Education and Women‟s Participation in Punjab

Abstract

The important aspect of social life now-a-days is mostly confined to the genderissues in various socio-economic-health-demographic and cultural classifications ofpeople in Punjab. Violence on females of any age is the regular feature in our social,political and cultural lives. Unfortunately females are neglected in a historical process atthe helm of male dominant society. This feature is perhaps still persisted in the recentperiod, though the extent may be different. This paper examines the work participationrate (WPR) of women in Punjab (India) based on the census conducted in 2001. As per2001 census, the work participation rate of women was 21.6% in Punjab though theyconstituted 47.17% of the total population. It was well documented that the educationalcondition of women has improved in the past few decades but their work participationrate is still low. Here, the paper tries to see reasons pertaining to this difference. Thereare many determinants of work participation rate but this paper is limited to education.It is based on the hypothesis that women work participation rate increases witheducational development. The correlation matrix between occupational composition andeducational development shows significant relation. This implies that education is oneof the reasons for increasing work participation rate. In addition, it was found thatwomen with primary education are actively engaged in the agricultural sector. Finally,the paper Concludes with some general observations and suggestions.

Key words: Gender inequality, Economic participation, Education, Workers, Regionalanalysis.