Women empowerment is more than just workforce numbers

Encouraging women to enrol in skill-based or diploma programmes without addressing the societal barriers they face in the workplace turns education into yet another checkbox

In recent years, there has been growing attention on improving women’s labour force participation in India, especially in rural areas. The gap between male and female labour participation is a real issue that India faces which needs to be addressed speedily for tapping the rich demographic dividend that India has.

Various initiatives have aimed to boost employment rates, provide skill training, and offer credit to self-help groups (SHGs), all to bridge the gender gap in the workforce. However, narratives or ideas focusing solely on increasing participation rates or encouraging women to obtain diplomas to make entries in the labour force swifter miss the larger picture. Empowering women isn’t just about getting them into jobs — it’s about challenging the structural and cultural barriers that have long held them back resulting in their poor economic representation.

Empowerment greater than economic participation

While the rising labour force participation rates among women are a step in the right direction, this is often hailed as progress which begets a fundamental question: Is this participation enough? Many women entering the workforce, find themselves in low-paying, informal sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, education, or household and domestic labour.

Merely including women in the workforce doesn’t address the underlying issues of power imbalances, equity, limited mobility, or, most of all, workplace discrimination. For genuine empowerment, women need access to dignified employment, leadership roles, and pathways to career growth. Without these opportunities, focusing on participation statistics risks becoming a box-ticking policy exercise and political wordsmithing.

Education must be beyond diplomas

The emphasis on women obtaining diplomas as a primary means of bridging the gender gap is another oversimplified solution. It also brushes away the root cause analysis for the poor representation of Indian women in top positions in the corporate world. Or the reasons for women leaving the workforce prematurely. Empowerment is a developmental process which includes various stages including, inter alia, entry into the workforce, advancement in jobs, incorporation, and commitment to working.

Education should accordingly target empowering women to think critically, challenge societal norms, and pursue leadership, and not just equip them for specific job markets. Encouraging women to enrol in skill-based or diploma programmes without addressing the societal barriers they face in the workplace — like wage inequality, harassment, or limited decision-making power — turns education into yet another checkbox.

While education is undoubtedly a powerful tool, it cannot be reduced to a means of fitting women into predefined economic roles. More importantly, education must empower women to question the cultural and institutional biases that shape their lives, rather than just preparing them for jobs in a limited set of industries.

Unpaid care work

Perhaps the most glaring omission in discussions about women’s workforce participation is the burden of unpaid labour. This is perhaps the most significant, yet often overlooked, barrier to women’s participation in the workforce, and comprises the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work that falls on their shoulders.

Women in India, both in rural and urban settings, are often expected to manage household chores, caregiving for children and elderly family members, and other domestic responsibilities, all while attempting to enter or maintain employment. This ‘second shift’ not only exhausts women but also limits their ability to pursue full-time, formal employment or climb the career ladder.

If we are serious about empowering women, we need systemic changes that reduce and redistribute the burden of unpaid care work — through better policies, access to affordable childcare, and cultural shifts in family dynamics. It is said that an investment of 2 per cent in GDP care economy could yield 11 million new jobs while affording a space for women to work with continuity. The Periodic Labour Force Study 2021-22, of the Government of India, indicated that close to 45% of women report childcare/personal commitments in home-making as reasons for not participating in the workforce and investments in the care economy will perhaps reduce this.

Holistic empowerment

Focusing on labour force participation and economic metrics alone ignores the broader context of women’s lives. Empowerment must also involve social, political, and cultural dimensions. Women need protection from harassment and violence, equal representation in decision-making processes, and the freedom to define their life paths, free from societal constraints.

Economic empowerment is only one facet of a much larger goal: creating a society where women are valued for all of their contributions, not just their participation in the workforce. Can we value them for who they are, and how they balance our daily lives and societies?

Think ‘agency’ and choices

Women’s empowerment is about agency — the ability to make choices that affect their lives and futures and implies that empowerment cannot be dictated from top down. It’s not enough to simply enrol women in skill programmes or give them access to microcredit. True empowerment requires listening to women’s voices, understanding their needs and aspirations, and dismantling the structural barriers that have long restricted their opportunities. This means rethinking everything from how we value unpaid labour to how we support women’s leadership across industries and sectors.

Therefore, to truly bridge the gender gap in India’s labour force, we must look beyond simplistic solutions and apparent metrics. While mapping trends of inclusion, etc. is important, it is not the end goal.

It is high time that women get opportunities that have been long denied to them, with more than just the chance to participate; they deserve the opportunity to lead, challenge norms, and thrive in every aspect of life — economically, socially, and politically. Only if we dare to introspect honestly can we start by redefining empowerment and addressing the full spectrum of barriers that women face.

Only then can we build a future where gender equality is not just about numbers, but about meaningful change.

(Dakshita Das is a policy expert and former civil servant. Srinath Sridharan is a policy researcher and corporate adviser. X: @ssmumbai.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.