Context:

• The very success of India’s economic transformation brings with it a stark realization that it has not paid particular care and attention to women.
• The most promising sign of the improving conditions of Indian women lies in declining inequality in education.
• Almost all girls go to primary school and, according to the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) of 2011-12, 70% of girls aged 15 to 18 are still studying, only five percentage points less than boys. They frequently outperform boys.
• In 2018, in the Class xII C8SE examination, 88.31% girls passed, compared to 78.99% boys.
• However, in spite of rising education and rising aspirations, labour markets and social norms constrain women, almost as if they are all dressed up for a party with nowhere to go.

Issues in transformation of Education to Employment:

U-shaped relationship between Education and Employment

• Data from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) and the IHDS show that education and employment have a U-shaped relationship.
• Illiterate women are most likely to participate in the workforce.
• Work participation drops sharply for women with primary and secondary education and rises only with college education.

Lack of white-collar jobs and inhospitable job environment for women

• White-collar jobs are either not available or demand long hours and offer little job security in this time of a gig economy.
• NSSO data for 25- to 59-year-old workers in 2011-12 show that among farmers, farm labourers and service workers, nearly one-third are women, while the proportion of women among professionals, managers and clerical workers is only about 15%.
• Young men with Class 10 or 12 education find jobs as mechanics, drivers, sales representatives, postmen and appliance repairmen. Few of these opportunities are available to women. (because of difficult working conditions and inhospitable environment). Sometimes employers avoid hiring women in these positions.

Marriage: major barrier

• Young women’s lives are also circumscribed by social norms that shape their family situation.
• Marriage remains the only acceptable fate for young women in India. Whereas a third of Japanese women and 11% of Sri Lankan women aged 30-34 are single, less than 3% of Indian women are single at that age.
• Moreover, women’s education does not seem to carry the same value in the ‘marriage market’ as caste, the family’s economic status and horoscope.
• Research from other countries shows that educated women marry similarly educated men. But in India, women frequently marry men with lower education than themselves.

Therefore, we can conclude that for most of the women, rising education does not offer increasing income-earning opportunities or better marriage prospects.

Does it at least give women greater autonomy in other areas of their lives?

• Based on recent National Family Health Survey data, there seems to be little evidence that a moderate level of education offers women a greater say in household decisions or freedom of movement outside the home.
• College graduates fare slightly better, but even for them, the difference is relatively small.
• 48% of women with no schooling do not go to a health centre alone; the proportion for college graduates is only slightly lower at 45%.

Conclusion:

• Parents make tremendous sacrifices to educate their daughters, and young women joyously work hard at school in search of a better life, only to have their aspirations frustrated by economic and social barriers that restrict their opportunities.
• Another major concern is the way the political process sees women. Our political process sees women as an extension of the men in their households and assumes that no special effort is needed to win their hearts and minds.
• India needs to take gender segmentation as an opportunity. We need to increase women entrepreneurship. Thus women will be creating jobs and opportunities for themselves, and bringing other women on board. In short, if India’s growth story has to translate into shared prosperity for all its people, then it cannot afford to have one half of its population sit out.