful to find that 16% respondents felt totally
ignored when the family had to decide about the education of their own children
while an equal number of respondents also admitted so to a large extent.
Discussion
First
of all, it is important to note that during the interviews, the female
university teachers taken in the sample did not respond reticently but they
frankly shared with the researchers, their views and experiences on this
delicate issue of their say in the familial decision-making. It was heartening
to find that a majority of the selected sample of highly educated and
economically independent women clearly stated that they had a say in major
family decisions, viz. related to property (42% respondents) and major
expenditure (46% respondents) They happily revealed that education made them
empowered. However, on a closer look, it can be disappointingly observed that
the majority is less than even half of the respondents. It demonstrates that
higher education and good salaries have not automatically resulted in financial
empowerment and participation in the domestic decision-making on an equal
footing for the university women teachers in the sample. It is reasonable to expect
in the case of highly educated women in Class I jobs that their profession will
usher shifts in gender relations at home, a greater role in household
decision-making, greater sense of self-worth and financial empowerment but it
has not happened exactly this way. Their responses were still conditioned to a
large extent by the mindset prevailing in the Punjabi male-dominated society.
Regarding decisions about the financial
investments of the family, 42% respondents had no say in the decision. However,
at the same time, some confessed that the reason was their lack of interest and
knowledge about these intricate matters than any discrimination. But it does signify
that many women may not have control over their own earnings as deep down, they
are victims of the stereotyped belief that investing money is men’s business
though that money has been earned by the women! Many women university teachers
were also sore about their very limited role in financial decisions at home and
felt sidelined though they were earning and earning handsomely. It is clear
that unequal share of university women teachers of the sample in
decision-making at home is unfair and unmerited; the sway of a male-oriented social
structure is strong enough to overshadow the educational achievements and
comparable jobs of the females. There is a real danger of the perpetuation of
the stereotype gender-roles considering that the respondents are teachers
themselves! They are supposed to be the change agents and role models in the
society. It seems that despite all the progress in women-education, the
persisting gender-based inequalities in domestic decision-making continue to
deny women a say in the decisions that affect their lives. If this is the case
of highly educated, urbane and economically independent women, one can imagine
the powerlessness and insignificant role of the ordinary, uneducated and
unemployed women in major family decisions in rural areas!
Regarding their children’s education,
54% respondents asserted that they had a say in the decision-making at home. It
is good but the percentage is not very high as expected in a society which
glorifies motherhood and child-rearing as the major responsibilities of the
women. It was terribly disturbing for some respondents on being excluded when
the family had to decide about the education of their own children! It is more
poignant when the mothers are neither illiterate nor ignorant; they are highly
educated and working in a university as teachers! Clearly, the constraints and
pressures of the patriarchy are not easy to defy for even for these privileged
women in terms of education and salary.
Role
of women in domestic decision-making is mostly demoralizing in the wider context
of India too. The findings of a study[vi]
covering women of 15-49 years of different states and zones of India with the
help of data from (NFHS) National Family Health Survey-3 conducted in 2004-05 indicated
a great regional variation in the levels of women’s autonomy in various
household matters like buying jewelries, having access to money, having
mobility to go to market or relatives’ house or getting health care facilities
due to socio-cultural and socio-economic variations in the different states of
India. However, this study supported that age and educational attainment have a
positive relation with the increment of autonomy of women in household
decision-making. Urban and working women were found to have a distinct
advantage as against rural non-working or unpaid working women. Upholding the
last conclusion, a field survey (2012)[vii]
covering 300 rural and urban women of two districts (Nawanshahar and Gurdaspur)
of Punjab made a striking addition that even these women had no or marginal say
in the important areas considered to be the exclusive male domain like money
matters related to saving, investment, borrowing, purchase of consumer durables
and expenditure on marriages. Role in decision about children’s education was a
significant exception. Interestingly, the women got to have important say in
the matters where males had no interest or they were insignificant! Concurring
about somewhat greater power in domestic decision-making of urban employed wives
in the dual-career families, an earlier empirical study (1987)[viii]
of the 101 families of U.P. discussed of more egalitarian husband-wife partnerships
only in the families enjoying higher education and social status levels in
patriarchal societies. On the other hand, there are a number of studies which find
it too simplistic that good employment status of women will necessarily
translate into their increased share in decision-making at home and
empowerment. “Contributing even half or
more of the family’s total income is not enough to increase empowerment,” declares
a research study (2006) ,[ix]
using data from DHS (Demographic and Health Survey) for India on the basis of
the 1998-1999 NFHS-2, covering a nationally representative sample of about
90,000 married women in 26 states of India. Though it is more likely to
increase women’s decision-making power, yet the serious challenge of numerous
other barriers like women’s ‘disempowered’ attitudes, acceptance of domestic violence
remains.
In
the present study of women teachers of a University in Patiala (Punjab), it was
sad to find that higher education, income and occupation may not always prove
to be the powerful resources which can thoroughly neutralize the dictates of
the social factors and deeply entrenched cultural norms in the patriarchal
societies that men are rightfully the sole decision-makers. In Punjabi society,
what is acceptable behaviour for women is still rigidly defined. And females as
equal partners in decision-making seems deviating from the narrowly-defined set
of behaviours in which cultural femininity is seen. Though the present study is
a small study, yet it clearly reflects that the stereotyped gender roles are so
strongly embedded in the Punjabi social psyche that they have the potential to eclipse
the achievements of the women at educational and economic fronts.
Nevertheless,
all is not lost. A greater exposure of men and women to the higher education
and the ‘modern’ norms of decision-making in the families have definitely
brought some welcome change in the traditional family pattern of absolutely
male-dominated decision-making. In the present study, the majority percentage
of women participating in major financial family decisions may be not very
high, but it is indicative of a significant social shift in the status of women
and their increased participation in the decision-making in certain important matters
at home.
Concluding
Observations and Suggestions
On
the whole, let us accept the hard fact that though women are projected as the better
halves and the foundation of the society, it is a paradox that their subjugation
is still widespread in our patriarchal society. Gender inequality in the family
level in the form of a weaker role of women in decision-making is a repulsive
reality even in highly educated, double income segments of our society. Empowerment
of women and their increased role in decision-making will not come instantly
even in the case of highly educated and economically independent women as it
challenges our recalcitrant social attitude and culture, regressive norms, traditional
restrictions and very deeply entrenched attitudes about females’ inferiority.
Now
a pertinent question is: what can be suggested to improve the prevailing unfair
gender inequality in the society? The answer lies in what Lord Krishna exhorted Arjuna in the Sixth Chapter (Shaloka
05) of the Bhagwat Gita, “Udhret aatmana aatmaanam…” (One should
lift oneself through one’s own efforts…). Women must display strong will to stand up for themselves and change their plight; the key to
women empowerment is the women themselves. They must not shy away from this
task. Women themselves also have to hasten the transformation in the mindset of
the society by changing deeply ingrained negative self-perceptions about their
capabilities and self-esteem. A right
type of training is a must right from childhood to instill self-confidence and
to nurture self-esteem in girls in order to make women participate in
decision-making effectively. It is fine
that education along with multiple factors is acting as a catalyst in
increasing women’s share in decision-making but it must be remembered: “Formal
education does not necessarily bring with it an awareness of rights and
academic institutions must alter their curriculum and methods of instruction to
foster awareness.”[x] A study[xi]
of gender gap in 58 countries by World Economic Forum totally agrees, “However,
if the content of the educational curriculum and the attitudes of teachers
serve merely to reinforce prevalent stereotypes and injustices, then the mere
fact of literacy and education does not, in and of itself, close the gender gap;…”
Therefore, it emphatically recommends reshaping of curriculum content and the retraining
of teachers who deliver it as it will tremendously benefit generations of
women. Besides, access to information
technology and its gainful use are also of crucial importance in today’s world.
Women need to upgrade their knowledge about financial aspects if they really
want to be economically empowered. Only earning money and surrendering its use
to other male family members does not mean financial independence. Along with
this, leaders, cutting across all the groups, should act with a crusading zeal
to build understanding, appreciation and respect for the women in the society. The onus is so much more on the women teachers
of a university as they are the role-models for the new generations taking
shape under them. They have to be themselves harbinger of the change they want
to see in the society around them. It will be harmonious for the society if more
just power-sharing between men and women is ensured at all levels - inside the
home as well as outside it.
References
[i] It is a modified and revised
version of the paper presented in International Conference on Mainstreaming Gender: Issues and Challenges,
organized by Women’s Studies Centre, Punjabi University, Patiala on 25-26th
November, 2011.
[ii] Archna Shukla, “Decision Making
in Single- and Dual-Career Families in India,” Journal of Marriage and
the Famliy, Vol. 49, No.3, (August, 1987), p. 625. URL <http://www.jstor.org/stable/352207 >
[iii] Augusto Lopez-Claros &
Saadia Zahidi, “Women’s Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap,” World
Economic Forum, Geneva, 2005, p.1. URL: http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/gender_gap.pdf
[v] http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/report-2013/mdg-report-2013-english.pdf [Accessed: 22/01/2014]
[vi]
Ajeet Kumar & Nalin Singh Negi, “Impact of Household Decision Making Power
on Women Empowerment in
[vii] Rakesh Kumar & Shakuntla
Gupta, “Women Participation in Household Decision-Making in Punjab”, in Mainstreaming Gender: Issues and Challenges, edited
by Manju Verma et al., Punjabi University, Patiala, 2012, pp. 288-301.
[viii] No.ii, op.cit., pp. 621-629.
[ix] Brooke Shannan West, “Does
Employment Empower Women? An Analysis of Employment and Women Empowerment in
India,” M.A. Thesis, Graduate
School of Cornell University, USA, 2006. URL: http://dspace.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/3360/1/West-Thesis%20Final.pdf
[x] “Women Participation in
Decision-Making”, Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. 26, No.
48 (Nov. 30, 1991), p. 2737. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4398359
[xi] No. iii, op.cit., p.5.
Its very useful article for women empowerment.
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