Women and men are equal in every human concern in this world. They are equally competing in almost all spheres of work and power and are equally achieving the set goals. Culture, economy and polity may be barriers to women in certain parts of the globe, still women and marching ahead with great conviction and confidence to keep themselves on par with their counterparts in every affair. This Book will be very much useful to the policy makers, planners, researchers, educationists and activists. Women and men are the inseparable units of this universe. Long live the affectionate bond between the two.

This is a book about understanding women’s empowerment and pathways as well as roadblocks to women’s economic empowerment in rural India, as understood through an evaluation-based research of a state-funded social sector programme located in the education department – Mahila Samakhya (MS) – in Bihar, one of the socially and educationally most underdeveloped Indian states. The book presents findings of the three-year research that adopted a mixed-methods approach and evaluated the impact of MS on various facets of empowerment of women coming from the most marginalized communities. The study, therefore, tries to go beyond evaluating the MS programme and uses the research findings and insights to raise certain critical issues pertaining to social policy planning and implementation, especially in the context of women’s education and empowerment. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

Persuasive evidence demonstrates that gender equality in education is central to economic development. Despite more than two decades of accumulated knowledge and evidence of what works in improving gender equality, progress on the ground remains slow and uneven across countries. What is missing? Given that education is a critical path to accelerate progress toward gender equality and the empowerment of women, what is holding us back? These questions were discussed at the global symposium Education: A Critical Path to Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, which was sponsored by the World Bank in October 2007. Girls' Education in the 21st Century is based on background papers developed for the symposium. The book's chapters reflect the current state of knowledge on education from a gender perspective and highlight the importance of, and challenges to, female education, as well as the interdependence of education and development objectives. The last chapter presents five strategic directions for advancing gender equality in education and their implications for World Bank operations. Girls' Education in the 21st Century will be of particular interest to researchers, educators, school administrators, and policy makers at the global, national, regional, and municipal levels.

Shows how women's decisions direct their lives in both public and private spheres. The book specifies critical conditions and possibilities for women who want to increase their opportunities. Patterns in women's behaviour and concerns are analyzed by applying the author's sociological theory.

A Circle of Empowerment describes two studies. The first is a single case study which interprets the practical knowledge of an exemplary fine arts supervisor. An analysis of ethnographic data portrays the supervisor's practical knowledge as constructed around a dialectical orientation between two constructs or landscapes of imagery: the empowerment and power of teachers, and bureaucratic power and control of administration The second and extended study describes the supervisor's influence on the practical knowledge of the consultants and specialists with whom she worked. Through in-depth interviews with five women, it became apparent that feminist principles were emerging. The supervisor's transformational and charismatic leadership style was characterized through four dimensions: visionary qualities, communicating a vision, creating trust and commitment, and empowering others. These dimensions propelled the supervisor's commitment to teach leadership through mentoring. The results of these studies suggest that consultants and supervisors develop a unique form of practical knowledge geared to the political context of curriculum reform, and the practical knowledge of consultants and supervisors may influence the practical knowledge of teachers, specialists, and consultants. The studies suggest reconstructing leadership in favor of a role that is dedicated to commitment, caring, and collaboration within the circle of empowerment.

Rethinking Empowerment looks at the changing role of women in developing countries and calls for a new approach to empowerment. An approach that adopts a more nuanced, feminist interpretation of power and em(power)ment, recognises that local empowerment is always embedded in regional, national and global contexts, pays attention to institutional structures and politics and acknowledges that empowerment is both a process and an outcome. Moreover, the book warns that an obsession with measurement rather than process can undermine efforts to foster transformative and empowering outcomes. It concludes that power must be restored as the centrepiece of empowerment. Only then will the term and its advocates provide meaningful ammunition for dealing with the challenges of an increasingly unequal, and often sexist, global/local world.

This book grounds the education of women and girls in the realities of their lives and experience in diverse areas of the developing world. Moving beyond the previous emphasis on access to education to problematise its content and the way it is experienced, the case studies range from the Arakambut of Peru to the changing experience of racialised education in South Africa. The contributors take issue with the World Bank's view that the education of girls and women is important primarily as a cost-effective mechanism for making women more economically productive. Including an overview chapter on the impact of structural adjustment on education throughout Latin America and Africa, the book provides detailed information on Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, Niger and Mauritius. It meets the urgent need to understand the education of women and girls in their economic, political and cultural contexts.